Category tags under mobile homepage banner: +75.89% conversion
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsAdding prominent category tags directly below the mobile homepage banner raised category clicks by 68.46% and ecommerce conversion rate by 75.89%.
ConvertPolo ran this A/B test for hydrogen water bottle brand Evolv, and it was published as a VWO case study.
Before, categories were only reachable through the hamburger menu.
- Clicks on homepage category links: +68.46%.
- Ecommerce conversion rate: +75.89%.
- Results were judged with Bayesian statistics, but no sample size was given.
The change
Category tags added right below the mobile homepage banner.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
On mobile, the homepage had a top banner and hid product categories inside the hamburger menu.
Variant
Prominent category tags sat directly below the top banner, so shoppers could tap into a category without opening the menu.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- A hamburger menu hides options behind a tap; visible tags show shoppers what the store sells right away.
- Fewer steps to reach products means fewer chances to drop off, and the site had seen drop-off between pages as high as 92%.
- Tags near the top catch shoppers before they scroll away.
Caveats: The lifts are very large and no sample size was shared. The test ran within a September 19 to December 13, 2024 program that overlaps the holiday season.
Who ran it
ConvertPolo ran this test for Evolv 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 ConvertPolo →
How to run this test on your store
- Hypothesis
- If we show category tags directly below the mobile homepage banner, then more shoppers will reach products and buy because they won't have to open the menu to find categories.
- Primary metric
- Mobile ecommerce conversion rate
- Guardrails
- Category page clicks
- Revenue per visitor
- Homepage bounce rate
- Who should test it
- Mobile-heavy stores with a few clear categories that currently live only in the hamburger menu. If you sell one hero product, tags add little; a direct product link may do more.
Questions
Is a hamburger menu bad for mobile conversions?
Not always, but hiding categories behind it can slow shoppers down.
In this test, showing category tags on the page lifted conversion rate by 75.89%.
Where should category links go on a mobile homepage?
Directly below the top banner worked here. It is the first thing shoppers see after the hero.
How many category tags should I show?
The source does not say how many Evolv used.
Keep it to the few categories most shoppers want so the tags stay easy to scan.
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