Pill-style subcategory links on collection pages: +5.42% conversion
Test run byBlend CommerceCRO agency
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsAdding pill-style subcategory shortcuts to the top of collection pages raised conversion rate by 5.42% for Azuna, an odor eliminator brand.
Revenue per visitor rose 5.88% and subscription revenue per visitor rose 16.73%.
Blend Commerce ran this A/B/C test in Intelligems over two weeks, and a card-style version also won but by less.
- Conversion rate: +5.42% for the pill version.
- Revenue per visitor: +5.88%.
- Subscription orders per visitor: +14.95%, and subscription revenue per visitor: +16.73%.
- The card-style version also won, but by less: +2.56% conversion and +3.02% revenue per visitor.
- Intelligems estimated about 614 extra orders a month for pills, versus about 286 for cards.
The change
A row of pill-style subcategory links added above the product grid.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
Collection pages had no subcategory shortcuts. Shoppers browsed the full product grid.
Variant
A row of pill-shaped subcategory links sat at the top of collection pages. A third arm tested card-style links, styled like social media stories.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Too many products on one page can feel like a lot. Subcategory shortcuts help shoppers narrow down fast.
- Pills read clearly as filters. The agency suspects the story-style cards looked like something shoppers had already tapped, so some skipped them.
- The shortcuts may have led more people to subscription products, which explains the large subscription gains.
Caveats: The test ran for two weeks. Sample size and confidence level were not shared.
Who ran it
Blend Commerce ran this test for Azuna and published the results (Blend Commerce A/B test). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on Blend Commerce →
How to run this test on your store
- Hypothesis
- If we add pill-style subcategory links at the top of collection pages, then conversion rate will rise because shoppers can narrow a large range in one tap.
- Primary metric
- Conversion rate
- Guardrails
- Revenue per visitor
- Subscription revenue per visitor
- Average order value
- Who should test it
- Stores whose collection pages mix several product types or uses. It will probably do little on small collections where shoppers can see everything at a glance.
Questions
Pills or story-style cards for subcategory links?
Here pills won on every metric shared. Both beat having no shortcuts, so either is worth testing against your current page.
Where should subcategory links go on a collection page?
At the top, above the grid, so shoppers see them before scrolling.
That is where both versions in this test sat.
Can navigation changes affect subscriptions?
In this test they did. Subscription revenue per visitor rose more than overall revenue, so track it separately if you sell subscriptions.
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