# Thumbnail category tabs on collection pages: -3.8% conversion

- Outcome: Lost
- Page type: Collection page (Ecommerce)
- Elements: Collection banners & headers, Navigation & mega menus
- 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/thumbnail-category-tabs-added-to-collection-pages/
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/cleancommit-thumbnail-category-tabs-added-to-collection-pages/

Adding thumbnail-image category tabs to the top of collection pages lowered conversion rate by 3.8% and revenue per visitor by 6.0%. Clean Commit ran this test for an anonymized Shopify store across 29,085 visitors over 21 days. Mobile improved while desktop fell sharply, so the net result was a loss.

## Result

**-3.8% conversion**

- Conversion rate fell 3.8% overall. The original had a 76.6% probability of being better, so the loss is likely but not certain.
- Revenue per visitor fell 6.0%, and orders fell 2.8%.
- Average order value fell 2.3%.
- On mobile, conversion rate rose 5.1% and revenue per visitor rose 7.9%.
- On desktop, conversion rate fell 17.9%. Desktop carried the whole loss.

## Control

Collection pages linked to other categories with plain text links that were easy to skip past.

## Variant

A row of tabs with thumbnail images sat at the top of each collection page. Each tab linked to a related collection.

## Why it likely lost (our reading)

- On desktop, a row of image tabs pushes products further down the page, so shoppers see fewer items at first glance.
- On mobile, tappable image tabs are easier to use than small text links, which may explain the gain there.
- More visible links to other collections can send shoppers away from the products they came to see.

## Caveats

The losing result is not fully certain: the original had a 76.6% probability of being better. The device split is based on segments of a 29,085-visitor test, so each segment is smaller.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we add thumbnail category tabs to collection pages on mobile only, then conversion rate will rise because shoppers can switch categories with one tap.
- Primary metric: Conversion rate
- Guardrail: Revenue per visitor
- Guardrail: Product clicks per collection visit
- Guardrail: Desktop conversion rate if shown there
- Who should test it: Stores with many related collections and mostly mobile traffic. Test mobile and desktop separately; on desktop the tabs may just push products out of view.

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Credit: Clean Commit ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/cleancommit-thumbnail-category-tabs-added-to-collection-pages/).
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.