Lifestyle category slider on the homepage: +2.3% clicks, sales flat
Test run byClean CommitCRO agency
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsAdding a slider of large lifestyle category tiles under the homepage hero raised click-through rate by 2.3%, but conversion rate moved -1.2%, so sales showed no clear change.
Clean Commit ran this test for an anonymized Shopify apparel store and published it in its A/B test library.
Revenue per visitor rose 11.0%, but that came mostly from desktop and may be noise.
- Click-through rate: +2.3%, with a 99.9% probability of beating the original. This was the metric the test targeted.
- Conversion rate: -1.2%, flat. The extra clicks did not turn into more orders.
- Revenue per visitor: +11.0% on a 10.4% rise in average order value, mostly from desktop and possibly noise.
- Bounce rate: -12.2%. Add-to-cart rate: -0.2%, flat.
The change
A slider of lifestyle category tiles appears right under the hero.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The homepage had no category tiles under the hero.
Variant
A horizontal slider of large lifestyle tiles for the main categories, such as men's, women's and kids, sat under the hero. Each tile had a category name and a "Shop" button, with a hover effect on desktop.
Why it likely came out this way
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Big category tiles give visitors an obvious next click, which explains the higher click-through and lower bounce rate.
- Clicking into a category is not the same as choosing a product, so the extra clicks did not lift orders.
- Visitors who already knew what they wanted could likely find it through the menu anyway.
Caveats: Sales showed no clear change, and the revenue swing may be noise. Sample size and duration were not shared.
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 add large lifestyle category tiles under the homepage hero, then more visitors will click into collections because the main categories are easier to spot.
- Primary metric
- Conversion rate
- Guardrails
- Click-through rate
- Revenue per visitor
- Who should test it
- Apparel and lifestyle stores with a few clear top-level categories. Do not expect a sales lift from extra clicks alone; judge it on orders.
Questions
Do category tiles on the homepage increase sales?
Not in this test. Click-through rose 2.3%, but conversion rate moved -1.2%, which is no clear change.
Should I judge a homepage test on click-through rate?
Treat it as a supporting metric. This test shows more clicks do not always mean more orders.
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