# 'Explore Similar Products' link on sold-out items: +4.59% conversion

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Product page (Ecommerce)
- Elements: Upsells & cross-sells, Product images & gallery
- Test run by: [Blend Commerce](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/blend-commerce/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://blendcommerce.com/blogs/ab-tests-shopify/4-59-increase-in-conversion-rate
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/plant-brand-sold-out-explore-similar/

Placing an 'Explore Similar Products' message in the image gallery of sold-out product pages raised conversion rate by 4.59%. Blend Commerce ran this A/B test for a plants brand after session recordings showed mobile users rarely scrolled past the sold-out notice. Revenue per visitor rose 6.97% and back-in-stock clicks rose 8.48%.

## Result

**+4.59% conversion**

- Conversion rate: +4.59%, as more visitors who landed on an out-of-stock item went on to buy something else.
- Revenue per visitor: +6.97%.
- Clicks on 'Notify Me When Back in Stock': +8.48%, even though the new link pointed to recommendations. Bringing people down the page exposed the sign-up too.

## Control

Sold-out product pages showed a 'Sold Out' state, with the back-in-stock sign-up and the similar products module further down the page, where many mobile users never reached them.

## Variant

A message inside the main gallery image, above the fold, linked to 'Explore Similar Products' and jumped visitors down to the recommendation module.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- A sold-out label is a dead end. Many mobile shoppers leave instead of scrolling to find what else is on the page.
- Putting the next step inside the gallery puts it where people are already looking.
- Plant shoppers often want a type of plant rather than one exact item, so a similar product can be an acceptable substitute.

## Caveats

Blend Commerce does not share sample size, test length or statistical confidence.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we add a link to similar products inside the gallery of sold-out product pages, then more visitors will buy an alternative because they see the option without scrolling.
- Primary metric: Conversion rate of sessions that view a sold-out product page
- Guardrail: Revenue per visitor
- Guardrail: Back-in-stock sign-ups
- Guardrail: Bounce rate on sold-out pages
- Who should test it: Stores with frequent stockouts and products that can stand in for each other, such as plants, apparel basics or home goods. It is less useful when shoppers want one exact item, like a specific replacement part, or when stockouts are rare.

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Credit: Blend Commerce ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/plant-brand-sold-out-explore-similar/).
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.