# Subscription details open by default: +104% auto-ship selection

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Product page (Ecommerce)
- Elements: Subscriptions & subscribe-and-save, Headlines, product titles & copy
- Test run by: [Blend Commerce](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/blend-commerce/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://blendcommerce.com/blogs/ab-tests-shopify/104-increase-in-auto-ship-selection
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/sports-nutrition-autoship-info-open-default/

Showing 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.

## Result

**+104% auto-ship selection**

- 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.

## 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)

- 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.

## How to run this test

- 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
- Guardrail: Conversion rate
- Guardrail: Add-to-cart rate
- Guardrail: 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.

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Credit: Blend Commerce ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/sports-nutrition-autoship-info-open-default/).
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.