# Single-row header with image mega-menu: -22.5% conversion

- Outcome: Lost
- Page type: Navigation & menu (Ecommerce)
- Elements: 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/header-and-navigation-redesigned/
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/cc-header-and-navigation-redesigned/

Redesigning 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.

## Result

**-22.5% conversion**

- 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.

## 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)

- 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.

## How to run this test

- 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
- Guardrail: Orders
- Guardrail: Revenue per visitor
- Guardrail: 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.

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Credit: Clean Commit ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/cc-header-and-navigation-redesigned/).
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.