Single-row header with image mega-menu: -22.5% conversion
Test run byClean CommitCRO agency
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsRedesigning the header into a single row, with all collection links moved into one "Collections" mega-menu, cut conversion rate by 22.5% and orders by 22.7%.
Clean Commit ran this test for an anonymized Shopify store and published it in its A/B test library.
The original had a 99.5% probability of performing better, so the store kept its old navigation.
- Conversion rate: -22.5%, a clear loss. The original had a 99.5% probability of performing better.
- Orders: -22.7%.
- Revenue per visitor: -12.3%. A 13.2% rise in average order value softened the drop.
- Mobile drove the loss: conversion fell 26.2% across 10,957 mobile visitors.
- The test caught the problem in about a week, before the redesign went live for everyone.
The change
The variant folds the collection links into one image mega-menu.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
A multi-row header with collection links shown directly in the navigation.
Variant
A single-row header with a "Collections" item that opened an image-led mega-menu holding every collection link. Secondary links such as Reviews, About and Wholesale were grouped in one submenu, and "Customize" stayed as its own link.
Why it likely lost
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Putting every collection behind one menu item adds a tap and hides the store's range. On small screens that extra step may have stopped people from browsing.
- Shoppers who knew the old header lost the direct links they relied on.
- Image-led menus look good but take more scrolling on mobile, so fewer collections fit on screen at once.
- Several navigation changes shipped together, so we can't tell which one did the most harm.
Caveats: The test ran about a week. Several header and menu changes were tested as one package, so the loss can't be pinned on a single element.
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 simplify the header and group collections into one mega-menu, then more visitors will buy because the store is easier to navigate.
- Primary metric
- Conversion rate
- Guardrails
- Orders
- Revenue per visitor
- Collection page visits per session
- Who should test it
- Any store planning a navigation redesign should test it before launch, especially if most traffic is mobile. Be careful about hiding top-level collection links behind a single menu item; this test shows that can cost a lot.
Questions
Should I put all my collections in a mega-menu?
Test it first. In this test, moving every collection behind one menu item cut conversion by 22.5%.
Why do navigation changes hit mobile harder?
Each extra tap and scroll costs more on a small screen.
Here, mobile conversion fell 26.2%, more than the overall drop.
Is a losing test a waste?
No. This one stopped a redesign that would have cut orders by about a fifth if it had launched untested.
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