Does a buy now button beat shop now on a product page?
Our product page used shop now wording, with a second shop now link in the header. We tested a direct buy now button and removed the header link. Conversion rose 59.3% and revenue per visitor more than doubled over 22 days.
Won Responsive 22 days Called at 90%
The hypothesis
By changing the product page button to buy now and removing the shop now link from the header, we will give shoppers a single clear action, resulting in more orders.
Earlier product page tests showed shoppers responded to clearer pages, but the main button still used shop now wording. A more direct call to action tells the shopper exactly what happens next.
The header also carried its own shop now link, which pulled attention away from the product the shopper was already viewing.
What we changed
The product page button said buy now and the header shop now link was removed.
Var A changed the main product page button to buy now and removed the shop now link from the site header. Var B used buy and save on the button with the same header change. The rest of the page stayed the same.
- Main button changed to buy now
- Shop now link removed from the header
- Main button changed to buy and save
- Shop now link removed from the header
The result
Buy now lifted conversion 59.3% over 22 days.
Revenue per visitor rose 109.4%, more than conversion alone, because average order value also went up. That suggests the clearer button helped most on higher priced items.
Items per order did not change in a meaningful way, so shoppers were not buying more units. They were completing more orders and choosing pricier products.
What we took from it
A direct button gave shoppers a single clear next step.
On this store, buy now told the shopper exactly what the button would do, and removing the header link took away a competing path. The lift showed up in both orders and order value, so the change paid off on the products that mattered most to revenue.