Free shipping message under add to cart: +19% orders
Test run byGrowthRockCRO agency
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsAdding a free shipping and free returns message directly below the add-to-cart button lifted orders by 19% for a furniture ecommerce site.
GrowthRock ran this A/B test for two weeks, with over 1,500 conversions and 99.9% statistical significance.
The same offer had already appeared in the sitewide promo bar.
- Orders: +19% at 99.9% statistical significance.
- The test ran for two weeks and recorded over 1,500 conversions.
- The offer itself did not change. Only where it appeared did.
The change
A free shipping and returns line appears under the add-to-cart button.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
Free shipping and free returns were mentioned only in the sitewide promo bar, alongside other messages.
Variant
A free shipping and free returns line appeared directly below the add-to-cart button on product pages.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Promo bars are easy to ignore, and this one competed with other messages.
- Shipping a sofa sounds costly and returns sound like a hassle, so this message answers a big worry.
- Placing it next to the add-to-cart button puts the reassurance right where shoppers decide.
Caveats: The test dates from around 2019. A similar test by the same agency for a supplement brand showed no difference.
Who ran it
GrowthRock ran this test for a furniture ecommerce site and published the results (GrowthRock blog). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on GrowthRock →
How to run this test on your store
- Hypothesis
- If we show free shipping and returns right below the add-to-cart button, then more visitors will order because the offer is seen at the moment of decision.
- Primary metric
- Orders (conversion rate)
- Guardrails
- Return rate
- Average order value
- Add-to-cart rate
- Who should test it
- Stores selling large, high-priced or hard-to-return items that offer free shipping or returns. If shipping is already expected in your niche, as with the supplement test, the lift may not appear.
Questions
Where should I show free shipping on a product page?
Near the add-to-cart button is a strong spot to test.
In this furniture test it lifted orders by 19%.
Is a promo bar enough to communicate free shipping?
Not always. Here the offer was already in the promo bar, yet repeating it near the button still raised orders.
Does free shipping messaging always help?
No. The same agency saw no difference for a supplement brand, likely because shoppers there already expected it.
Similar tests
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