Product recommendations in checkout: +2% conversion, inconclusive
Test run byBlend CommerceCRO agency
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsAdding a compact Rebuy recommendation widget to Fame's Shopify Plus checkout showed a 2% conversion lift, but we treat the result as inconclusive.
Revenue per visitor was flat at -0.16%, and only two products were bought through the widget.
Blend Commerce ran the test in Rebuy across mobile and desktop.
- Conversion rate: +2%. No confidence level was reported, so this may be noise.
- Revenue: +5% in total, but revenue per visitor: -0.16%. Per visitor, revenue was flat.
- Only two products were bought through the widget during the test. The cross-sell itself added very little.
- The main takeaway: the widget did not appear to hurt checkout. The agency rolled it out and planned follow-up tests.
The change
The variant adds a compact Rebuy recommendation widget to checkout
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
Fame's Shopify Plus checkout had no product recommendations.
Variant
A compact Rebuy widget in checkout showed complementary or recently viewed products, based on the shopper's cart and browsing.
Why it likely came out this way
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- A compact module may stay out of the way, which would explain why checkout completion did not drop.
- Shoppers in checkout are focused on paying, so few stop to add another item.
- Checkout gets less traffic than other pages, which makes a clear result harder to reach in the same time.
Caveats: Confidence and sample size were not reported, and Rebuy did not provide session data. With only two widget purchases, the result is directional at best.
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 show a small set of relevant add-on products in checkout, then average order value will rise because shoppers see useful extras at the point of highest intent.
- Primary metric
- Revenue per visitor
- Guardrails
- Checkout completion rate
- Conversion rate
- Widget purchases
- Who should test it
- Shopify Plus stores with clear add-on products, such as accessories or refills, and enough checkout traffic to reach a result. Stores with low checkout volume may wait weeks for a clear answer.
Questions
Do checkout upsells hurt conversion?
Not in this test. Conversion rose 2%, though the result was not conclusive. Keeping the widget compact likely helped.
Can you add product recommendations to Shopify checkout?
On Shopify Plus, checkout extensibility allows apps such as Rebuy to add widgets there. Fame used that setup.
Why are checkout tests slow to reach significance?
Fewer visitors reach checkout than other pages. Tests there collect data more slowly.
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