@joshtCROWhy product images matter in the navigation menu
The menu is where shoppers who know roughly what they want go to find it.
A text-only list makes them read and guess.
Images, descriptions and featured products can show them where to click.
Every measured test here is a desktop or mega menu redesign.
The mobile menu ideas below have no results yet.
Measured results
Menus that added images
- Category icons plus a Best Sellers section with product images: +$42,736/month, +$512,832/year forecast.
- Gender tabs, thumbnails and split link groups: +$22,000/month, +$0.33 revenue per session.
- Removed off-site social icons and added images beside categories: +$14,598.60/month.
- Turned a text-only megamenu into a visual panel with category images: +$13,192/month, +$0.13 revenue per session.
The text-to-visual test is the cleanest read on images alone, and it produced the smallest lift of the four.
The bigger wins also changed the menu structure, such as adding a Best Sellers block or gender tabs.
The menu that won without images
Oliver Kenyon's mega menu with category descriptions and a testimonial used no product images and won +$151,192/month, more than three times any image-based menu here.
Telling shoppers what each category is for, plus some proof, did more than pictures did.
@oliverkenyon@oliverkenyon@oliverkenyon@oliverkenyon@oliverkenyonLosing or flat tests
No losing or flat navigation tests are listed.
All results are reported as monthly revenue, mostly without conversion rate or sample size, so it is hard to compare them with tests elsewhere on the site.
Untested ideas
5 ideas have no measured result, and most target the mobile menu:
- Turn the mobile menu into a merchandising menu, with bold image tiles for key collections, bundles and hero products (Dave Diederen).
- Group sub-collections in a highlighted block, add image tiles for the best collections and a sticky Shop Now button (Kasper Dolk).
- Add UGC or social proof to the slide-out menu and badge the routes you want people to take (Kasper Dolk).
- Add featured product images, USP taglines and star ratings to the mega menu (Kasper Dolk).
- Surface bestsellers in a streamlined mobile menu and compress images. Josh Thompson claims +$124K/year but shows no test data.
Placement and design patterns that won
- Help shoppers choose: category descriptions, thumbnails or icons next to each category.
- Put a Best Sellers block in the menu.
- Split long link lists into clear groups, with tabs where the catalogue splits naturally (for example by gender).
- Remove links that send people off-site, such as social icons.
- Proof, like a testimonial, can sit in the menu too.
Related tests elsewhere on the store
See all navigation tests, the full product image collection, homepage image tests and collection page image tests.