# Open search bar on mobile instead of an icon: +14% search use

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Site-wide (Ecommerce)
- Elements: Filters, sorting & site search
- Test run by: [VWO](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/vwo/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://wingify.com/success-stories/panduro/
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/panduro-mobile-open-search-bar/

Showing an open search bar on mobile, instead of a hard-to-spot search icon, raised search use by 14% and purchases by 2.67%. Wingify Services ran this one-week test for Panduro, a hobby and craft retailer, and it was published as a VWO case study. The search lift was reported at 100% confidence; no confidence level was given for purchases.

## Result

**+14% search use**

- Search usage: +14%, at a reported 100% confidence level.
- Purchases: +2.67%. Significance for this figure was not shared.
- The variant was rolled out to all visitors.

## Control

The mobile header had a search icon that was not well highlighted. Panduro's data showed mobile shoppers who searched converted 65% better than those who didn't.

## Variant

The search bar was shown open when a visitor landed on the site. On scroll, it merged into the top navigation so it stayed available.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- An open field is easier to notice and tap than a small icon.
- Searchers already converted far better, so getting more people to search was likely to help sales.
- Merging the bar into the header on scroll kept it in reach without taking up screen space.

## Caveats

The test ran for only one week, and the purchase lift has no stated significance. No sample size was shared, and the result is vendor-reported.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we show an open search field in the mobile header instead of an icon, then more shoppers will search and buy because searchers convert better and the field is easier to find.
- Primary metric: Mobile conversion rate
- Guardrail: Search usage rate
- Guardrail: Searches with zero results
- Guardrail: Revenue per visitor
- Who should test it: Stores with large catalogs where searchers convert well above average. If your search returns poor results, fix that first, or more searches may just mean more frustration.

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Credit: VWO ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/panduro-mobile-open-search-bar/).
Usage: Free to use, quote and build on, with credit and a link: name the practitioner or organization that ran the test and link to its LiftArchive page. The results belong to the practitioners who ran and shared them; the summaries and commentary are LiftArchive's.