Naming the sale in the discount badge: +11.12% conversion rate
Test run byDave DiederenSyntra Labs
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsAdding the sale's name to the discount badge, from "Save 50%" to "Summer Sale - Save 50%", raised conversion rate by 11.12% and revenue per visitor by 9.99%. Dave Diederen ran this test. Average order value dipped slightly.
- Conversion rate rose 11.12% (3.31% to 3.67%), about 618 extra orders a month by the dashboard's estimate.
- Revenue per visitor rose 9.99% ($1.52 to $1.67), about $25,517 a month.
- Average order value fell 1.01% ($45.92 to $45.45). This is small and well within the noise.
- The ranges were wide (-7% to +32% on conversion), so the true lift could be smaller.
The change
The discount badge adds the sale's name before the percentage.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
Next to the crossed-out price, the badge read "Save 50%".
Variant
The badge named the event: "Summer Sale - Save 50%". The price and discount stayed the same.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- a bare percentage can look like a permanent markdown, while a named sale gives the discount a reason.
- a named event suggests an end date, which adds urgency without a timer.
- it is a one-line copy change, so nothing else on the page competes with the effect.
Caveats: Sample size and duration were not shared, and the ranges cross zero. The before/after images use placeholder content, not the real store.
Who ran it
Dave Diederen (@DaveDiederen) shared this test on X. The numbers and screenshots are theirs.
View the original post on X
How to run this test on your store
- Hypothesis
- If we name the sale in the discount badge, then more visitors will buy because the discount feels like a time-limited event, not a permanent price.
- Primary metric
- Conversion rate
- Guardrails
- Average order value
- Margin per order
- Post-sale conversion rate
- Who should test it
- Stores running real, named promotions. It won't help if the store is always on sale under a made-up name, and shoppers may lose trust.
Questions
Should a discount badge say why the product is on sale?
In this test it helped. Adding "Summer Sale" to the badge lifted conversion rate 11.12%.
Does naming a sale lower order value?
Average order value dipped 1.01% here, which is small. Revenue per visitor still rose 9.99%.
Is this the same as adding a countdown timer?
No. The badge only names the event. Dave Diederen's view is that a named event implies an end date on its own.
Similar tests
@oliverkenyon@oliverkenyon@oliverkenyon@oliverkenyon@oliverkenyon@oliverkenyon