Animated badge on account icon: +21.53% logins, +8.55% sign-ups
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsAdding an animated notification badge to the account icon in the site header raised logins by 21.53% and registrations by 8.55%.
Catalysor, a marketing agency and VWO partner in Turkey, ran this test for fashion retailer DeFacto, and it was published as a VWO case study.
The test ran for 10 days during the Black Friday season.
- Logins: up 21.53% versus the static header.
- Registrations: up 8.55%, so more new visitors created an account during the sale.
- The test measured account actions, not sales or revenue. The effect on orders was not shared.
- Sample size and confidence level were not shared.
The change
The variant adds a persistent animated badge to the header account icon.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The header showed static icons for the account, favorites and cart.
Variant
The same header kept all three icons but added a persistent, animated notification badge on the account icon.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- The DeFacto team saw that many visitors meant to log in or register but did not notice how. A moving badge draws the eye to the icon.
- A badge looks like a notification, which can make people curious enough to tap it.
- Black Friday traffic brings many first-time buyers, so there were more people who had not yet signed up.
Caveats: The test ran for only 10 days during Black Friday, when traffic and intent are unusual. The metrics were logins and registrations, not sales, and no sample size was given.
Who ran it
Catalysor ran this test for DeFacto and published the results (VWO case study). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on Catalysor →
How to run this test on your store
- Hypothesis
- If we add an animated badge to the account icon in the header, then more visitors will log in or register because the icon becomes easier to notice.
- Primary metric
- Logins and new registrations per visitor
- Guardrails
- Conversion rate to purchase
- Add-to-cart rate
- Bounce rate
- Who should test it
- Stores that gain from logged-in shoppers, such as those with loyalty programs or saved carts, and that see many visitors skip signing in. It may annoy repeat customers if the badge never goes away or carries no real message.
Questions
Do animated icons increase account sign-ups?
In this test, an animated badge on the account icon lifted registrations by 8.55% and logins by 21.53%.
Results may differ outside a busy sale period.
Why get shoppers to log in during a sale?
Logged-in buyers can be reached again and are easier to turn into repeat customers.
DeFacto wanted to turn Black Friday buyers into known users.
Can a notification badge hurt the experience?
It can if it feels like a fake alert or never clears.
Watch purchase rate and bounce rate alongside logins.
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