How to Create a Checkout Experiment
This guide walks you through setting up a checkout experiment in Elevate — from configuring checkout elements to launching the test.
Requires Shopify Plus. Checkout customization is only available on Shopify Plus plans.
Step 1: Create an Experiment
From your Elevate dashboard, go to Experiments and click New Experiment. Select Checkout Experiment.
If the Elevate checkout extension isn't enabled, you'll be guided through the setup process. This is a one-time step.
Step 2: General Info
Enter your experiment details:
Name — Something descriptive like "Checkout Testimonials Test" or "Trust Badges + Urgency Banner"
Description — What you're testing and why
Hypothesis — What you expect to happen
For example:
"Adding customer testimonials and trust badges to the checkout page will reduce cart abandonment and increase checkout completion rate by addressing last-minute purchase anxiety."
Choose your experiment goal. Revenue Per Visitor or Conversion Rate are the most common choices. Remember that for checkout experiments, conversion rate measures checkout completion (completed purchases ÷ checkout starts), not overall site conversion.
Step 3: Configure Checkout Variations
This is the main setup step. Each variation represents a different checkout experience.
Control — Your current checkout with no additional elements. No configuration needed.
Variation(s) — For each variation, you can add and configure any combination of the following checkout elements:
Checkout Banner
A banner at the top of checkout for urgency messaging, reassurance, or promotional callouts
Customer Testimonials
Social proof with customer reviews and star ratings to build confidence at the point of purchase
Trust Badges
Visual trust signals like security badges, guarantee seals, or payment security indicators to reduce checkout anxiety
Payment Methods
Highlights available payment options to reassure customers about payment flexibility
Upsell Offers
In-checkout upsell opportunities to increase average order value
Each element is fully customizable — you control the text, layout, styling, and positioning within the checkout. The configuration options are self-explanatory in the editor.
You can mix and match these elements within a single variation. For example, one variation might have a banner + testimonials, while another has testimonials + trust badges. This lets you test different combinations to find what resonates best.
Step 4: Traffic Allocation
Set how traffic is split between your variations. The default is an even split. Adjust as needed — percentages must add up to 100%.
Step 5: Add Audience Targeting (Optional)
Narrow your audience if needed — by device, location, traffic source, visitor type, or UTM parameters.
For the full list of targeting options, see Audience Targeting.
Step 6: Review and Launch
Review your experiment — verify each variation has the correct checkout elements configured. Then click Create Experiment to submit.
The experiment moves into review status. Once ready, click Launch Experiment to go live.
Quality Assurance
After launching:
Start a checkout — Add items to your cart and proceed to checkout
Verify checkout elements appear — Confirm the banner, testimonials, trust badges, or other elements are rendering correctly for the variation
Complete a test purchase — Go through the full checkout to verify nothing is broken and the order processes correctly
Check on mobile — Checkout elements may render differently on smaller screens
Verify tracking — Check the Raw Data tab to confirm checkout events are being recorded with the correct variation
Tip: Use an incognito window to get a fresh visitor assignment. You may need to try multiple times to land on the variation (vs. the control).
After Launching
Monitor results — Check the Results tab to track checkout completion rates and revenue
Watch cart abandonment — The Orders & Checkout tab in Advanced Analytics shows abandonment rate, checkout duration, and completion rate by variation
Wait for significance — Checkout experiments may take longer to reach significance due to naturally lower traffic (only visitors who reach checkout are counted). See Statistical Significance.
End the experiment — When ready, see Ending an Experiment
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