# Image story widgets for key categories on homepage: +44% conversion

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Homepage (Ecommerce)
- Elements: Navigation & mega menus, Hero & above-the-fold section
- Test run by: [Blend Commerce](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/blend-commerce/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://blendcommerce.com/blogs/ab-tests-shopify/improve-homepage-product-discovery-with-story-widgets
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/doctor-pooper-homepage-story-widgets/

Adding image-based story widgets that link to key product categories near the top of the homepage lifted conversion rate by 44% for Doctor Pooper, a maker of septic and drain cleaning products. Blend Commerce ran this A/B/C test over two weeks. A second variant using text category pills also beat the original, but by less.

## Result

**+44% conversion**

- Conversion rate: +44% for the story widget variant.
- Revenue per visitor: +41%.
- Checkout begin rate: +37%.
- Product page views rose while collection page views fell, so shoppers went more directly to products.
- The result held on both desktop and mobile, but the test only approached significance.

## Control

The original homepage did not show key categories such as drain fly killer, septic cleaners and bundles above the fold.

## Variant

Variant 2 added a row of story-style widgets near the top, each with an image linking to one key category. Variant 1, not shown here, used text subcategory pills instead.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- The most important product paths were hidden below the fold. The widgets put them in view straight away.
- Images help shoppers recognise a category faster than text alone, which may explain why Variant 2 beat the text pills.
- Septic and drain problems are specific. Letting shoppers pick their problem first gets them to the right product sooner.

## Caveats

The test ran for two weeks and approached, but did not reach, statistical significance. Sample size was not shared.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we add image-based category shortcuts near the top of the homepage, then conversion will rise because shoppers can jump straight to the product type they need.
- Primary metric: Conversion rate
- Guardrail: Revenue per visitor
- Guardrail: Checkout begin rate
- Guardrail: Homepage bounce rate
- Who should test it: Stores with a few distinct product categories that solve different problems, where the homepage does not show them up front. A single-product store, or one whose hero already routes shoppers well, has less to gain.

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Credit: Blend Commerce ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/doctor-pooper-homepage-story-widgets/).
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.