# Checkout that explains why it asks for each detail: +19% conversion

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Checkout (Ecommerce)
- Elements: Checkout steps, fields & flow, Headlines, product titles & copy
- Test run by: [MECLABS](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/meclabs/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://marketingexperiments.com/e-commerce-marketing/quick-cart-changes
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/gap-meclabs-textbook-checkout-justify-steps/

An online college textbook seller lifted conversion by 19% by explaining why each checkout step and piece of information was needed. MECLABS ran the test and shared it in a shopping cart web clinic, published on MarketingExperiments.

## Result

**+19% conversion**

- Conversion: +19% against the original checkout.
- Only the headline figure is shared. Sample size, duration and confidence are not stated.

## Control

The checkout asked shoppers for information without saying why it was needed.

## Variant

The checkout added short explanations of why each step and each piece of information was being asked for.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- Shoppers tend to see each request for data as a cost. A reason can make the cost feel fair.
- Explanations may have eased worries about how personal details would be used.
- Students buying textbooks are often price-sensitive and cautious, so reassurance may matter more for this audience.

## Caveats

Old data: MECLABS presented this test in a December 2012 web clinic, and the written recap gives only the headline number. Sample size, duration and confidence are not shared.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we add a short reason next to each checkout step and sensitive field, then more shoppers will finish checkout because the requests feel justified.
- Primary metric: Checkout completion rate
- Guardrail: Time to complete checkout
- Guardrail: Field error rate
- Guardrail: Average order value
- Who should test it: Stores that ask for details shoppers may question, such as phone number, date of birth or account creation. If you only ask for the basics, the gain is likely smaller.

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Credit: MECLABS ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/gap-meclabs-textbook-checkout-justify-steps/).
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.