# Native theme header replaces app header: +17.02% conversion rate

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Site-wide (Ecommerce)
- Elements: Navigation & mega menus, Themes, page builders & page speed
- Test run by: [Vasta](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/vasta/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://vasta.me/articles/17-02-conversions-with-a-native-bug-free-header
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/canada-welding-supply-native-header/

Replacing a third-party app header with a lighter, theme-native header lifted conversion rate by 17.02% and revenue per visitor by 6.44%. Vasta ran this test for Canada Welding Supply, an industrial equipment store, and published it as a Vasta case study. Only the header changed.

## Result

**+17.02% conversion rate**

- Conversion rate: +17.02%. More visitors went on to buy once the header worked cleanly.
- Revenue per visitor: +6.44%. The revenue lift was smaller than the conversion lift, which suggests the extra orders were somewhat smaller on average.
- Vasta projects about $69,995 in extra monthly revenue. That is the agency's own projection, not a measured figure.

## Control

The header came from a third-party app. On some screen sizes the logo overlapped the search box, mobile tap targets were cramped, and the extra JavaScript slowed the first paint and made the layout jump.

## Variant

A header built in the theme's own code, with a smaller logo, a search bar in the centre and wider tap zones. Pricing, copy and product layouts stayed the same.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- Search was easier to reach and use. On a store with a large catalogue of industrial parts, search is often the main way people find products.
- Wider tap zones cut mis-taps on mobile, so fewer visitors left by accident.
- Less third-party JavaScript meant a faster first paint and no layout jitter, which removes small moments of frustration at the top of every page.

## Caveats

The test ran 50/50 for 14 days and the agency says it reached statistical confidence, but sample size and the exact confidence level were not shared. The monthly revenue figure is the agency's projection.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we replace our app-based header with a lightweight theme-native header that gives search more room and enlarges tap targets, then conversion rate will rise because shoppers can find products faster and make fewer mis-taps on mobile.
- Primary metric: Conversion rate
- Guardrail: Revenue per visitor
- Guardrail: Search usage rate
- Guardrail: Mobile bounce rate
- Who should test it: Stores running a header from a third-party app or page builder, especially those with large catalogues where search drives sales. If your header is already native, fast and bug-free, expect a much smaller effect.

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Credit: Vasta ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/canada-welding-supply-native-header/).
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.