Search field instead of 450-gym dropdown at sign-up: +3.4% conversion
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsReplacing a dropdown of more than 450 gyms with a search field on the first join step lifted membership sign-up conversion by 3.4%.
PureGym, a UK gym chain, ran this test with Wingify, and it was published as an AB Tasty case study.
Users could type a location and the gym list filtered as they typed.
- Membership sign-up conversion: up 3.4%.
- Time spent on the gym selection step dropped, according to the source.
- More users completed gym selection and moved on in the join flow.
- Sample size, duration and confidence level were not shared.
The change
A location search replaces the long gym dropdown on step one
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
Visitors who started joining without coming from a local gym page saw a long dropdown of over 450 locations, with no map or search.
Variant
A search field let visitors type a location and filter the gym options straight away.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Scrolling through hundreds of names is slow, and typing a town is fast.
- People who did not know where PureGym's sites were could find their nearest one without guessing names.
- Removing a stall at the first step lets more people reach the steps where they commit.
Caveats: Sample size, duration and significance were not shared. Details come from the AB Tasty PDF linked on the case study page.
Who ran it
PureGym ran this test and published the results (AB Tasty / Wingify case study). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on PureGym →
How to run this test on your site
- Hypothesis
- If we replace the long location dropdown with a search field, then more visitors will finish sign-up because finding their location will be quicker.
- Primary metric
- Sign-up completion rate
- Guardrails
- Location selection step completion
- Wrong-location sign-ups or later changes
- Mobile vs desktop conversion
- Who should test it
- Multi-location businesses such as gyms, clinics, schools or franchises that ask users to pick a site in a form. It will matter little if you have only a few locations or most visitors arrive from a location page with it already chosen.
Questions
Are long dropdowns bad for sign-up forms?
Very long ones often are, because users have to scroll and scan.
A search or type-ahead field is usually faster when there are hundreds of options.
How should a multi-location business let users pick a site?
Let them type a town or postcode and filter the list.
A map or a 'use my location' option can help too.
Does a small change in the first form step matter?
Yes. Friction at the first step stops people before they see the rest, so a fix there can lift the whole funnel.