Products menu to a category page with intros: +56.43% revenue/visitor
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsReplacing the Products drop-down menu with a full category page, where each category had a short intro, raised revenue per visitor by 56.43%.
Frictionless Commerce ran this A/B test for Body Ecology, a health foods and supplements store, and it was published as a VWO case study.
The test ran for two weeks and reached 96% statistical significance.
- Revenue per visitor: +56.43% for the category page version.
- Revenue per conversion rose from $100.33 to $143.61 during the test.
- About $8,880 in extra revenue over two weeks. The source projected $230,880 a year at the same rate, which is an estimate, not a measured result.
- Statistical significance: 96%.
The change
Products leads to a category page with intros instead of a link-only drop-down.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
Clicking Products in the top navigation opened a drop-down that listed only category names and product names.
Variant
Clicking Products took visitors to a full category page that gave a brief introduction to each product category.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- The range includes unfamiliar categories like fermented foods and culture starters, and bare links did not explain them.
- Short intros helped new visitors work out which category fit their needs before clicking into products.
- Better understanding may have led shoppers to buy more per order, which matches the jump in revenue per conversion.
- The agency itself flagged that the extra page is a cost for repeat buyers who already know what they want.
Caveats: The test ran for only two weeks, and the yearly figure is a projection. The agency noted the extra step may hurt repeat customers and planned follow-up tests.
Who ran it
Frictionless Commerce ran this test for Body Ecology and published the results (VWO case study). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on Frictionless Commerce →
How to run this test on your store
- Hypothesis
- If we send the Products link to a category page with a short intro for each category, then revenue per visitor will rise because new visitors will understand the range before choosing.
- Primary metric
- Revenue per visitor
- Guardrails
- Conversion rate for returning visitors
- Clicks from navigation to product pages
- Bounce rate on the new category page
- Who should test it
- Stores with a complex or unfamiliar range where category names alone don't explain much, and a lot of first-time visitors. Skip it or segment it if most of your revenue comes from repeat buyers who reorder known products.
Questions
Are drop-down menus bad for ecommerce?
Not in general. They worked poorly here because the categories were unfamiliar and the menu gave no context.
Test it against your own range and audience.
Won't an extra page slow down repeat customers?
It can. The agency behind this test raised that risk, so check returning visitors separately or give them a quick route straight to products.
What should a category intro say?
A sentence or two on what the category is and who it is for.
The goal is to help a newcomer pick the right section, not to sell.
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