Does late fee or pulled over urgency lift checkout conversion?
The desktop checkout did not say what waiting to renew could cost. We tested 2 urgency messages: late fees and penalties, and the risk of being pulled over. Being pulled over lifted conversion 6.8% over 20 days, not a conclusive result.
Not significant Desktop 20 days Not called Reviewed
The hypothesis
By calling out what it costs to let a registration lapse, we will raise urgency at checkout, resulting in more visitors completing their renewal.
Visitors at checkout were renewing a registration that was expired or close to it. Waiting carries real costs, from late fees to being pulled over with expired tags, but the checkout did not mention them.
We tested 2 ways to make that cost feel close: money lost to fees, and the risk of a traffic stop.
What we changed
We added urgency about late fees or being pulled over at checkout.
Variation A updated the heading to stress that the price shown was good for today and called out late fees and penalties. Variation B warned visitors about the chance of being pulled over with an expired registration. The rest of checkout stayed the same.
- Heading says the price is good for today
- Late fees and penalties called out
- Warns of being pulled over
- Ties the risk to an expired registration
The result
Variation B, being pulled over, lifted conversion 6.8% over 20 days.
Variation B reached our confidence bar a few times during the test but did not hold it. After 20 days, conversion was up 6.8%, not a conclusive result.
We paused the test and did not implement either message.
What we would do next
Keep the pulled over angle as a lead for a later test.
Of the 2 penalty messages, only being pulled over came close to a lift, and it never held. On desktop checkout, the warning did not move enough visitors to earn a place on the page. We moved on to copy changes that had already won on mobile checkout.