Shopify UGC A/B Test: How Customer-Made Videos Lifted Revenue per Visitor by 19.5%

TL;DR

A European car diagnostics brand sells an OBD2 scanner and an app that unlocks hidden car settings, diagnostics and service tools. Many of its buyers hear about it from other drivers before they visit the store.

The store showed the product in action with YouTube videos. As part of the ongoing Shopify A/B testing programme we run for the store, we replaced them with short UGC videos made by drivers who use the product on their own cars. The swap lifted revenue per visitor by 19.5% and conversion rate by 13.7%.

The challenge: shoppers trusted other drivers more than the brand

Plugging a device into your car and changing its settings takes trust. Shoppers want to know it works, that it is safe, and that someone with a car like theirs has done it.

That proof existed in owners' forums, social groups and creator videos. On the store, the video section showed YouTube content instead.

The research: peer proof came before purchase

Our Shopify CRO research for this store analysed more than 500 post-purchase survey responses and product reviews. Two themes stood out:

• ✓Community validation: 29 survey mentions said a recommendation from a car forum or social group came before the purchase. It was the second most cited purchase driver.
• ✓Ease of use: 49 signals across reviews and surveys described the setup as plug-and-play.

The hypothesis: show drivers, not the channel

If we replace the YouTube videos with UGC videos of drivers using the product, shoppers will see peer proof before they decide, increasing revenue per visitor.

We kept the section, its position and the rest of the page. The test changed only the videos.

The variation: UGC videos in place of YouTube videos

The video section stayed in the same place, and the rest of the page stayed the same. The variation swapped the YouTube videos for UGC videos: short clips recorded by drivers who use the product on their own cars.

The change answered the doubts the research found. Clips filmed in real cars by real owners showed that the setup is simple and that the product works on cars like the shopper's.

Because only the videos changed, the result reflects the switch from YouTube content to UGC.

The results: +19.5% revenue per visitor

We ran the test in Intelligems, comparing the YouTube videos with the UGC videos.

Conversion rate rose by 13.7% and average order value by 5.1%. Together, these contributed to the 19.5% uplift in revenue per visitor observed during the test.

We used revenue per visitor as the primary success metric because it captures the combined effect of conversion and order value. Following the positive test results, we implemented the winning variation on the live site.

What this test taught us about UGC on Shopify

The discovery wasn't that UGC always beats brand video. Customers told us other drivers convinced them to buy. Swapping the videos brought that voice onto the store without changing anything else.

For this store, the videos had to show:

• ✓Real cars: the product working on makes and models like the shopper's.
• ✓Real people: drivers, not presenters.
• ✓Simple setup: plugging in and changing a setting in minutes.

What could A/B testing uncover in your store?

We plan, build and run A/B tests for Shopify stores, grounded in customer research rather than guesswork. Get in touch to find out what to test next.