Image category tiles in the mobile menu: +13% RPV (directional)
Test run byBlend CommerceCRO agency
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsReplacing text links in the mobile menu with image category tiles raised revenue per visitor by 13% for a premium travel equipment brand, once visits to a launch product page were left out.
The result was not statistically significant, and the full-period data showed conversion down 2%. Blend Commerce ran this two-week A/B test.
- Revenue per visitor: +13%, excluding visits to a promoted launch product page.
- Average order value: +11%, and checkout start rate: +6%, in the same view.
- Conversion rate: +2% in that view, but -2% across the full test period. These conflict.
- The result did not reach statistical significance.
The change
Text accordion menu replaced with image tiles and direct info links.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The mobile menu used text-only accordion links for broad sections. Shoppers had to expand rows to see what was inside.
Variant
The menu showed image-led tiles for travel bags and accessories, plus direct links to useful information pages.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Pictures help shoppers tell bag and accessory ranges apart faster than labels do.
- Tiles showed the routes into the range as soon as the menu opened, with no rows to expand.
- A product launch and pre-order period ran at the same time, which may have hidden or inflated the effect.
Caveats: The test overlapped a high-demand product launch, was not significant, and the headline numbers exclude the launch product page. Across the full period, conversion fell 2%, so treat this as directional.
Who ran it
Blend Commerce ran this test for a premium travel equipment 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 replace text menu links with image category tiles on mobile, then revenue per visitor will rise because shoppers recognise the right range faster.
- Primary metric
- Revenue per visitor
- Guardrails
- Conversion rate
- Checkout start rate
- Product page view rate
- Who should test it
- Stores with visually distinct ranges and mostly mobile traffic. Avoid running it during a launch or sale, which made this result hard to read.
Questions
Do images in a mobile menu increase sales?
Several tests suggest they can, but this one was not significant.
Run it in a quiet period and check the full data, not just a filtered view.
Why exclude a product page from test results?
A big launch can flood one page with traffic that has nothing to do with the menu.
Excluding it can help, but it also makes the result easier to bias, so report both views.
What should I check besides conversion rate?
Revenue per visitor, order value and checkout starts. Here they moved differently from conversion.
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