Larger mobile search bar: +8.33% purchases
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsMaking the mobile site search bar larger and easier to spot lifted purchases by 8.33% for safety equipment store Safety Gear Pro.
Wingify Services ran this A/B test, published as a VWO case study.
Site search already converted well, but few visitors used it.
- Purchases: +8.33%.
- No other metrics, sample size or duration were shared.
The change
The mobile search bar becomes larger and more prominent.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The mobile site showed a standard-size search bar.
Variant
The search bar was made bigger and more prominent, so visitors could find it at a glance.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Visitors who used search converted well, so getting more people to search likely meant more orders.
- A small search bar is easy to miss on a phone. A larger one invites a tap.
- Safety gear buyers often know the item they need, so search is a fast route to it.
Caveats: The source gives no duration, sample size or significance for this test. The data dates from around 2020.
Who ran it
VWO ran this test for Safety Gear Pro and published the results (VWO case study). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on VWO →
How to run this test on your store
- Hypothesis
- If we make the mobile search bar larger and more prominent, then purchases will rise because more high-intent visitors will find and use search.
- Primary metric
- Purchase conversion rate
- Guardrails
- Search usage rate
- Searches with no results
- Mobile bounce rate
- Who should test it
- Stores where site search converts better than browsing but few people use it, often those with large catalogues. With a small catalogue, browsing usually works fine and the gain will be smaller.
Questions
Does the size of the search bar matter?
It can. Safety Gear Pro saw purchases rise 8.33% just by making its mobile search bar bigger and easier to see.
How do I know if my store should push site search?
Compare conversion rates for visitors who search against those who don't.
If searchers convert better and few people search, making search more visible is a good test.
Similar tests
@oliverkenyon
Blend CommerceBlend CommerceBlend CommerceBlend CommerceBlend Commerce