# Simplified homepage hero: +26% desktop conversion, mobile fell

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Homepage (Ecommerce)
- Elements: Hero & above-the-fold section, Social proof, authority & press, Add-to-cart & CTA buttons
- Test run by: [Blend Commerce](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/blend-commerce/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://blendcommerce.com/blogs/ab-tests-shopify/above-the-fold-homepage-optimisations
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/apparel-brand-homepage-hero-simplified/

Replacing a busy homepage hero with a simpler one lifted desktop conversion rate by 26%, but mobile conversion and revenue fell. Blend Commerce ran this A/B test for an apparel brand. Several changes shipped together, and the brand kept the new hero on desktop only.

## Result

**+26% desktop conversion, mobile fell**

- Desktop conversion rate: +26%.
- Desktop revenue per user: +27%.
- Add-to-cart rate: +8.27%. The source did not say which devices this covers.
- Mobile: conversion rate and revenue per user both fell. Exact figures were not shared. This is a negative result for mobile.

## Control

The homepage hero had story widgets and a complex banner with overlapping elements, so there was no clear call to action. Heatmaps showed shoppers scrolling past it.

## Variant

The story widgets were removed and the banner replaced with a cleaner hero. It had bullet-point value propositions, a '4,000+ happy customers' line, and a primary and secondary CTA.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- A clear hierarchy and obvious next step may help desktop visitors who were skipping a cluttered hero.
- Bullet benefits and a customer count give quick reasons to trust the brand before scrolling.
- On mobile, the new layout may have pushed products further down or felt less visual. That is a guess; the source did not explain the drop.
- Because several elements changed at once, the lift cannot be credited to any single one.

## Caveats

This was a bundled change: widgets removed, banner replaced, and new copy, social proof and CTAs added together. It ran for two weeks, mobile results were negative, and sample size and confidence were not shared.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we replace a busy homepage hero with clear benefit bullets, social proof and one primary CTA, then more visitors will start shopping because the next step is obvious.
- Primary metric: Conversion rate, split by device
- Guardrail: Mobile conversion rate
- Guardrail: Revenue per user
- Guardrail: Homepage bounce rate
- Who should test it: Stores whose homepage hero is cluttered and gets little engagement in heatmaps. Plan to read desktop and mobile separately, since this test helped one and hurt the other.

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Credit: Blend Commerce ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/apparel-brand-homepage-hero-simplified/).
Usage: Free to use, quote and build on, with credit and a link: name the practitioner or organization that ran the test and link to its LiftArchive page. The results belong to the practitioners who ran and shared them; the summaries and commentary are LiftArchive's.