Raising shipping to $7.95: +1.57% revenue per visitor
Test run byDave DiederenSyntra Labs
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsRaising the shipping fee to $7.95 lifted revenue per visitor by 1.57%, an estimated A$20,478 a month, with no change in conversion rate. Dave Diederen tested $6.95 and $7.95 against the current price. The $6.95 group performed about the same as control.
- Conversion rate: no change (8.25% control vs 8.17% at $7.95). The tool still estimated about 153 fewer orders a month, so it is worth watching.
- +1.57% revenue per visitor at $7.95 (A$6.97 to A$7.08), estimated at +A$20,478 a month.
- +2.21% profit per visitor at $7.95 (A$3.63 to A$3.71), estimated at +A$14,958 a month.
- +2.59% average order value (A$84.47 to A$86.66), mostly from the higher fee itself.
- The $6.95 group was flat against control on every metric shown.
The change
Only the shipping fee changes; $7.95 was the winning price.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
Shoppers paid the store's existing shipping fee. The control price is not shown in the screenshot.
Variant
Two higher shipping prices were tested in separate groups: $6.95 and $7.95. Prices appear to be in Australian dollars.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- shoppers who reach checkout care far more about the product than a small shipping fee change.
- an extra dollar or two on shipping is a small share of an order around A$85, so few people notice or mind.
- the extra fee flows almost straight to profit, which is why profit per visitor rose more than revenue.
Caveats: Sample size, test length and the control shipping price were not shared. All the ranges shown cross zero, so the gain is likely but not certain.
Who ran it
Dave Diederen (@DaveDiederen) shared this test on X. The numbers and screenshots are theirs.
View the original post on X
How to run this test on your store
- Hypothesis
- If we raise the shipping fee in small steps, then profit per visitor will rise because conversion stays flat while each order brings in more.
- Primary metric
- Profit per visitor
- Guardrails
- Conversion rate
- Checkout abandonment rate
- Repeat purchase rate
- Who should test it
- Stores with mid-sized orders and a paid shipping fee that has not been tested. Be careful in markets where free shipping is the norm, or where low order values make the fee a big share of the total.
Questions
Does raising shipping costs lower conversion?
Not in this test. Conversion rate showed no significant change at $7.95, while revenue and profit per visitor rose.
How much should I raise my shipping price in a test?
Dave Diederen suggests moving up about $1 per test group. Here the groups were $6.95 and $7.95.
What should I measure in a shipping price test?
Profit per visitor is the clearest metric, since the extra fee is mostly margin. Keep an eye on conversion and checkout drop-off as well.
Similar tests
@DaveDiederen@DaveDiederen@DaveDiederen
@CROguy_@DaveDiederen
@kasper_dolk