Savings in dollars instead of percent: -1.08% conversion
Test run byDave DiederenSyntra Labs
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsShowing savings as a dollar amount instead of a percentage on product pages lowered conversion rate by 1.08%, with no change in revenue per visitor. Dave Diederen ran this test on a brand where the dollar savings were over $100. They call the result a net negative.
- Conversion rate: -1.08% (1.98% to 1.95%). A slight drop, and the range of -6% to +4% means it may be flat.
- Revenue per visitor: no change ($1.28 on both sides).
- Profit per visitor: no change ($1.06 on both sides).
- Average order value: no change ($64.92 vs $65.40). Overall the switch did not help.
The change
The savings badge switches from a percentage to a dollar amount.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The product page showed the discount as a percentage saved.
Variant
The product page showed the same discount as a dollar amount, which was more than $100.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Dave Diederen suggests a saving over $100 may have felt too good to be true.
- a large dollar figure can make shoppers question the original price instead of trusting the deal.
- the difference was small, so the format of the saving may simply matter little for this brand.
Caveats: Sample size and test length were not shared, and the conversion range crosses zero, so this is close to a flat result. It was one brand.
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 show savings as a dollar amount instead of a percentage, then more shoppers will buy because a concrete amount feels more tangible.
- Primary metric
- Revenue per visitor
- Guardrails
- Conversion rate
- Average order value
- Margin per order
- Who should test it
- Stores running regular discounts where it is unclear which format reads better. When the dollar saving is very large, this test suggests a percentage may feel more credible.
Questions
Is it better to show discounts in dollars or percent?
It depends. In this test, showing a saving of over $100 in dollars slightly lowered conversion and did not change revenue per visitor.
Why might a dollar savings amount backfire?
Dave Diederen's guess is that a saving over $100 felt too good to be true, which can raise doubt.
Is this test still worth running?
Dave Diederen thinks so. The result was close to flat, and the outcome may differ with smaller savings or another brand.
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@oliverkenyon@oliverkenyon@oliverkenyon@oliverkenyon@DaveDiederen@DaveDiederen