Free shipping progress in the mini cart: -5.9% conversion, +9.2% AOV
Test run byClean CommitCRO agency
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsAdding a free shipping progress message to the mini cart cut conversion rate 5.9% but lifted average order value 9.2%.
Clean Commit ran this test for an anonymized Shopify store and published it in its A/B test library.
We treat it as inconclusive: the conversion drop wasn't significant, and revenue per visitor rose 3.2%.
- Conversion rate: -5.9%. Not significant: the original had a 73.7% probability of performing better.
- Orders: -7.0%, and add-to-cart rate fell 3.3%. Negative.
- Average order value: +9.2%, so some shoppers likely added items to reach the threshold.
- Revenue per visitor: +3.2%. Mixed overall, with fewer but larger orders.
The change
The variant adds a free shipping progress message above the checkout button.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The mini cart showed the cart items and checkout button, with no free shipping progress.
Variant
A message above the checkout button showed how much more the shopper needed to spend for free shipping. Once the cart qualified, it switched to a confirmation.
Why it likely came out this way
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Seeing a shortfall right above the checkout button may have made shipping costs feel bigger, so some shoppers left.
- Others added items to unlock free shipping, which raised order value.
- The two effects roughly cancelled out, leaving revenue per visitor close to flat.
Caveats: No metric reached significance, and the source did not share the total sample or duration. Desktop conversion fell 21.0%, but on only 1,711 visitors, too few to rely on.
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 show free shipping progress in the mini cart, then average order value will rise because shoppers will add items to reach a visible reward.
- Primary metric
- Revenue per visitor
- Guardrails
- Conversion rate
- Orders
- Gross margin per order
- Who should test it
- Stores with a free shipping threshold just above their typical order value. If most carts are far below the threshold, the message may mainly remind shoppers of a cost.
Questions
Does a free shipping progress bar increase order value?
In this test, order value rose 9.2%. But conversion fell, so check revenue per visitor and margin, not order value alone.
Where should a free shipping message go in the cart?
This test put it right above the checkout button.
A spot higher in the cart may feel less like a last-second hurdle, but that needs its own test.
Can a free shipping message lower conversion?
It can. Reminding shoppers they haven't qualified may make the shipping charge more noticeable.
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