Trustpilot review widget under Add to Basket: +58.29% purchases
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsAdding a larger Trustpilot widget with customer reviews just below the Add to Basket button lifted purchases by 58.29%.
The agency High Position ran this A/B test for Express Watches, a UK authorized Seiko dealer, and it was published as a VWO case study.
The test ran for over two months with thousands of visitors and reached 99% significance.
- Purchases: +58.29% with the Trustpilot widget on product pages.
- Statistical significance: 99%.
- The test ran for over two months with thousands of visitors. The exact sample size was not shared.
The change
A large Trustpilot review widget sits directly under Add to Basket.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
Product pages showed a Seiko authorized-dealer badge, a small green Trustpilot badge and a list of reasons to buy from the store.
Variant
A larger Trustpilot widget showing real customer reviews was placed right under the Add to Basket button, with a line above it saying customers love the store.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- A user survey showed visitors worried about fake watches, and the site's own claims were not enough to settle that.
- Reviews hosted by an outside platform are harder to fake than testimonials a store writes on its own site.
- Placing the widget right below the buy button put the reassurance at the moment of decision.
- For a retailer that is not a famous name, independent proof helps it stand apart from replica sellers.
Caveats: High Position has since been acquired by Semetrical. The test's date was not given, so the result may reflect an older market.
Who ran it
High Position ran this test for Express Watches 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 High Position →
How to run this test on your store
- Hypothesis
- If we show independent third-party reviews right under the add-to-cart button, then purchases will rise because shoppers will trust that we are a genuine seller.
- Primary metric
- Purchases (orders per product page visitor)
- Guardrails
- Add-to-cart rate
- Clicks away to the review site
- Average order value
- Who should test it
- Lesser-known stores selling high-value or often-faked products, such as watches, electronics or luxury goods, where trust is the main barrier. It will matter less for big brands or if your third-party rating is weak.
Questions
Do third-party review widgets work better than on-site testimonials?
They often carry more weight because shoppers know the store can't easily edit them.
In this test, the larger Trustpilot widget lifted purchases by 58.29%.
Where should a review widget go on a product page?
Here it sat right under the add-to-basket button, where doubts tend to peak.
Test that spot against placements lower on the page.
Should I show reviews if my rating is average?
A middling score can hurt as much as it helps.
Work on your rating first, or test carefully before showing it next to the buy button.
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