# Value message in every checkout step: +17% subscription conversion

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Checkout (Ecommerce)
- Elements: Headlines, product titles & copy, Subscriptions & subscribe-and-save
- 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-wine-club-checkout-value-prop/

A monthly wine and cheese club raised subscription conversion by 17% by working its value proposition into every step of checkout. MECLABS ran the test and presented it in a shopping cart web clinic, published on MarketingExperiments.

## Result

**+17% subscription conversion**

- Subscription conversion: +17% against the original checkout.
- Only the headline figure is shared. The exact copy, sample size, duration and confidence are not stated.

## Control

The checkout steps showed the forms with no messaging about why the club was worth joining.

## Variant

Each checkout step included value messaging that reminded shoppers what they would get from the club.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- Starting checkout doesn't mean a shopper is sure. Reminders of value can carry them through to the end.
- A subscription is an ongoing commitment, so shoppers may need more reassurance than for a single purchase.
- Value copy at each step may have answered doubts that came up as shoppers saw the price and terms.

## 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. The recap does not show the value copy that was used.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we add short value messages to each checkout step, then more shoppers will complete their subscription because they're reminded what they get as they commit.
- Primary metric: Subscription sign-up rate from checkout start
- Guardrail: Early cancellation rate
- Guardrail: Checkout completion time
- Guardrail: Refund requests
- Who should test it: Subscription and membership businesses with multi-step checkouts. A short one-time purchase checkout has less room for extra copy and may see less effect.

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