Images beside mobile menu categories: +42% revenue per visitor
Test run byBlend CommerceCRO agency
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsAdding a small image next to each key category in the mobile menu lifted revenue per visitor by 42% for Vegepod, a garden products brand.
Blend Commerce ran this 21-day A/B test. Conversion rate rose 14% and average order value 24%.
- Revenue per visitor: +42%, driven mainly by higher order values.
- Conversion rate: +14%.
- Average order value: +24%.
- Collection page views rose 2%, while product page views dipped 3% and add to cart rate held steady.
- Returning visitors: +54% conversion rate and +66% revenue per visitor. New visitors: +36% revenue per visitor.
The change
Each mobile menu category gets a small image beside it.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The mobile menu listed categories as text links only.
Variant
Each key category link in the mobile menu had a small supporting image beside it.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Similar text labels are hard to tell apart on a small screen. A picture shows what each category holds.
- Shoppers who land in the right category first need fewer product pages to decide.
- Returning visitors may remember what a product looks like but not its category name, so images help them most.
Caveats: The test ran for 21 days. Significance and sample size were not shared. Intelligems projected only about 28 extra orders a month, so the traffic base looks small.
Who ran it
Blend Commerce ran this test for Vegepod 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 add a small image beside each key category in the mobile menu, then revenue per visitor will rise because shoppers can see which category fits before they tap.
- Primary metric
- Revenue per visitor
- Guardrails
- Conversion rate
- Menu load time on mobile
- Collection page view rate
- Who should test it
- Stores with visual products and category names that sound alike. If your categories are already clear or very few, images add less.
Questions
Should I add images to my mobile menu?
It is worth testing if your products are visual or your category names are similar. Vegepod saw revenue per visitor rise 42%.
Do menu images slow down mobile sites?
They can if the files are large. Use small, compressed thumbnails and check page speed after launch.
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