#173: 4 layout fixes that lifted conversions up to 15%

A few small tweaks helped shoppers decide faster (and buy more).

September 17, 2025

Join 30k+ brand owners, operators and marketers. Subscribe here.

No. 173: Hey all,

Q4 is around the corner. That's why today I'm going to show you how to increase your AOV during the biggest sales Quarter of year.

Now, back to today’s takeaway:

Shoppers won’t dig for answers.

Too often, the details that matter are buried or overshadowed by things that don’t drive action.

We ran layout tests across four brands in home, fashion, arts, and wellness.

Every test focused on one thing: show the info that helps customers buy faster.

The result? Conversion lifts up to 15% on each.

Here’s how.

In under 3 minutes, learn:

Read time: 2.75 minutes

📅 TODAY: LIVE TRAINING

The Upsell Formula – Q4 Holiday Edition:

How to Increase Your AOV During the Biggest Sales Quarter of the Year

(Without Hurting Your Conversion Rates)

Q4, Holidays and Black Friday + Cyber Monday are around the corner. Learn how to increase AOV and maximize your revenue per site visitor for the most important sales quarter of the year.

​We'll show you the exact upsell, cross-sell and bundling strategies working for other 8 and 9-figure e-commerce brands right now – and the offers they are launching for the Q4 Holiday.

Join us LIVE today Wednesday, September 17th at 11am PT (2pm ET) for a FREE training.

​In this live training, we'll show you:

  • The upsell strategies 8- and 9-figure brands are using for Q4 2025

  • Where to place upsells on your site for maximum results

  • Black Friday / Cyber Monday ready examples from CPG, Apparel, Luxury, Health and more.

  • A LIVE teardown of popular brand upsells, cross-sells and bundle offers.

Then, ask all your questions LIVE with Blue Stout experts.

Can’t make it? No worries. We'll share the recording with all who sign up.

🎯 WEEKLY INSIGHT

When you prioritize how people decide - not just how they browse - conversions go up.

Most sites are built around how people browse.

But conversions happen when you design for how people decide.

Browsing is casual: scrolling, clicking around, taking it all in.

Deciding is active. It’s when a shopper asks:

  • What does this cost?

  • Does it do what I need?

  • Can I trust this brand?

Your layout should make those answers immediate.

Here’s how four brands did it:

1) Home goods brand replaced a vague slider with clear checkboxes.

Result: +14.6% conversion lift

The price slider was clunky and unclear.

We swapped it for simple boxes that make it easier to filter price by budget. For a kitchen brand with a wide range of price points and customers, ease is everything.

2) Craft brand reordered filters to prioritize their top features.

Result: +11.3% conversion boost

Color and collection were the major decision points, but somehow buried in the filter stack.

We reordered them to make product discovery feel intuitive and so much faster for their older audience.

3) Luxury men’s apparel brand removed credibility badges that cluttered the collection page.

Result: +10% conversion increase

Award badges on the images looked impressive, but overwhelmed the product.

We cleared them to help discerning shoppers focus on the clothes.

4) Wellness brand prioritized their 3 most influential icons.

Result: +9.5% conversion win

All benefits aren’t equal.

We highlighted the top 3 for their audience: “USDA Organic,” “Clinically Studied,” “Vegan” and moved the rest down the page.

This focus helped their health-conscious customer (age 27-45) instantly see value to act fast.

⭐ Takeaway: If your layout doesn’t reflect how your customer makes purchase decisions, it’s slowing them down. Prioritize price, features, filters, and credibility.

Remove anything that doesn’t help them choose.

Try it out!

🕙 WHAT’S BREWING

📣 IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Eliminate friction to increase impulse shopping.

Vary your upsells for a 24% revenue increase.

Brand-aware buyers value practicality over persuasion.

🗞️ NEWS HIGHLIGHT

👀 FROM LAST WEEK

#172: Using an educational image increased conversions by 19.5%

💡 ALLEN’S QUICK TIP

👊 STOUT SUCCESS

Ready to talk shop? Book a strategy call with me.

Was today's insight valuable?

Help shape the next Commerce Lab edition 🏆

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

Let’s work together. Here are 3 ways I can help:

That's all for today.

If you enjoyed this, please consider forwarding it to a friend, founder, or fellow marketer.

And if you have any comments/questions, I'd love to hear them.

Until next time.

— Allen