Removing the sticky navigation bar: +1.59% conversion rate
Test run byVastaCRO agency
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsRemoving a sticky navigation bar lifted conversion rate by 1.59% and revenue per visitor by 3.45%.
Vasta ran this test for Canada Welding Supply, an industrial equipment store, and published it as a Vasta case study. Pricing, images and copy stayed the same.
- Conversion rate: +1.59%, about 31 extra orders a month by the agency's figures.
- Revenue per visitor: +3.45%.
- Average order value: +1.83%.
- Vasta projects about $26,896 in extra monthly revenue. This is the agency's projection.
The change
The navigation bar no longer follows the shopper down the page.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
A navigation bar that stayed fixed at the top of the screen as shoppers scrolled.
Variant
The same pages with the sticky navigation removed, so the bar scrolled away like the rest of the page.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- A fixed bar takes up screen space on mobile, crowding product images.
- On mobile, the sticky bar was taking taps meant for product cards underneath, according to heatmaps.
- Visitors who need the menu can still scroll up to find it.
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 lifts are small, and the monthly figure is a projection.
Who ran it
Vasta ran this test for Canada Welding Supply and published the results (Vasta case study). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on Vasta →
How to run this test on your store
- Hypothesis
- If we remove our sticky navigation bar, then conversion rate will rise because shoppers see more of the product and make fewer accidental taps on mobile.
- Primary metric
- Conversion rate
- Guardrails
- Pages per session
- Search usage rate
- Revenue per visitor
- Who should test it
- Stores with a tall sticky header that covers a lot of the mobile screen. If shoppers rely on the menu to move between many categories, a smaller sticky bar may be safer than removing it.
Questions
Are sticky headers good for ecommerce conversions?
It depends. They make the menu easy to reach, but they also cover part of the screen.
In this test, removing one lifted conversion rate by 1.59%.
What is the alternative to a sticky navigation bar?
Some stores show the header again only when the shopper scrolls up.
Others shrink it to a thin bar. Both keep the menu reachable with less screen cost.
How long should a navigation test run?
At least one to two full weeks to cover weekday and weekend patterns. This one ran for 14 days.
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@oliverkenyon@oliverkenyon@oliverkenyonVasta
@DaveDiederen
Blend Commerce