Does a simplified checkout design lift mobile checkout conversion?
Our mobile checkout had a busy design around the form. We tested a simplified version with less on the page. Conversion rose 3.5% over 13 days before we paused it to fold the design into a wider funnel test.
Not significant Mobile 13 days Not called Reviewed
The hypothesis
By removing visual complexity from the mobile checkout, we will make the form easier to finish, resulting in a higher completion rate.
The mobile checkout carried extra design detail around the form. We expected a plainer layout, with fewer things competing for attention, to help visitors stay on task and complete their order.
We ran a similar focus test on the desktop checkout at the same time.
What we changed
We simplified the design of the mobile checkout page.
The control was the existing mobile checkout. The variation stripped back the visual design around the form so the fields and the order button stood out, with fewer elements competing for attention.
- Visual design around the form stripped back
- Fewer elements competing for attention
The result
The simplified checkout lifted mobile conversion 3.5% in 13 days.
Mobile conversion was 3.5% higher than the control after 13 days, and the trend looked positive. It had not reached our confidence bar when we stopped it. We paused early on purpose: the next step was to pair this checkout with a matching first page so the whole funnel felt consistent. The desktop version of the idea showed a 2.0% lift over the same period, also short of our bar.
What we would do next
Retest the simpler checkout inside a consistent full funnel.
The early signal was good, but a checkout tested alone can clash with the pages before it. We paused to rebuild the first page of the funnel in the same simpler style, so visitors see 1 consistent design from start to finish. That gives the simpler checkout a fairer test.