# Category page with key details and clearer layout: +20% orders

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Collection page (Ecommerce)
- Elements: Layout, fonts & visual design, Product cards & quick add
- Test run by: [MECLABS](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/meclabs/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://marketingexperiments.com/conversion-marketing/category-page-test-order-rates
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/gap-meclabs-strength-equipment-category-page/

Adding missing key details to a category page and reordering it along a natural eye path raised the order rate by 20% for a store selling strength and conditioning tools to pro athletes. MECLABS ran the A/B test and published it on MarketingExperiments in November 2013. The listings were for workshops, and the missing details were each workshop's focus, location and dates.

## Result

**+20% orders**

- Order rate rose 20%.
- No sample size, test length or confidence level was shared.
- MECLABS ran it as a variable cluster test: new information and a new layout shipped together, so neither can claim the lift alone.

## Control

A category page where, in the MECLABS team's view, critical details were hard to find. These were the workshop focus, location and dates.

## Variant

A redesigned category page that showed the missing focus, location and date details. The layout was reworked to follow a more natural eye path.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- Shoppers choosing a workshop need to know what it covers, where it is and when. Hiding that forces extra clicks or guesswork.
- A layout that follows how people scan helps them compare options quickly.
- Putting the deciding details on the category page lets visitors pick before they click through.

## Caveats

Test from around 2013 with no sample size, duration or confidence level shared. Information and layout changed together, and the listings were workshops rather than physical products.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we show the details people use to choose (such as dates, location or key specs) on the category page and lay it out for easy scanning, then more visitors will order, because they can compare without opening each item.
- Primary metric: Order rate from category page visitors
- Guardrail: Click-through rate to product pages
- Guardrail: Bounce rate on the category page
- Guardrail: Mobile page load time
- Who should test it: Stores where choosing depends on a few concrete facts, like event dates, sizes or compatibility. If your products sell mostly on image and price, extra details may just add clutter.

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Credit: MECLABS ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/gap-meclabs-strength-equipment-category-page/).
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.