Subcategory pills on the homepage: +5.66% conversion rate
Test run byBlend CommerceCRO agency
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsAdding a carousel of subcategory pill links to the homepage lifted conversion rate by 5.66% for apparel brand Fame.
Blend Commerce ran this A/B test, and revenue per visitor rose 8.36%.
The test ran one week and reached about 70% confidence, so the agency treats it as directional.
- Conversion rate: +5.66%.
- Revenue per visitor: +8.36%.
- Average order value: +2.55%.
- Collection page views rose 1.33% and add-to-cart rate rose 1%. Product page views did not change.
- The gain was stronger on desktop. Mobile showed no harm.
The change
A row of subcategory pill links is added near the hero (mobile layout shown).
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The homepage led with a large video and gave shoppers few visible routes into product collections.
Variant
A pill-style carousel of subcategory links, starting with New Arrivals and ending with Sale, was added. It sat above the hero on mobile and below it on desktop.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- The pills gave shoppers direct routes into collections like Denim, Dresses and Tops from the first screen.
- On desktop, they added a second way to browse besides the main menu.
- Putting New Arrivals first and Sale last may have nudged shoppers toward full-price items.
Caveats: The test ran for one week and reached about 70% confidence, well below the usual threshold. Sample size was not shared.
Who ran it
Blend Commerce ran this test for Fame and published the results (Blend Commerce A/B test). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on Blend Commerce →
How to run this test on your store
- Hypothesis
- If we add subcategory pill links near the homepage hero, then conversion will rise because shoppers reach relevant collections with less effort.
- Primary metric
- Conversion rate
- Guardrails
- Revenue per visitor
- Average order value
- Sale collection share of orders
- Who should test it
- Stores with several clear categories and a homepage built around a big image or video. If your homepage already links clearly to collections, expect a smaller effect.
Questions
What are subcategory pills?
They are small, rounded text links to collections, often in a scrollable row.
They give shoppers a quick way into a category without opening the menu.
Should subcategory pills go above or below the hero?
Fame put them above the hero on mobile and below it on desktop.
The gain was stronger on desktop, so test placement for each device.
Similar tests
@oliverkenyon@oliverkenyon@oliverkenyon@oliverkenyon
@DaveDiederen@DaveDiederen