Text input first in a mobile hat customizer: +2.8% conversion rate
Test run byClean CommitCRO agency
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsMoving the text input to the start of a mobile product customizer, with placeholder examples kept, showed a 2.8% rise in conversion rate.
Clean Commit ran this test for an anonymized Shopify hat store and published it in its A/B test library.
We count it as inconclusive: across 21,984 visitors, the variant had only a 67.5% probability of beating the original.
- Conversion rate: +2.8%, with a 67.5% probability of beating the original. Not significant.
- Add-to-cart rate: -0.6%, flat. This was the metric the hypothesis targeted.
- Revenue per visitor: +12.0%, but this leans on a small desktop sample.
- On mobile, conversion rate rose 4.5% and bounce rate fell 9.1%.
The change
The custom text field moves to the start of the mobile customizer.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
A mobile customizer where the text input came later in the flow, after other options.
Variant
The text input came first, with placeholder examples showing shoppers what to type. This combined two patterns from earlier customizer tests.
Why it likely came out this way
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Starting with the personal text may make the product feel like it's taking shape right away.
- Placeholder examples take the guesswork out of what to enter.
- Add-to-cart didn't move, so the customizer flow may not have been the main barrier.
Caveats: The result did not reach significance, and the revenue per visitor gain relies on a small desktop sample. Test duration was 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 put the text input first in our mobile customizer and show placeholder examples, then add-to-cart rate will rise because shoppers start personalizing right away and know what to enter.
- Primary metric
- Add-to-cart rate on mobile
- Guardrails
- Conversion rate
- Revenue per visitor
- Who should test it
- Stores selling personalized products with a multi-step customizer. If text is optional or rarely used, leading with it may slow shoppers down.
Questions
What order should a product customizer use?
There's no fixed rule. This store tested putting the text input first, and conversion rose 2.8%, but the result was not significant.
Do placeholder examples help in customization fields?
They show shoppers what a good entry looks like.
This store kept them in both of its customizer tests.
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