Customer reviews inside the shopping cart: +9.5% click-through
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsAdding customer reviews inside the shopping cart lifted conversions, with the source listing a 9.5% rise in click-through to checkout.
Bunzl Retail & Industry ran this A/B test on its packaging supplies store Verzendverpakkingenshop, and it was published as a VWO case study.
The 9.5% figure appears in the case study's headline numbers but is not tied to this test in the text.
- Click-through to checkout: +9.5%, as listed in the case study's headline results.
- The text itself only says the cart test delivered an uplift in conversions, without a number.
- No sales or revenue figure was given for this test.
The change
Customer reviews added inside the cart.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The shopping cart showed the order with no customer reviews.
Variant
Customer reviews were placed inside the cart, close to the step where shoppers decide whether to continue to checkout.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Session recordings showed shoppers pausing in the cart and going back to earlier pages, a sign of last-minute doubt.
- Reviews at that moment remind shoppers that other buyers were happy, which may settle the doubt.
- The same team had already seen reviews work on the homepage, so the idea had support before the test.
Caveats: The 9.5% figure is not explicitly linked to this test in the source, and no duration, sample size or confidence level was shared. The store leans B2B.
Who ran it
Bunzl Retail & Industry ran this test for Verzendverpakkingenshop (Bunzl) and published the results (VWO case study). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on Bunzl Retail & Industry →
How to run this test on your store
- Hypothesis
- If we show a few customer reviews inside the cart, then more shoppers will continue to checkout because the reviews ease doubt at the final step.
- Primary metric
- Cart-to-checkout click-through rate
- Guardrails
- Completed orders
- Average order value
- Cart page load time
- Who should test it
- Stores that see shoppers stall or bounce back from the cart, and that have real, recent reviews to show. If your cart is already a quick hop to checkout with low drop-off, the space may be better used elsewhere.
Questions
Should I show reviews in the cart?
In this test, adding reviews to the cart lifted conversions, with a listed 9.5% rise in click-through to checkout.
It is worth testing if shoppers hesitate at the cart.
Where in the cart should reviews go?
The source only says they were placed inside the cart interface.
Near the order summary or checkout button keeps them in view at the moment of decision.
Do reviews in the cart distract from checkout?
They can if they push the checkout button down.
Keep them short and track checkout click-through as your main metric.
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@DaveDiederen@DaveDiederen