# Hover to swap product images on desktop: transactions up

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Product page (Ecommerce)
- Elements: Product images & gallery
- Test run by: [Prismfly](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/prismfly/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://prismfly.com/case-study/princess-polly-fashion-cro-case-study
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/princess-polly-pdp-thumbnail-hover/

Letting desktop shoppers change the main product image by hovering over a thumbnail, instead of clicking it, raised transactions and conversion rate, though no figure was shared. Prismfly ran this A/B test for fashion retailer Princess Polly. It was one of 56 tests run over 17 months across the US and Australian sites.

## Result

**transactions up**

- Transactions and conversion rate: Prismfly called the increase substantial but gave no number.
- The test ran on desktop only.
- Across the wider program, 24 of 56 tests had a positive revenue impact, a 43% win rate.

## Control

On desktop product pages, shoppers had to click a thumbnail to change the main product image.

## Variant

Hovering over a thumbnail swapped the main image, so shoppers could browse photos without clicking.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- Fashion shoppers look at many photos before buying. Fewer clicks make it faster to see fit and detail.
- Prismfly's session recordings in Microsoft Clarity pointed to image browsing as a friction point.
- Hover is a familiar pattern on desktop, so it likely felt natural rather than surprising.

## Caveats

No numbers were shared for this test, so the size of the lift is unknown. It applied to desktop only, where hover exists.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we swap the main product image on thumbnail hover instead of click, then transactions will rise because shoppers can view more photos with less effort.
- Primary metric: Desktop conversion rate
- Guardrail: Add to cart rate
- Guardrail: Product image views per session
- Guardrail: Page load time
- Who should test it: Apparel and other visual categories with several photos per product and meaningful desktop traffic. It does nothing on mobile, so skip it if almost all your traffic is on phones.

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Credit: Prismfly ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/princess-polly-pdp-thumbnail-hover/).
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.