# Recommender after 30 seconds idle on product pages: +4.5% purchases

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Product page (Ecommerce)
- Elements: Popups & email capture, Upsells & cross-sells
- Date shared: 2026-03
- Test run by: [OptiMonk](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/optimonk/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://www.optimonk.com/dorko-ai-case-study
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/dorko-inactivity-product-recommender-popup/

Showing three alternative products from the same category after 30 seconds of inactivity on a product page lifted Dorko's purchases by 4.5%. OptiMonk ran this for the footwear and apparel retailer and published it as a case study. The case study does not say whether this was a split test or a before-and-after comparison.

## Result

**+4.5% purchases**

- Purchases: +4.5%.
- The case study does not say how this was measured, so it may not be a controlled test.
- Seasonal popups Dorko ran at the same time got a 14-15% click-through rate. That is a separate campaign and not part of this result.

## Control

Product pages with no recommendation prompt.

## Variant

An AI recommender that appears after 30 seconds of inactivity on a product page and suggests 3 alternatives in the same category, such as other men's boots on a boot page.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- Inactivity is a sign the shopper is stuck. Offering options at that moment helps them decide.
- Three choices in the same category keep the list short enough to compare.
- With thousands of products, shoppers can easily miss a better fit without guidance.

## Caveats

It's not stated whether this was a split test or a before-and-after comparison. Sample size, duration and significance are not shared, and the result is vendor-reported.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we show three same-category alternatives when a shopper is idle for 30 seconds on a product page, then purchases will rise because stuck shoppers get a nudge toward a product that fits.
- Primary metric: Purchase conversion rate
- Guardrail: Product page exit rate
- Guardrail: Average order value
- Guardrail: Return rate
- Who should test it: Apparel and footwear stores with many similar products, where shoppers struggle to choose. Small catalogs or one-product stores have little to recommend.

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Credit: OptiMonk ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/dorko-inactivity-product-recommender-popup/).
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.