Insight

Friction in Mobile Category Discovery

Mobile navigation is often treated as a utility, but for high-consideration product ranges it can act more like a merchandising layer.

During our CRO audit, we identified the category menu as a potential point of friction in the mobile journey. If shoppers cannot quickly understand where to go next, they either over-rely on search, browse inefficiently, or leave before reaching the right products. For Wilson’s Pet Food, the opportunity was to make category discovery feel faster and more intuitive without adding extra decision load. This aligns with our wider Shopify CRO strategy: reduce unnecessary effort early in the journey so more qualified visitors reach product pages, carts, and checkout with confidence.

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A/B/C Test

Redesigning the Category Menu for Mobile

We ran an A/B/C test with two redesigned variants. The hypothesis was that a clearer category experience would improve product discovery and increase progression through the funnel, particularly add-to-cart and checkout begin rate, without harming conversion or revenue per visitor.
Variant B added images and some additional options to the menu...

A/B/C Test

Subtly Different Designs

While Variant C combined the clearer, restructured navigation and images with social proof in the form of the brand's Trustpilot rating.

The Results

Variant C was the strongest experience across the 26-day test period, although the result remained directional rather than statistically conclusive.

The most important pattern was not just the small lift in conversion rate, but where the lift appeared in the journey. Variant C improved add-to-cart rate by 5% and checkout begin rate by 6%, suggesting the redesigned menu helped more shoppers find products worth considering and move deeper into the purchase path. Revenue per visitor was almost flat at -1%, and average order value dipped by 1%, so this was not yet a clear revenue win. However, compared with Variant B, which reduced conversion rate by 11% and was estimated to cost 104 orders and £3,142 in monthly revenue, Variant C was the lower-risk direction. The strategic takeaway is that mobile navigation changes can influence buying momentum, but should be judged across the full funnel, not engagement alone.

  • 1%

    increase in conversion rate

  • 5%

    increase in add-to-cart rate

  • 6%

    increase in checkout begin rate
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