# Hero image and value copy on final checkout: +13.83% sales

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Checkout (Ecommerce)
- Elements: Hero & above-the-fold section, Headlines, product titles & copy, Free gifts & gift with purchase
- Test run by: [MECLABS](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/meclabs/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://marketingexperiments.com/e-commerce-marketing/checkout-page-redesign
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/gap-meclabs-uk-vacation-checkout-hero-and-value/

Adding a hero image, reassuring headline copy and add-on links to the final checkout page lifted conversions by 13.83% for a UK ticket broker selling Florida vacation packages. MECLABS ran the five-day test and published it on MarketingExperiments in February 2011. Several changes shipped together, so the lift belongs to the whole redesign.

## Result

**+13.83% sales**

- Conversions rose 13.83% over the five-day test.
- The test also aimed to compare revenue, but no revenue result was shared.
- Bundled change: imagery, copy, add-on links, colours and the FREE bonus line all shipped together, so no single element can claim the lift.

## Control

A functional but plain final checkout page that matched earlier pages in design. It had no welcoming copy, no imagery and no links to add-ons.

## Variant

The page gained a hero image above the cart, a headline backing the buyer's choice, links to extra package options, lighter colours and a smaller side box. A line under the selection confirmed a free bonus the buyer already got, labelled FREE.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- The hero image kept the emotional pull of the earlier pages going at the final step, where a big purchase can cause last-minute doubt.
- Showing the free bonus in the cart made the existing deal look more valuable without changing the offer.
- Lighter colours made the page easier to read and scan.

## Caveats

A short five-day test with no sample size or confidence level shared, and several changes bundled together. It is a travel booking from around 2011, not physical goods.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we carry the imagery and value message from earlier pages into the final checkout page and show bonuses in the cart, then more buyers will complete, because the last step will reassure rather than feel bare.
- Primary metric: Checkout conversion rate
- Guardrail: Revenue per checkout
- Guardrail: Add-on attach rate
- Guardrail: Clicks away from checkout
- Who should test it: Sellers of high-consideration, emotional purchases such as trips, events or premium gifts, where doubt peaks at payment. Low-price repeat buys probably gain less from extra imagery at checkout.

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Credit: MECLABS ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/gap-meclabs-uk-vacation-checkout-hero-and-value/).
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.