# Navigation change at The Shade Store: +92% consultation requests

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Navigation & menu (Ecommerce)
- Elements: Navigation & mega menus
- Test run by: [Surefoot](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/surefoot/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://surefoot.me/case-studies/the-shade-store
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/shade-store-nav-change-consultation-submits/

A change to The Shade Store's site navigation lifted in-home consultation submissions by 92%. Surefoot ran this A/B test for the custom window-treatment brand. Surefoot has not described what the navigation change was.

## Result

**+92% consultation requests**

- In-home consultation submissions: +92%.
- This is a lead metric, not orders. A consultation starts a sale that closes later, often off the website.
- Effects on other lead types, such as swatch orders or showroom bookings, were not shared.

## Control

The original site navigation.

## Variant

A single change to the navigation. The case study does not say what it was.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- In-home consultations are a high-value next step for a custom product. A navigation that points people to that step can move it a lot.
- Surefoot scored this program on the mix of lead types, not total form fills. A test can look flat overall and still shift people toward the leads that matter most.
- Shoppers face many fabric, opacity and hardware choices. A route to expert help may suit people who feel stuck.

## Caveats

The change itself is not described, and sample size, duration and confidence were not shared. The metric counts consultation requests, not completed orders.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we make the consultation path easier to reach from the navigation, then more shoppers will request one because custom products are hard to choose alone.
- Primary metric: In-home consultation submissions
- Guardrail: Total lead submissions by type
- Guardrail: Swatch and sample orders
- Guardrail: Lead-to-sale rate
- Who should test it: Brands with a considered, custom purchase and several lead types, such as consultations, samples and quotes. If you sell simple products that check out online, a consultation path is unlikely to matter.

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Credit: Surefoot ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/shade-store-nav-change-consultation-submits/).
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.