Does a product quick list lift buying guide conversion?
Our mobile buying guide made readers scroll through long reviews to compare picks. We added a quick list of the top products near the top. Revenue per visitor rose 46%, but conversion rose only 6% in 13 days.
Not significant Mobile 13 days Not called
The hypothesis
By adding a quick list of the top products near the top of the guide, we will give readers a faster way to compare, resulting in more clicks to the retailer and more sales.
Readers come to this guide to learn about the products in a single category and compare them. The full reviews were long, and readers had to scroll through every review to compare. Brands also spend heavily on their names, so showing them up front could build trust quickly.
We tested a 3 product list, a 5 product list, and a version that put brand names forward.
What we changed
We added a quick list of the top products near the top of the guide.
Var A added a short list of the top 3 products near the top of the guide, each linking to its pick. Var B showed 5 products in the same list. Var C leaned on product branding, putting brand names forward in the list. The full reviews stayed below.
- List of the top 3 products near the top
- Same list with the top 5 products
- Brand names placed up front in the list
The result
Conversion rose 6% in 13 days, below our confidence bar.
The quick list lifted click-through to the retailer 26% and revenue per visitor 46%, and both lifts cleared our confidence bar. Conversion rose only 6%, which did not reach our bar.
All 3 variations lifted results in the 1st week. We then carried the 3 product list onto 5 more guides to check whether the gain held beyond this page. The figures above combine this test with that follow-up check.
What we would do next
Readers clicked the quick list, but buying barely moved.
The list sent more readers to the retailer and brought in more revenue per visitor, so it earned its place near the top of the guide. Conversion did not move enough to call. We would test what sits next to each pick in the list, such as price or a rating, to turn more of those clicks into sales.