# Trust elements removed, recommendations raised: +2.4% add-to-cart

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Product page (Ecommerce)
- Elements: Trust badges & security seals, Upsells & cross-sells, Layout, fonts & visual design
- Test run by: [Contorion](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/contorion/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://wingify.com/success-stories/contorion/
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/contorion-pdp-remove-trust-elements-raise-recs/

Removing trust elements below the buy box, widening the product details and moving recommendations higher raised add-to-cart clicks by 2.4% and recommendation clicks by 60%. Contorion, a tools and MRO supplies retailer, ran this split URL test, and it was published as a VWO case study. Several changes shipped together, so the result belongs to the whole redesign.

## Result

**+2.4% add-to-cart**

- Add-to-cart click rate: +2.4%.
- Recommendation click rate: +60%, likely because recommendations were easier to reach.
- Contorion said the effect on overall conversion was visible but didn't share a number.
- No sample size, test length or significance level was shared.

## Control

The product page showed trust elements, such as reviews, directly below the buy box, with recommendations further down.

## Variant

The trust elements below the buy box were removed. The product information was stretched to fill the space, and recommendations were moved higher up the page.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- Session recordings suggested the trust elements distracted shoppers more than they helped.
- Contorion's buyers are often trade professionals who want specs, so wider product details may have served them better.
- Moving recommendations up put them in view, which explains much of the click gain.

## Caveats

This was a bundled change: removing trust elements, widening product information and moving recommendations all shipped together. Results are click rates only, with no sample size or significance shared.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we replace little-used trust elements below the buy box with wider product details and higher recommendations, then add-to-cart and recommendation clicks will rise because shoppers see the information they actually use.
- Primary metric: Add-to-cart click rate
- Guardrail: Conversion rate
- Guardrail: Revenue per visitor
- Guardrail: Return rate
- Who should test it: Stores with spec-driven products and repeat or trade buyers, where recordings show trust blocks being ignored. Be careful if you are a newer brand, since first-time shoppers may still need reviews and badges.

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Credit: Contorion ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/contorion-pdp-remove-trust-elements-raise-recs/).
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.