Cart cut from 9 CTAs to 2 with a blue checkout button: +11.4%
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsCutting the cart page from nine calls to action to two, and changing the checkout button from yellow to blue, lifted overall performance by 11.4%.
KingsPoint, a Norwegian agency, ran this test for nameOn, a seller of embroidered personalized gifts, and it was published as a VWO case study.
Two changes shipped together, so the lift can't be credited to either one alone.
- Overall performance: +11.4% at 99% statistical significance, reported as revenue.
- More visitors went from the cart to the checkout page during the test.
- The source says both e-commerce conversion rate and average order value went up, but gives no separate figures.
- The team had projected that a 10% lift in checkout visits would add about $8,500 a month. That was an estimate made before the test, not a measured result.
The change
The variant drops seven extra CTAs and turns the checkout button blue.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The cart page had nine calls to action, including newsletter sign-up, a Facebook like button and a link back to the home page. The checkout button was yellow.
Variant
Every call to action was removed except "Welcome bonus" and "Continue to checkout". The checkout button was changed from yellow to blue so it stood out from the rest of the page.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Fewer links mean fewer ways to leave the cart. Newsletter and social buttons pull attention away from buying.
- With only two options left, the next step is obvious to the shopper.
- A button color that contrasts with the page makes the main action easier to spot.
- We can't tell how much came from removing CTAs and how much from the color change, because both shipped together.
Caveats: Two changes were tested at once: removing CTAs and recoloring the button. The test ran for about six weeks; the $8,500 a month figure was a pre-test projection, not a measured outcome.
Who ran it
KingsPoint ran this test for nameOn 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 KingsPoint →
How to run this test on your store
- Hypothesis
- If we remove secondary calls to action from the cart page and make the checkout button stand out, then more shoppers will continue to checkout because there are fewer distractions competing for attention.
- Primary metric
- Cart-to-checkout click-through rate
- Guardrails
- Revenue per visitor
- Average order value
- Newsletter sign-ups from other pages
- Who should test it
- Stores whose cart page carries social, newsletter or browsing links next to the checkout button. If your cart already has one clear button, gains will likely be small.
Questions
Should I remove links from my cart page?
Often it helps. Each extra link is a way out of the funnel.
Keep only what helps people buy, and test the change instead of assuming.
What color should a checkout button be?
No single color wins everywhere. What matters is contrast with the rest of the page, so the button is the first thing shoppers see.
Can I test two cart changes at once?
You can, and it's faster, but you won't know which change caused the result.
If you need to know, follow up with a test that changes one thing.
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