# Prominent returns policy on product pages: -3.6% add-to-cart

- Outcome: Lost
- Page type: Product page (Ecommerce)
- Elements: Money-back guarantee & returns, Shipping & delivery messaging
- 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/implementing-returns-policy-advertising/
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/cc-implementing-returns-policy-advertising/

Giving the returns and exchange policy more prominence on product pages lowered add-to-cart rate by 3.6%. Clean Commit ran this test for an anonymized Shopify apparel store and published it in its A/B test library. After 12 days and 23,060 visitors, the original had a 90.5% probability of performing better.

## Result

**-3.6% add-to-cart**

- Add-to-cart rate: -3.6%, a negative result. The original had a 90.5% probability of being better.
- Mobile add-to-cart fell 5.8%, compared with 0.8% on desktop.
- Click-through rate: +0.6%, and bounce rate: -0.6%, both close to flat.

## Control

A product page where the returns information was present but low-key.

## Variant

The returns and exchange policy was given more prominence, stressing how easy it is to swap items that don't fit.

## Why it likely lost (our reading)

- Talking about fit problems may have made shoppers think about the chance of a bad fit.
- On a small mobile screen, extra policy content may have pushed the buy button or key details further down.
- Shoppers who already trusted the store may not have needed the reassurance.

## Caveats

The test ran 12 days with 23,060 visitors, and the loss was not certain at a 90.5% probability. The exact wording and placement were not shared.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we make our returns and exchange policy more visible on product pages, then add-to-cart rate will rise because shoppers worry less about getting the wrong size.
- Primary metric: Add-to-cart rate
- Guardrail: Conversion rate
- Guardrail: Mobile add-to-cart rate
- Guardrail: Return rate
- Who should test it: Apparel and footwear stores where fit worries come up in reviews or support. Keep the message short on mobile, and skip it if your returns policy isn't actually generous.

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Credit: Clean Commit ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/cc-implementing-returns-policy-advertising/).
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.