'Number bought' message on product pages: +12.5% conversion
Test run byVisuallyTesting and CRO tool
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsAdding a message showing how many shoppers bought the product lifted The Oodie's conversion rate by 12.5%.
Visually ran this test with The Oodie, a loungewear brand, and published it as a Visually case study.
The product pages already had reviews and customer photos, so this added a different kind of proof.
- Conversion rate: +12.5% with the number-bought message.
- The lift came on top of existing reviews and UGC.
- Sample size, duration and confidence level were not shared.
The change
Message showing how many shoppers bought the product
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
Product pages relied on reviews and user-generated content for social proof.
Variant
A message showed how many shoppers had bought the product.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- A purchase count is quick to read. Reviews take time to scan.
- Seeing that many people bought an item signals it is a safe, popular choice.
- It may work best when the counts are high, which a well-known brand is likely to have.
Caveats: Visually reported this result in its own marketing case study. Sample size, test length and statistical confidence were not shared. The case study does not say where on the page the message sat or what time window the count covered.
Who ran it
Visually ran this test for The Oodie and published the results (Visually case study). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on Visually →
How to run this test on your store
- Hypothesis
- If we show how many shoppers bought each product, then conversion rate will rise because buyers see it is a popular, safe choice.
- Primary metric
- Conversion rate
- Guardrails
- Add-to-cart rate
- Revenue per visitor
- Conversion on low-count products
- Who should test it
- Stores with real, high purchase counts on their main products. Low numbers can backfire, and counts must always be accurate.
Questions
Do 'number bought' messages increase conversions?
They can. The Oodie saw a 12.5% conversion lift from adding one to product pages that already had reviews and UGC.
What if my purchase counts are low?
Small numbers may make a product look unpopular.
Only show the message where counts are high enough to reassure.
Is it OK to round or estimate the number?
Keep it truthful. Showing invented or inflated counts can mislead shoppers and break consumer protection rules.
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