Removing the subscription-length choice: about -40% conversion
Test run byMarketingExperimentsResearch publisher
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsRemoving the subscription-length dropdown, so everyone got the monthly plan, cut conversion by nearly 40%.
MarketingExperiments (MECLABS) ran the test for an anonymized delivery subscription business.
The team expected fewer choices to reduce friction, but visitors appeared to value being able to compare terms.
- Conversion rate: down nearly 40% when the term choice was removed. This is a clear loss.
- The delivery radio buttons were unchanged; the dropdown was the only variable.
- Exact rates and sample size were anonymized and not shared.
The change
Variant removes the term-length dropdown and locks visitors into the monthly plan.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The funnel step offered delivery options as radio buttons, plus a dropdown to choose monthly auto-renewal, six months or one year.
Variant
The same delivery options, but the term dropdown was removed, so visitors were locked into the monthly option.
Why it likely lost
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Seeing longer terms may make the monthly price feel like a fair, flexible choice, even for people who pick monthly.
- Some visitors may have wanted a six-month or one-year term and left when they could not find one.
- Options people don't pick still help them judge value; taking them away removed that reference point.
Caveats: The partner, product and exact figures were anonymized, and sample size and duration were not shared. It may be a physical delivery subscription rather than software or media.
Who ran it
MarketingExperiments ran this test for an anonymized subscription business (delivery subscriptions) and published the results (MarketingExperiments). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on MarketingExperiments →
How to run this test on your site
- Hypothesis
- If we remove plan or term options to simplify checkout, then conversion will change because visitors use the options to judge value, not only to pick one.
- Primary metric
- Checkout conversion rate
- Guardrails
- Revenue per visitor
- Share of longer-term plans
- Early cancellation rate
- Who should test it
- SaaS and subscription businesses thinking about cutting plan or billing-term options. Run it as a test, not a straight change. Results may differ if your options really are confusing or near-identical.
Questions
Do fewer choices always raise conversion?
No. In this test removing the term-length options cut conversion by nearly 40%. Some choices help people judge value.
Should a subscription offer annual and monthly plans?
Offering both is worth testing. Even buyers who pick monthly may feel better seeing a longer option next to it.
What is a decoy option?
It is a choice few people pick that makes another option look better.
This test hints that term options can play that role.