'Add to cart to reveal your discount': +1,479.6% click-through
Test run byConversion FanaticsCRO agency
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsHiding the discounted price and telling shoppers to add to cart to reveal their discount lifted click-through to the next step by 1,479.6%.
Conversion Fanatics ran this test for a seller of a customizable shipped product.
This is a click metric only: the effect on purchases was not shared.
- Click-through to the next page rose 1,479.6% among shoppers who finished the customization questions.
- The next page was checkout, so more people reached the final step.
- Effect on purchases or revenue was not given; the agency said it was too early to tell.
The change
Discounted price hidden until the cart
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
After answering short customization questions, shoppers saw their price with a special discount highlighted. They were then told to click through.
Variant
The discounted price was removed. Instead, shoppers were told to add to cart to reveal their discount.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Curiosity: not knowing the discount gives a reason to click and find out.
- Seeing a price at this step may have made some shoppers stop and weigh the cost. Hiding it removed that pause.
- The ask felt small, since adding to cart only promised to show a number.
Caveats: The result measures click-through only, not sales, so the lift may shrink or vanish at checkout once the price is shown. No sample size or duration was shared, and the data is from 2015.
Who ran it
Conversion Fanatics ran this test for a seller of a customizable shipped product and published the results (Conversion Fanatics blog case study). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on Conversion Fanatics →
How to run this test on your store
- Hypothesis
- If we hide the discounted price and tell shoppers to add to cart to reveal it, then more will continue to checkout because curiosity pulls them forward.
- Primary metric
- Completed orders per visitor
- Guardrails
- Click-through to checkout
- Checkout abandonment rate
- Refund or complaint rate
- Who should test it
- Sellers with a multi-step or customized order flow where a price reveal causes drop-off. Judge it on orders, not clicks, and skip it if your market expects prices up front or rules on price display apply.
Questions
Does hiding the price increase conversions?
In this test it raised clicks to checkout by 1,479.6%, but sales impact wasn't shared.
Many shoppers may drop off once they see the price, so measure orders.
What does 'add to cart to see price' mean?
The product page holds back the price or discount, and shoppers only see it after adding the item to their cart.
Some brands use it when they can't advertise a price below a set minimum.
Is click-through a good metric for a test like this?
It is a useful early signal, but not enough on its own.
A change that adds clicks can still lose sales later in the funnel.
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