Shipping info banner: +1.5% conversion but -7.8% revenue per visitor
Test run byClean CommitCRO agency
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsA top-of-site shipping banner that opened a details drawer moved conversion rate only 1.5%, while revenue per visitor fell 7.8%, so the result is inconclusive.
Clean Commit ran this test for an anonymized Shopify store and published it in its A/B test library. Add-to-cart rose, but order value dropped.
- Conversion rate: +1.5%, with a 61.2% probability that the variant was better. Within normal variation.
- Add-to-cart rate: +5.9%, a sign that more shoppers were willing to start a purchase.
- Revenue per visitor: -7.8%, driven by a 7.4% fall in average order value. A negative signal.
- By device: conversion rose 5.1% on mobile but fell 5.0% on desktop. Orders fell 2.7% overall.
The change
The variant adds a top banner that opens a drawer of shipping and returns details.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The site had no shipping info banner.
Variant
A banner at the top of the page opened a drawer when clicked or tapped. It covered free shipping, processing times, an eco-conscious message, the returns policy and customer service contacts.
Why it likely came out this way
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Clear shipping details may have reassured shoppers enough to add items, which fits the add-to-cart gain.
- Spelling out the free shipping terms may have led some shoppers to buy just enough to qualify, lowering order value.
- A drawer with five topics may have been too much to take in on desktop.
Caveats: 21,330 visitors, a small sample for this many metrics, and duration was not shared. None of the changes reached significance.
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 a banner that opens shipping, returns and support details, then more shoppers will buy because uncertainty about delivery is removed.
- Primary metric
- Conversion rate
- Guardrails
- Average order value
- Revenue per visitor
- Desktop conversion rate
- Who should test it
- Stores where shoppers often ask about shipping times or returns. Watch order value closely if you have a free shipping threshold, since highlighting it may change how much people buy.
Questions
Can a shipping banner lower order value?
It may. Here average order value fell 7.4%, possibly because shoppers aimed for the free shipping threshold rather than above it.
Why did add-to-cart rise but revenue fall?
More shoppers added items, but they spent less per order and orders fell slightly.
That is why revenue per visitor is a key metric to watch.
Similar tests
@oliverkenyon@oliverkenyon@oliverkenyon
@DaveDiederen@DaveDiederen@DaveDiederen