@CROguy_
@joshtCRO
@peterac_
@elevate_abWhat a cart has to do
The cart sits between 'I want this' and 'I'm paying'. Its job is to confirm the choice, remove last doubts about shipping and returns, and offer one sensible add-on without slowing the shopper down. The winning tests here do one of those three things.
Most-tested cart elements
Reassurance under the checkout button
This is the strongest cluster. Besides the two tests above, Dave Diederen saw payment icons below the checkout CTA lift conversion rate by 7.37% and a 'Ships by Tomorrow' callout lift revenue per visitor by 9.04%. Oliver Kenyon's four customer-led USP icons added $21,516/month.
Want results like this on your store?
Oliver Kenyon at Conversionwise. Oliver co-founded Conversionwise and has spent 13 years helping ecommerce brands turn clicks into customers.
Free shipping messaging and thresholds
How free shipping is worded matters. Changing 'Free shipping will be applied at checkout' to 'Congrats! You unlocked FREE shipping' lifted conversion rate by 11.08% for Dave Diederen. Showing free shipping as a line-item discount added +2.96% conversion rate, and raising the threshold to $165 added +6.27% profit per visitor with AOV flat.
Upsells and rewards
Every test that added or reworked a cart upsell won, though one redesign below won partly by removing one. Oliver Kenyon's arrows on upsells plus a delivery window line is the largest result in the hub at +$127,867/month. Oliver Kenyon also reports a gift wrapping prompt at +$58,860/month and tiered spend rewards at +$57k/month. Milos found that which product you upsell changes results: +15.26% revenue per visitor.
Removing things
Several wins came from taking things out. Dave Diederen hid a pre-ticked shipping protection checkbox (+6.39% conversion rate, -2.49% AOV). Oliver Kenyon removed one line of copy (+$40,413/month) and dropped a $25 pre-checkout upsell in a redesign (+$31,000/month). Oliver Kenyon also unticked pre-ticked damage cover, which sold fewer cover plans but more cameras.
Biggest measured wins
- Arrows on upsells and a delivery window line (Oliver Kenyon): +$127,867/month.
- 30-day guarantee under the checkout button (Dave Diederen): +£68,640/month.
- Second-threshold mystery gift (Kasper Dolk): +€30,578 revenue lift at 99% confidence.
- Dispatch, returns and payment block (Oliver Kenyon): +23.8% revenue per visitor at 99.4% confidence.
Tests that lost (and why)
Dave Diederen's skip-the-cart test is the only loss: -10.23% conversion rate and -6.58% revenue per visitor, even though AOV rose 4.08%. Removing the cart also removes the place where shoppers get reassured, which fits the pattern above.
With one loss in 20, the record looks very positive. Keep in mind that shared tests lean towards winners, so expect a lower hit rate in your own program.
Ideas not yet tested
There are 71 ideas here, far more than results. The common themes are second thresholds after free shipping (Kasper Dolk), receipt-style pricing and turning the empty cart into a selling page (both Dave Diederen), and one-click pre-purchase upsells from Josh Thompson. None of these has a measured result yet.
Cart checklist built from the results
- Put shipping speed, returns and a guarantee directly under the checkout button.
- Show payment icons below the checkout CTA.
- Celebrate unlocked free shipping instead of deferring it to checkout.
- Offer one relevant upsell, and test which product it is.
- Don't pre-tick add-ons like shipping protection.
- Keep the cart step; don't skip straight to checkout without testing.
Tools to run these tests
See the Shopify upsell apps for cart offers, the Shopify A/B testing apps to run the test, and the cart abandonment guide for what happens after a shopper leaves.
Questions
What should I A/B test in my cart first?
A reassurance block under the checkout button. Oliver Kenyon's dispatch, returns and payment block lifted revenue per visitor by 23.8%, and Dave Diederen's 30-day guarantee line in the same spot added 18%.
Should I skip the cart and send shoppers straight to checkout?
The one test here says no. Dave Diederen tried it and conversion rate fell by 10.23%, even though AOV rose by 4.08%.
Do cart upsells hurt conversion?
Not in these results. Every test that added or reworked a cart upsell won, the largest at +$127,867/month, though Oliver Kenyon also won a redesign that dropped a $25 pre-checkout upsell. Milos found the choice of upsell product matters, so test more than one.