Do star ratings and a product carousel lift buying guide sales?
Our buying guide listed its picks in short product cards with no ratings. We added star ratings and review counts, with and without a product carousel. Conversion rose 21.3% and revenue per visitor rose 23.4% over 32 days.
Won Mobile 32 days Called at 90%
The hypothesis
By adding star ratings, review counts and stronger button contrast to the guide's shorter product cards, we will raise confidence in the picks, resulting in more readers buying after they click through.
In the first round on this guide, 2 ideas did well on their own: star ratings with stronger button contrast, and shorter product cards that were easier to compare.
This round put them together. The control already had the shorter cards. Var A added the star ratings, review counts and higher contrast buttons. Var B added the same and set the cards in a swipeable carousel, so readers could compare picks without scrolling.
What we changed
We added star ratings and review counts to the product cards.
The control used the shorter product cards that won the first round. Var A added a star rating and review count to each card and gave the buttons stronger contrast. Var B made the same changes and also placed the cards in a swipeable carousel so readers could compare picks side by side.
- Star rating and review count on each card
- Higher contrast buttons
- Same star ratings and button contrast
- Product cards in a swipeable carousel
The result
Star ratings lifted conversion 21.3% over 32 days.
Against the control, click-through to the retailer rose 21.7%, conversion rate rose 21.3% and revenue per visitor rose 23.4%. All 3 cleared our confidence bar.
The result matched what the same changes had done on their own on other guides, so the star rating cards were implemented.
What we took from it
Ratings gave readers a fast reason to trust each pick.
Readers come to this guide to compare products. A star rating and review count let them judge each pick at a glance, before reading the full review. Stronger button contrast made the next step clear. Together, these changes held up across a full month on this guide.