Category link on product pages: +8.7% clicks, no change in sales
Test run byClean CommitCRO agency
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsAdding a link from each product page to its category listing raised click-through rate by 8.7%, but conversion rate (-1.1%) and revenue per visitor (-0.3%) did not change.
Clean Commit ran this test for an anonymized Shopify store and published it in its A/B test library.
We count it as inconclusive for sales: shoppers browsed more but did not buy more.
- Click-through rate: +8.7%, a statistically clear lift on the metric the test was built to measure.
- Bounce rate: -5.8%, so more visitors kept browsing.
- Conversion rate: -1.1%, and revenue per visitor: -0.3%. Flat: no clear difference in sales.
- Add-to-cart rate: +1.3%, also too small to call.
The change
The variant adds a link from the product page to its category listing.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The product page had no link to the category the product belongs to.
Variant
A link on the product page sent shoppers to a listing of similar products in the same category.
Why it likely came out this way
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- The link gave shoppers an easy way to see more options, so they used it.
- Seeing more products did not give them a new reason to buy; most were likely already deciding on the product in front of them.
- Sending shoppers away from a product page can spread their attention, which may cancel out any discovery gain.
Caveats: Run on 66,172 visitors; test duration was not shared. The sales metrics showed no clear difference, so the click lift should not be read as a revenue win.
Who ran it
Clean Commit ran this test for a Shopify store (anonymized) and published the results (Clean Commit A/B test library). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on Clean Commit →
How to run this test on your store
- Hypothesis
- If we link each product page to its category listing, then shoppers will find a better-fitting product and buy more often because many don't know the full range exists.
- Primary metric
- Conversion rate
- Guardrails
- Revenue per visitor
- Bounce rate
- Add-to-cart rate
- Who should test it
- Stores with large ranges where shoppers often land on a product that isn't quite right for them, for example from ads. For small catalogs, expect more clicks but little change in sales.
Questions
Do category links on product pages increase sales?
In this test they did not. Clicks rose 8.7% and bounce fell, but conversion rate and revenue per visitor were flat.
Is lower bounce rate a good sign?
It shows people stayed on the site longer.
On its own it does not mean more sales, so judge a test like this on conversion rate and revenue per visitor.
Should I keep a change that only lifts clicks?
It can be fine to keep if it costs nothing and helps navigation.
Just don't expect it to grow revenue without further evidence.
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