Insight

Category Routes Sat Below Most Mobile Visits

During our CRO audit, the Faith-Based Publishing Brand told us its six-month goal was to increase conversion rate and average order value by 10%, with better navigation and product discovery especially on mobile. Our analysis found that the homepage and custom pages converted efficiently, but only 11.2% of homepage visitors reached a product page. Heatmaps showed that the existing subcategory module attracted strong engagement, yet only around three in ten mobile users scrolled far enough to see it. A useful product-discovery route was therefore hidden from most mobile shoppers. With mobile accounting for the majority of visits, we recommended testing whether a compact category module placed earlier on the homepage could shorten the route into relevant collections and product pages.

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A/B/C Test

Earlier Homepage Category Routes

We ran an A/B/C test in Intelligems across desktop and mobile. The control kept the existing story-style category widget below the fold. Variant A moved the same widget above the promotional banner, retained the five original categories, and added approved heading and supporting copy. We hypothesised that making familiar category routes visible earlier would improve conversion rate, revenue per visitor, average order value and progression into collections and product pages.

Variant B placed the widget in the same higher position but expanded it to eight configurable, conversion-led categories. This separated the effect of placement from the effect of changing the category mix, while retaining swipe and slider behaviour suited to each device.

The Results

Variant A produced the strongest monetisation pattern during the two-week test. Revenue per visitor increased by 13%, average order value by 11% and conversion rate by 2%. Variant B produced broader discovery and funnel gains: conversion rate increased by 8%, collection-page views by 23%, product-page views by 9% and add-to-cart rate by 10%, while average order value stayed flat. The test did not reach statistical significance, so the movements remain directional. Variant A nevertheless maintained the lead in revenue per visitor and average order value throughout the test and delivered the strongest estimated revenue impact. Moving the existing category set earlier may have helped visitors reach familiar routes sooner without changing the merchandising choices presented to them, although the test cannot prove that explanation. We recommended Variant A for permanent rollout. A later experiment could isolate category ordering or imagery without combining those changes with module placement.

  • 13%

    increase in revenue per visitor

  • 11%

    increase in average order value

  • 2%

    increase in conversion rate
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