# Subcategory cards on collection pages: -2.2% conversion rate

- Outcome: Lost
- Page type: Collection page (Ecommerce)
- Elements: Collection banners & headers, Navigation & mega menus
- Test run by: [Clean Commit](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/clean-commit/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://cleancommit.io/ab-tests/category-cards-added-to-collection-pages/
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/cc-category-cards-added-to-collection-pages/

Adding a row of subcategory cards above the product grid lowered conversion rate 2.2% across 23,068 visitors. Clean Commit ran this test for an anonymized Shopify store and kept the original. Shoppers clicked the cards, but that didn't turn into more sales.

## Result

**-2.2% conversion rate**

- Conversion rate fell 2.2%, and the control had a 60.1% probability of being better. This is a loss, though not a significant one.
- Revenue per visitor moved -0.5% and orders +0.1%, so the overall effect on sales was small.
- Click-through rate rose 7.6% and bounce rate fell 37.4%, so shoppers did use the cards.
- Add-to-cart rate rose 1.1%, within normal variation.

## Control

Collection pages went straight from the title to the product grid, with no subcategory shortcuts.

## Variant

A horizontal row of subcategory cards sat above the product grid. Each card had an image, a title and a short caption, and linked to its subcategory.

## Why it likely lost (our reading)

- The cards pushed products further down the page, so shoppers saw fewer items before scrolling.
- Sending shoppers to a subcategory adds a click before they reach a product they might buy.
- Easier browsing kept people on the site, but finding the right category may not have been what stopped them from buying.

## Caveats

No metric reached significance, so this is a likely loss rather than a proven one. Clean Commit labeled it a loss prevented and did not share the test duration.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we add subcategory cards above the product grid, then conversion rate will rise because shoppers can find the right product type faster.
- Primary metric: Conversion rate
- Guardrail: Revenue per visitor
- Guardrail: Click-through rate
- Who should test it: Stores with broad collections where shoppers clearly struggle to narrow down. If your collections are already focused, or the cards push products below the fold, expect little gain or a small loss.

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Credit: Clean Commit ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/cc-category-cards-added-to-collection-pages/).
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.