Discounted second-flavor offer in cart drawer: +13.4% orders
Test run byGrowthRockCRO agency
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsOffering one pack of a different flavor at a small discount in the add-to-cart drawer raised orders by 13.4% for an online health food brand selling one nutrition bar in three flavors.
GrowthRock ran this A/B/C test and published it on its blog.
Average order value did not change, so the gain came from more people buying, not bigger baskets.
- Orders: +13.4% at 95% significance, from more than 1,000 orders over two weeks.
- Both design versions showed about the same +13% lift over the original.
- Average order value: no change. The goal of bigger baskets was not met.
The change
The variant adds a discounted single pack of another flavor to the drawer.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
When a shopper added a product, the add-to-cart drawer slid in with no other offer.
Variant
The drawer offered a single pack of another flavor for $6, against a usual price of about $8. Two designs were tested, one with a white border and one with a colored background.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- The small discount may have felt like a deal that nudged unsure shoppers to finish buying.
- Right after picking a flavor, some shoppers may wonder about the others. A cheap single pack lets them try one without a big commitment.
- Single packs were not normally for sale, so the offer was something shoppers could not get any other way.
Caveats: The test ran for two weeks with just over 1,000 orders. The test date was not shared.
Who ran it
GrowthRock ran this test for an online health food brand selling one nutrition bar in three flavors 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 offer a discounted single unit of another variety in the add-to-cart drawer, then more shoppers will complete an order because the deal eases doubt about their choice.
- Primary metric
- Orders (conversion rate)
- Guardrails
- Average order value
- Revenue per visitor
- Gross margin per order
- Who should test it
- Brands with a small range of similar products in different flavors, scents or colors, where shoppers may hesitate between them. It is less suited to stores with large catalogs, where related-product cross-sells are more natural.
Questions
Can a cross-sell increase conversion rate, not just order value?
Yes. In this test, the offer did not raise order value but did lift orders by 13.4%.
It seems to have worked as an extra incentive to buy.
How do you cross-sell when you only sell one product?
Offer a different variety of the same product.
Here, a single pack of another flavor at a small discount did the job.
Does the design of a cart drawer offer matter?
In this test, two different designs performed about the same.
The offer itself mattered more than its styling.
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