# 'Popular' badge on a subscription option: +3% revenue per visitor

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Product page (Ecommerce)
- Elements: Subscriptions & subscribe-and-save, Bestseller badges & product labels, Social proof, authority & press
- 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/popular-subscription-badges-increase-pdp-revenue
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/azuna-fresh-popular-subscription-badge/

A 'Popular' badge on one subscription option raised Azuna Fresh's revenue per visitor by 3% and conversion rate by 2%. A 'Recommended' badge in the same A/B/C test gained about 1% on both. Blend Commerce ran the test in Intelligems on the brand's product pages.

## Result

**+3% revenue per visitor**

- Popular badge: revenue per visitor +3% and conversion rate +2%. The agency estimated about 702 extra orders per month.
- Popular badge: subscription orders and subscription revenue per visitor were unchanged. The gain came from more people buying, not more choosing a subscription.
- Recommended badge: conversion rate and revenue per visitor +1%, subscription orders per visitor +3%. It was the weaker variant overall.

## Control

The product page subscription selector had no badge on any option.

## Variant

Variant 2 added a 'Popular' badge to one subscription option. Variant 1 used a 'Recommended' badge instead, and the offers stayed the same in all versions.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- 'Popular' is social proof. Telling shoppers what others pick can feel more convincing than the brand's own advice.
- A clear cue on one option removes some of the work of comparing plans before a recurring purchase.
- Neither badge changed the offer itself, so the wording alone appears to have moved behaviour.

## Caveats

Sample size, test length and confidence level were not shared. The 702 orders figure is an estimate from the testing tool.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we label one subscription option as 'Popular', then more visitors will buy because the badge tells them what other shoppers choose.
- Primary metric: Revenue per visitor
- Guardrail: Conversion rate
- Guardrail: Subscription orders per visitor
- Guardrail: Subscription revenue per visitor
- Who should test it: Subscription and replenishment brands with two or more plan options on the product page. Only label an option 'Popular' if it really is the most chosen one.

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Credit: Blend Commerce ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/azuna-fresh-popular-subscription-badge/).
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.