'Hand-Printed & Made in USA' badge: -2.4% conversion, mixed result
Test run byClean CommitCRO agency
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsAdding a "Hand-Printed & Made in USA" badge near the top of product pages lowered conversion rate by 2.4% but raised revenue per visitor by 5.5%.
Clean Commit ran this test for an anonymized Shopify store and published it in its A/B test library.
The two numbers point in opposite directions and neither is significant, so the result is inconclusive.
- Conversion rate: -2.4%, a negative but unreliable signal. The original had a 60.7% probability of performing better.
- Revenue per visitor: +5.5%, helped by a 6.3% rise in average order value. On mobile, revenue per visitor rose 8.7%.
- Add-to-cart rate: -4.2%, another small negative.
- Bounce rate: -29.2% and click-through rate: +21.9%. People engaged more, but that did not turn into more buyers.
- Inconclusive overall: sales metrics moved in opposite directions and none reached significance.
The change
The variant adds a made-in-USA craftsmanship badge near the top.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The product page made no claim about how or where the products were made.
Variant
A short "Hand-Printed & Made in USA" message with a small icon was added near the top of product pages. It sat in the same spot on desktop and mobile, away from the images, size options and add-to-cart button.
Why it likely came out this way
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- A craftsmanship claim may make the product feel more valuable, which fits slightly bigger orders.
- It may also stress that the product is premium, which could put off some price-sensitive shoppers. That would fit the lower conversion rate.
- Lower bounce and more clicks suggest the badge caught attention. Attention is not the same as a reason to buy.
- With the signals this mixed, chance could explain all of the movement.
Caveats: Sample size and test duration were not shared, and no metric reached significance.
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 tell shoppers the product is hand-printed and made locally, then more will buy because they trust the quality and want to support domestic production.
- Primary metric
- Revenue per visitor
- Guardrails
- Conversion rate
- Add-to-cart rate
- Average order value
- Who should test it
- Brands where local production or handwork is real and matters to their buyers, such as printed apparel or crafts. It is less likely to help where shoppers mainly compare on price.
Questions
Does a 'Made in USA' badge increase sales?
It depends on the audience. In this test it lowered conversion slightly and raised order value slightly, and neither change was reliable.
Why did bounce rate drop but sales not rise?
The badge may have drawn attention and clicks without giving shoppers a stronger reason to buy. Engagement metrics often move without sales following.
Where should a craftsmanship badge go?
Somewhere visible that does not crowd the images, size options or add-to-cart button. That is how this test placed it.
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