Product page redesign with new copy: -20.7% conversion rate
Test run byClean CommitCRO agency
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsRedesigning four product pages with a new layout, stronger trust signals and rewritten copy cut conversion rate by 20.7% and orders by 21.4%.
Clean Commit ran this test for an anonymized Shopify store and published it in its A/B test library.
All three changes shipped together, so the drop can't be pinned on any one of them.
- Conversion rate: -20.7%, a negative result.
- Orders: -21.4%, a negative result.
- Revenue per visitor: -6.5%, a smaller drop than conversion.
- Average order value: +17.9%, which softened the revenue loss.
- The original had a 79.8% probability of performing better.
The change
New layout, extra trust signals and rewritten copy shipped together.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
Four product pages with their original layout, trust signals and product copy.
Variant
The same four pages with a refined layout, more trust signals and copy rewritten around value, features and outcomes.
Why it likely lost
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Returning shoppers may have been thrown by a page that suddenly looked and read differently.
- Longer, value-focused copy can push the key facts and the buy button further down.
- The higher order value suggests the new pages suited shoppers buying more, while putting off others.
- Because layout, trust signals and copy all changed at once, it is not clear which part hurt.
Caveats: This was a bundled redesign, so no single change can be credited or blamed. The sample was small, at 1,037 visitors over 41 days, and the result was not significant.
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 rewrite the copy on our product pages around value and outcomes, then conversion rate will rise because shoppers see why the product is worth buying.
- Primary metric
- Conversion rate
- Guardrails
- Revenue per visitor
- Average order value
- Who should test it
- Stores planning a product page redesign. Test layout, trust signals and copy one at a time if traffic allows, so a loss like this one can be traced.
Questions
Can a product page redesign lower conversions?
Yes. In this test, a redesign of four product pages cut conversion rate by 20.7%, which is why redesigns are worth testing before launch.
Which part of the redesign caused the drop?
We can't tell. Layout, trust signals and copy all changed together, so the test only shows the combined effect.
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