# Free-shipping threshold by add to cart: +0.3% conversion, flat

- Outcome: Flat / inconclusive
- Page type: Product page (Ecommerce)
- Elements: Free shipping thresholds & shipping price
- 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/free-shipping-threshold-highlighted-near-add-to-cart/
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/cc-free-shipping-threshold-highlighted-near-add-to-cart/

Showing the free-shipping threshold prominently next to the add-to-cart button barely moved conversion rate (+0.3%). Clean Commit ran this test for an anonymized Shopify store and published it in its A/B test library. Average order value rose 12.8%, but that gain was not significant, so we treat the whole test as inconclusive.

## Result

**+0.3% conversion, flat**

- Conversion rate: +0.3%, flat. The variant had a 51.3% probability of beating the original, about a coin flip.
- Average order value: +12.8%. Clean Commit links this to shoppers adding items to reach the threshold, but it was not significant.
- Revenue per visitor: +13.1%, driven by the order value change rather than more buyers.
- Orders: +0.7%. The largest order value gain was on mobile, at 15.3%.

## Control

The product page had no prominent message about how much a shopper needed to spend to get free shipping.

## Variant

The free-shipping threshold was highlighted on the product page, placed right next to the add-to-cart button.

## Why it likely came out this way (our reading)

- A threshold doesn't remove the shipping cost for a single cheap item, so it gives no new reason to buy. That fits a flat conversion rate.
- For shoppers who were already buying, the threshold gives a reason to add one more item. That would lift order value, which is what the numbers hint at.
- 13,119 visitors is not enough to confirm a change in order value, which varies a lot from order to order.

## Caveats

Based on 13,119 visitors, and neither the conversion rate nor the order value change reached significance. The order value lift needs a longer test to confirm.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we show the free-shipping threshold next to the add-to-cart button, then average order value will rise because shoppers add items to avoid paying for delivery.
- Primary metric: Revenue per visitor (or average order value, if that is the goal)
- Guardrail: Conversion rate
- Guardrail: Add-to-cart rate
- Guardrail: Return rate on top-up items
- Who should test it: Stores with a free-shipping threshold set a little above their typical order value, and a catalog with cheap add-on items. It is unlikely to help if most orders already clear the threshold, or if it is far above a normal basket.

---

Credit: Clean Commit ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/cc-free-shipping-threshold-highlighted-near-add-to-cart/).
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.