'Order Today, Ships Next Business Day' header: +41% value per visit
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsOf five value propositions tested in SmileyCookie's homepage header, 'Order Today, Ships Next Business Day' won, with $3.78 per visit, 41% above the site average.
Trinity Insight ran this test for the gift cookie brand, and it was published as a VWO case study.
The comparison is with the site-wide average during the test, not a single control.
- Conversion rate: 12.61% for the next-day shipping message, versus 8.98% across the whole site in the same period.
- Value per visit: $3.78 versus a $2.68 site average, a 41% lift, reported at 95% confidence.
- Average order value barely moved ($29.95 versus $29.85), so the gain came from more people buying.
- The discount and shipping-price messages did worse than the speed message. Their exact numbers were not shared.
The change
The winning header leads with next-business-day shipping instead of other offers.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
SmileyCookie used a large header area on the homepage for seasonal or promotional offers. Five different messages were tested against each other in that space.
Variant
The winning creative read 'Order Today, Ships Next Business Day'. The others offered $5 off for signing up, $6.99 ground shipping, free shipping over $40, and cookies made fresh and hand iced.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Cookies are perishable and often sent as gifts for a date. Knowing they ship fast removes a big worry.
- Shipping speed is a benefit shoppers cannot easily assume. Freshness or price may matter less once that is answered.
- A $5 sign-up offer asks for something first, which adds a step before buying.
Caveats: The winner was compared with the site-wide average rather than a fixed control, which may flatter the lift. Sample size and test length were not shared.
Who ran it
Trinity Insight ran this test for SmileyCookie 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 Trinity Insight →
How to run this test on your store
- Hypothesis
- If we lead the homepage header with our shipping speed, then more visitors will order because they know the product will arrive in time.
- Primary metric
- Revenue per visitor
- Guardrails
- Average order value
- On-time delivery rate
- Customer service contacts about delivery
- Who should test it
- Stores selling gifts, perishables or time-sensitive items that can ship fast. It probably won't help if your shipping speed is no better than competitors, or if you can't keep the promise in peak season.
Questions
Is fast shipping a better message than a discount?
For SmileyCookie it was: the next-day shipping message beat a $5 sign-up offer and two shipping-price messages.
This is most likely for gifts and perishables.
Where should a shipping message go on the homepage?
SmileyCookie used its large promo header, a spot most visitors see first.
A prominent spot gives the message the best chance to change behavior.
How do I test several value propositions at once?
Run each message as its own variant against an unchanged control, with enough traffic for each.
Comparing against a true control is more reliable than comparing with the site average.
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