Suggested text in a hat customizer: +15% page conversion
Test run byClean CommitCRO agency
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsOffering suggested text such as "TEXAS" in a custom hat builder raised page conversion by 15% overall and 12.8% on mobile.
Clean Commit ran this test for the custom hat brand (code)word, and it was published as a Shoplift case study.
The idea was to help shoppers who stall when faced with a blank text box.
- Page conversion rate: +15% overall.
- Mobile conversion rate: +12.8%. Most of the brand's visitors shop on mobile, so this is the segment that matters most.
- No sample size, duration or confidence level was shared.
The change
The blank text field gains suggested phrases like 'TEXAS'.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The hat customizer gave shoppers an empty text field to type their own embroidery.
Variant
The customizer offered ready-made text ideas, such as "TEXAS", that shoppers could add to the hat.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- A blank field asks shoppers to come up with an idea on the spot. Suggestions remove that moment of indecision.
- Seeing an example shows what the finished hat could look like, which makes the product easier to picture.
- On mobile, tapping a suggestion is easier than typing on a small keyboard.
Caveats: No sample size, duration or confidence level was published. Clean Commit was running several tests on product pages at the same time, which can blur results.
Who ran it
Clean Commit ran this test for (code)word and published the results (Shoplift case study). 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 offer a few suggested phrases in our personalization tool, then more shoppers will finish customizing and buy because they no longer have to think of text from scratch.
- Primary metric
- Product page conversion rate
- Guardrails
- Share of orders using suggested vs custom text
- Average order value
- Mobile conversion rate
- Who should test it
- Stores selling personalized products: engraving, embroidery, printed gifts. It matters less if most buyers arrive knowing exactly what they want, such as names or company logos.
Questions
Do suggestions help in product personalization tools?
They did here. Adding suggested text to a hat customizer lifted page conversion 15%.
Will suggestions stop people writing their own text?
Not necessarily, since shoppers can still type their own.
Track how many orders use suggestions to see how it changes behaviour.
How many suggestions should a customizer show?
The source does not say how many were shown.
Start with a short list of popular phrases and test from there.
Similar tests
@oliverkenyon@oliverkenyon@oliverkenyon@oliverkenyon@oliverkenyon@oliverkenyon