Subscription details open by default: +104% auto-ship selection
Test run byBlend CommerceCRO agency
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsShowing auto-ship details open by default, with clearer copy on the benefits of subscribing, lifted auto-ship selection by 104%.
Blend Commerce ran this A/B/C test for a sports nutrition brand.
Conversion rate rose 8.39%, though add-to-cart rate dipped slightly.
- Auto-ship selection: +104%. Roughly twice as many shoppers chose the subscription.
- Conversion rate: +8.39%. The change did not cost one-time sales overall.
- Average order value for returning visitors: +33.39%. Blend's write-up also describes this figure as revenue per visitor, so treat the exact label with care.
- Add-to-cart rate: a slight drop (size not shared). Worth watching, though orders still rose.
- The open-by-default variant without new copy also beat the original, but by less.
The change
The variant opens the subscription details by default and adds benefit copy.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The product page only showed subscription details after a shopper picked the auto-ship option. Anyone who stayed on one-time purchase never saw the benefits.
Variant
The winning variant opened the auto-ship details by default and added clearer wording on why subscribing pays off. A second variant opened the details by default without the new copy.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Shoppers cannot weigh a subscription they never see. Opening the details puts savings and perks in front of everyone.
- Clear benefit copy answers the usual worry about being locked in, which makes the subscription feel lower risk.
- Competitors already showed subscription benefits upfront, so the original layout may have looked thin by comparison.
Caveats: Sample size, duration and confidence were not shared. The 33.39% figure is labelled as returning-visitor AOV in the stats but called revenue per visitor in the summary text, and add-to-cart rate fell slightly. Two changes were combined in the winning variant, though the A/B/C design helps separate them.
Who ran it
Blend Commerce ran this test for a sports nutrition brand and published the results (Blend Commerce A/B test). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on Blend Commerce →
How to run this test on your store
- Hypothesis
- If we show subscription details open by default with clear benefit copy, then more shoppers will choose auto-ship because they will see the value before deciding.
- Primary metric
- Subscription (auto-ship) selection rate
- Guardrails
- Conversion rate
- Add-to-cart rate
- Subscription cancellation rate
- Who should test it
- Consumable brands, such as supplements, coffee or pet food, that offer subscribe-and-save. Less useful if your product is rarely reordered.
Questions
How do I get more customers to choose subscribe and save?
Make the benefits visible before the shopper chooses.
In this test, opening the details by default with clear copy doubled auto-ship selection.
Does pushing subscriptions hurt one-time sales?
Not here. Conversion rate rose 8.39% alongside the jump in subscriptions, though add-to-cart dipped slightly.
What should subscription benefit copy say?
Cover the savings, the convenience and how easy it is to skip or cancel.
Shoppers mainly need to know they are not locked in.
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