Checkout: Progress Bar
Hypothesis
If we implement 'Progress Bar' on checkout pages (In this experiment, a breadcrumb was replaced with a circular progress bar (arguably more visible overall steps; but less visible/clickable accomplished steps)), then key conversion metrics will improve.
Test Results
Key Learning
Context: The primary call-to-action on the checkout isn't converting at its potential — design, copy, or placement may be the bottleneck.
What was tested: REAL-WORLD TEST: 'Progress Bar' was tested on a live checkout page. The test involved 37,683 real visitors. Full statistical results require paid access. Test methodology: In this experiment, a breadcrumb was replaced with a circular progress bar (arguably more visible overall steps; but less visible/clickable accomplish...
Result: No statistically significant difference was detected. Navigation tests that don't show a difference may indicate the issue is content findability, not menu structure. Consider search and filtering improvements.
How to Apply This to Your Site
This experiment tested checkout: progress bar but produced no statistically significant change. The test was run on a checkout page in the cross-industry industry. Inconclusive results suggest this particular change may not be a priority — focus testing effort on higher-impact areas.
Before you test: Consider that navigation tests typically require large sample sizes to detect small effects. Run your test for at least 2 full business cycles to account for weekly traffic patterns.
What Was Tested
In this experiment, a breadcrumb was replaced with a circular progress bar (arguably more visible overall steps; but less visible/clickable accomplished steps). Impact on transactions was measured.
Methodology
Build On These Learnings
Save your own experiments, spot winning patterns across your test history, and stop repeating what's already been tried.
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