Social proof messages on product pages: +9% conversion (UK)
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsAdding messages about product popularity to Hunter Boots product pages lifted conversion by 9% in the UK and 6% in the US.
Conversio, a London optimization agency, ran the test using AB Tasty's social proof feature.
It was published as a VWO case study.
- UK conversion rate: +9%.
- US conversion rate: +6%. The two markets were measured separately.
- Product view counts mattered more to US shoppers than to UK shoppers.
The change
A product popularity message is added to the product page.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
Product pages showed no social proof messages about how popular a product was.
Variant
Product pages showed a message about the product's popularity. The wording and position were refined after a first proof of concept and tuned for UK and US shoppers.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Seeing that others are looking at or buying a product reassures shoppers they are making a good choice.
- It likely helped most on newer categories where shoppers knew less about the products, which the brand pointed out.
- Tuning the message for each market made it more relevant than one global message would be.
Caveats: This result followed a proof of concept and several rounds of refinement. No sample size, duration or significance was shared, and the testing vendor published the case study.
Who ran it
Conversio ran this test for Hunter Boots and published the results (VWO case study). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on Conversio →
How to run this test on your store
- Hypothesis
- If we show a popularity message on product pages, such as recent views or purchases, then conversion will rise, because shoppers feel more sure of their choice when they see others are interested.
- Primary metric
- Conversion rate
- Guardrails
- Add-to-cart rate
- Return rate
- Revenue per visitor
- Who should test it
- Brands with enough traffic that popularity numbers look real, and new or unfamiliar products. Small stores with low numbers may hurt trust by showing them.
Questions
Does social proof on product pages increase conversion?
Often, yes. Hunter Boots saw a 9% conversion lift in the UK and 6% in the US after adding popularity messages.
Which social proof message works best?
It depends on the audience. For Hunter Boots, product view counts worked better for US shoppers than UK ones, so test a few metrics.
Can social proof backfire?
Yes, if the numbers are low or look fake.
Only show them when they are real and large enough to reassure.
Similar tests
@oliverkenyon
@DaveDiederen@DaveDiederen
@CROguy_@DaveDiederen@DaveDiederen