Theater Improved Its Add-to-Cart Rate Through Mobile Funnel Optimization

Theater was pulling in steady traffic but converting very little of it. The primary objective was to increase sales and reduce drop-off at the top of the funnel, specifically on mobile.

When ConvertPolo dug into Theater’s mobile visitor data, two patterns kept coming up. Each one was a different point where shoppers were dropping out.

1. Product discoverability: 30% of shoppers were abandoning their journey before even reaching a product page. Without a way to filter and refine quickly, shoppers were leaving before they found anything worth buying.

2. Weak purchase triggers at the cart stage: 92.4% of visitors were leaving without adding a product to the cart. The add-to-cart action carried no urgency and was not supported by any social proof.

The analysis pointed to two problems. ConvertPolo ran a separate A/B test for each, using VWO Testing – Web.

Test 1: Sticky filter and sort function on mobile product listing page (PLP)

Finding the right product on Theater’s mobile PLP wasn’t straightforward. On the control version, shoppers had to scroll back to the top every time they wanted to refine their search, and most didn’t.

The ConvertPolo team introduced a sticky filter and sort bar that stayed accessible as shoppers scrolled. Shoppers could narrow results by color, price, or other attributes without losing their place on the page.

Result: The variation delivered a 7.53% increase in the add-to-cart rate. Shoppers found relevant products faster, which reduced early-stage drop-off and improved overall browsing engagement.

Test 2: Social proof and FOMO messaging on the add-to-cart action

Getting shoppers to the product page wasn’t the hard part. Getting them to act once they were there was. The add-to-cart button on the control gave them no urgency, no social signal, and no reason to commit.

ConvertPolo tested a variation with social proof messages and FOMO-based triggers alongside the add-to-cart action. Messaging highlighted product popularity, scarcity signals, and trust cues to reduce hesitation at the final step.

Result: The variation delivered a 25% increase in the add-to-cart rate.

Shoppers responded to the urgency signals and became more motivated to act before the product became unavailable, which translated directly into higher cart additions.

Overall impact

ConvertPolo addressed drop-off at two separate stages of the mobile funnel. Better discoverability got more shoppers to the product, and purchase triggers converted the ones who were close but hesitating.

Across the two experiments, Theater achieved a 32.53% overall increase in the add-to-cart.

ConvertPolo identified where Theater’s mobile funnel was losing shoppers and ran focused tests at each point. Each experiment addressed one friction area, which compounded into a result that positively affected every key metric.

VWO gave ConvertPolo the infrastructure to build, test, and validate each change with confidence. Start your 30-day free trial of VWO and see what a structured experimentation approach can do for your store.