Subcategory pills on the homepage: +22.86% revenue per visitor
Test run byBlend CommerceCRO agency
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsAdding compact pill-shaped links to subcategories near the top of the homepage lifted revenue per visitor by 22.86% for Wilson's Pet Food.
Blend Commerce ran this A/B/C test, and conversion rate rose 13.54%.
The result is directional, and subscription revenue per visitor fell 15.73%.
- Variant B revenue per visitor: +22.86%.
- Variant B conversion rate: +13.54%, with an 83.1% probability of beating control.
- Variant B add-to-cart rate: +10.05%.
- Subscription revenue per visitor fell 15.73%, mostly among mobile and new visitors.
- Variant A also improved key metrics, but by less. Exact figures were not shared.
The change
Pill-shaped subcategory links are added near the top of the homepage.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The original homepage. Shoppers reached subcategories mainly through the navigation menu.
Variant
Variant B added pill-shaped text links to subcategories near the top of the page. Variant A put an image-led, story-style scroller titled "Most popular with pet parents" in the same spot.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Heatmaps showed the category menu was among the most-used parts of the homepage, so shoppers clearly wanted quick routes into products.
- Compact pills open those routes without taking up much of the first screen.
- New visitors may have used the clearer links to try products before signing up for a subscription. The agency notes the test cannot prove this.
Caveats: The test was paused after 5,342 visitors and reached an 83.1% probability to beat control, below the usual 95% threshold. Subscription revenue per visitor dropped, so watch recurring revenue closely.
Who ran it
Blend Commerce ran this test for Wilson's Pet Food 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 subcategory pill links near the top of the homepage, then revenue per visitor will rise because shoppers reach the right products sooner.
- Primary metric
- Revenue per visitor
- Guardrails
- Subscription revenue per visitor
- Conversion rate
- Mobile bounce rate
- Who should test it
- Stores where the homepage is a big entry point and the menu gets heavy use. If subscriptions drive your business, watch that metric closely, since it fell here.
Questions
Are pill links better than image tiles for subcategories?
In this test, compact text pills beat an image-led scroller.
Both improved results, but pills produced the bigger revenue gain.
Can homepage navigation changes hurt subscriptions?
They can. Here, subscription revenue per visitor fell 15.73% even as overall revenue rose, mostly among mobile and new visitors.
Similar tests
@DaveDiederen
Convertibles@DaveDiederen@DaveDiederen@DaveDiederen@DaveDiederen