@CROguy_
@peterac_
@joshtCROWhat a checkout has to do
By checkout, the shopper has decided. The page has to keep them from changing their mind while they type card details. That means confirming they can trust the store, showing what happens next, and not adding new reasons to stop. It is also the last chance to raise order value with a simple add-on.
Most-tested checkout elements
Trust USPs and reviews
This is the most consistent group. Besides the two tests above, Dave Diederen's 3 USPs below the Pay Now button lifted conversion rate by 9.90%. Peter Christensen's customer trust count and 3 USP icons moved checkout conversion from 69% to 76% (still running at the time). Milos added an image with social proof, return policy and financing for +$55,000/month.
Want results like this on your store?
Dave Diederen at Syntra Labs. Dave builds and tests Shopify stores at Syntra Labs, and shares most results in public.
Countdown timers
Dave Diederen's checkout countdown timer won across 4 separate tests, with +3.16% revenue per visitor in the main result. An 'order reserved' timer for US brands lifted conversion rate by 9.50%. But another timer test lost 7.1% revenue per visitor, and Kasper Dolk saw removing a checkout timer lift conversion rate by 25.61%.
The takeaway: a timer can help or hurt depending on the store, so treat it as a test, not a fix.
Shipping fees
Charging for shipping did not hurt in these tests. Dave Diederen's flat $2, $5 and $7 fees against free shipping found the $5 fee added +$59,894/month and +2.37% conversion rate. Raising the shipping price left conversion rate unchanged and added +2.21% profit per visitor.
Payment options
Dave Diederen showed card and other payment icons under the express buttons for +7.81% revenue per visitor, and enabling Shop Pay buy now, pay later moved conversion rate from below 1% to above 1%.
Upsells and order bumps
Kasper Dolk reports a checkbox upsell in the Shopify Plus checkout taken on 50% of orders for fashion clients, and a custom order bump with a 15-20% take rate. These are reported take rates rather than controlled conversion comparisons.
Biggest measured wins
- Removing a checkout timer (Kasper Dolk): +25.61% conversion rate, est. +€150k/month.
- Reviews on checkout (Dave Diederen): +23.13% revenue per visitor.
- USP, review and upsell blocks (Kasper Dolk): conversion rate 3.8% (+24%) month to date vs the previous period. This is a before/after comparison, not a split test.
Tests that lost (and why)
The one loss is Dave Diederen's checkout countdown timer: -5.4% conversion rate, -7.1% revenue per visitor. Paired with Kasper Dolk's removal win, it suggests timers can read as pressure rather than help for some audiences.
One more loss sits inside a win. In Dave Diederen's urgency messaging test (+6.59% revenue per visitor), a full checkout redesign lost 1.18% conversion rate. Small additions beat a rebuild.
Ideas not yet tested
Milos suggests renaming shipping options to delivery times and removing unneeded fields. Dave Diederen suggests 2-4 objection-specific reviews, which builds on the strongest result here. Josh Thompson suggests cutting checkout from 5 steps to 3.
Checkout checklist built from the results
- Show a few customer reviews inside checkout.
- Put 3 trust USPs (guarantee, shipping, delivery speed) near the pay button.
- Show card and payment icons under express checkout buttons.
- Test a small shipping fee before assuming free shipping is required.
- Test a countdown timer both ways: adding and removing.
- Prefer small additions over a full checkout redesign.
Tools to run these tests
Some of these tests ran on the Shopify Plus checkout. See the Shopify A/B testing apps, the post-purchase upsell apps and the checkout checklist.
Questions
What is the best checkout A/B test to run?
Adding reviews or trust USPs to checkout. Dave Diederen's checkout reviews lifted conversion rate by 17.96%, and 3 trust USPs below the main CTA lifted checkout conversion by 20%.
Do countdown timers work in checkout?
Sometimes. Dave Diederen's timer won across 4 tests, but another timer test lost 7.1% revenue per visitor, and Kasper Dolk saw a 25.61% conversion lift from removing one.
Does charging for shipping hurt checkout conversion?
Not in these tests. Dave Diederen found a flat $5 fee beat free shipping by +$59,894/month, and raising the shipping price left conversion rate unchanged.