# Social proof messages for new visitors: over +8% conversion rate

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Site-wide (Ecommerce)
- Elements: Social proof, authority & press
- Test run by: [Endless Gain](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/endless-gain/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://wingify.com/success-stories/fragrance-direct-optimization-program/
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/fragrance-direct-social-proof-messages-new-visitors/

Showing a range of social proof messages to new visitors raised user conversion rate by more than 8%. Endless Gain ran this work for Fragrance Direct, a UK beauty retailer, and it was published as a VWO case study. Research had shown that few shoppers knew the brand, so the messages aimed to build trust.

## Result

**over +8% conversion rate**

- User conversion rate: over +8% for new visitors who saw the messages.
- The result covers several messages across more than one experience, so no single message gets the credit.
- No sample size, duration or confidence level was shared.

## Control

New visitors saw the site without any social proof messaging.

## Variant

New visitors saw several social proof messages. The case study does not give their wording or where they appeared.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- Shoppers who don't know a retailer worry whether it is genuine. Proof that others buy there answers that worry.
- Targeting only new visitors put the messages in front of the people with the least trust.
- Fragrance Direct stocks big-name brands, so the doubt was about the store, not the products.

## Caveats

Several messages ran across different experiences, and their exact wording and placement were not shared. No sample size, duration or significance was published.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we show social proof messages to first-time visitors, then more of them will buy because proof that others shop with us eases doubt about an unfamiliar store.
- Primary metric: Conversion rate for new visitors
- Guardrail: Bounce rate
- Guardrail: Average order value
- Guardrail: Returning visitor conversion rate
- Who should test it: Retailers with low brand awareness, especially resellers of well-known brands competing with bigger stores. Well-known brands probably gain less, since new visitors already trust them.

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Credit: Endless Gain ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/fragrance-direct-social-proof-messages-new-visitors/).
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.