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Case study · ecommerce · checkout

Five cross-sells and no checkout button: When the cart tries too hard

An interactive case study: a candle shop's cart shows five cross-sell carousels that push checkout off screen. The team tests one relevant suggestion.

WXM 1 · Wonder (Look)WXM 2 · Architect (Plan)WXM 3 · Validate (Test)WXM 4 · Expand (Grow)
Teaching example
By Phil the CRO Guy

Phil the CRO Guy

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Expert-reviewed by Filip Doneski

Filip Doneski

CRO Expert and Strategist · Partner and Lead CRO Strategist at Wavesy

10+ years in conversion optimization and experimentation for DTC, retail and SaaS. Reviews every Mentorele lesson for accuracy before it’s published.

A/B testingConversion rate optimizationDigital psychology and persuasion

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Updated

Slide 1 of 10

Wick & Wane's cart is a shop inside a shop

Wick & Wane sells candles online. To raise order value, the team added cross-sells to the cart: 'You may also like', 'Bestsellers', 'Gift sets', 'Accessories' and 'Recently viewed'.

Average order value went up a little. Orders went down. Phil wants to know why.

When order value goes up and orders go down, you need to look at revenue per visitor before celebrating.

Slide 2 of 10

WXM 1 · Wonder (Look)

Wonder: what changed in the funnel

The team compares the four weeks before and after the carousels went live, by device.

  1. Cart to checkout on mobile fell noticeably; desktop barely moved.
  2. Cross-sell items were added to only a small share of carts.
  3. Average order value rose slightly, but revenue per visitor fell.
Cart to checkout rate, before and after (illustrative) Original wireframe, not a screenshot.
  1. Mobile only. The drop is concentrated on mobile, where the carousels take the most space.

Slide 3 of 10

WXM 1 · Wonder (Look)

Wonder: what shoppers do in the cart

Before-and-after comparisons can be misleading (seasons change), so the team looks for behaviour that explains it.

  1. Recordings: mobile shoppers scroll through carousels looking for the checkout button, some leave mid-scroll.
  2. Some tap a cross-sell, land on another product page, and never return to the cart.
  3. Survey on the cart: "Where do I pay?", "Too much going on".

Every offer is another decision. Pile up enough decisions and some people stop deciding at all.

Slide 4 of 10

WXM 1 · Wonder (Look)

Wonder: the cart today

The item, then five rows of offers, then the total and the button.

Control (A)
Cart page, current version Original wireframe, not a screenshot.
  1. The detour. Five rows of offers between the shopper and the checkout button.
  2. Hidden action. On a phone, checkout sits several screens down.

Slide 5 of 10

WXM 2 · Architect (Plan)

Architect: from evidence to a hypothesis

Because mobile cart-to-checkout fell after the carousels launched and recordings show shoppers searching for the checkout button, we believe replacing the five carousels with one relevant suggestion and placing the total and checkout button near the top for mobile shoppers will increase revenue per visitor, because shoppers can finish easily while still seeing one offer worth adding.

Your turn: Why is revenue per visitor the right primary metric here?
Show Phil’s answer

It captures both fewer cross-sells (lower order value) and more completed orders. The change likely lowers cross-sell revenue per order and raises the number of orders. Only revenue per visitor shows the net effect.

Slide 6 of 10

WXM 2 · Architect (Plan)

Architect: how does it score on PXL?

Above the fold, very noticeable, removes elements, on a high-traffic step, backed by analytics, survey and recordings, and quick to build.

PXL score: 11 / 14

Is the change above the fold?Yes1
Is it noticeable within 5 seconds?Yes2
Does it add or remove an element?Yes2
Is it designed to increase user motivation?No0
Does it run on high-traffic page(s)?Yes1
Does it address an issue found in user testing?No0
Does it address an issue found in qualitative feedback (surveys, polls, interviews)?Yes1
Does it address insights found in digital analytics?Yes1
Is it supported by mouse-tracking heatmaps or eye tracking?Yes1
Ease of implementationUp to 8 hours2

PXL by CXL. A high score ranks an idea; it does not predict a win.

Slide 7 of 10

WXM 3 · Validate (Test)

Validate: the variation

The total and checkout button move up under the items. One suggestion, chosen from products often bought with what's in the cart, sits below.

Control (A)
A: five carousels, button at the bottom Original wireframe, not a screenshot.
Variation (B)
B: checkout first, one relevant suggestion Original wireframe, not a screenshot.
  1. Action first. Total and checkout visible without scrolling.

Slide 8 of 10

WXM 3 · Validate (Test)

Validate: the test plan, written before launch

Fixed in advance:

  1. Primary metric: revenue per visitor who reaches the cart.
  2. Secondary: cart-to-order rate, average order value, cross-sell add rate.
  3. Guardrails: margin per order, returns.
  4. Duration: whole weeks, no major sale period (sales change basket behaviour).
  5. Decision rule: ship if revenue per visitor improves and margin holds.

Slide 9 of 10

WXM 4 · Expand (Grow)

Expand: whatever the result, the cycle continues

This is a teaching case, so there's no result to report. Here's what each outcome would lead to.

  1. Win: test which single suggestion works best (accessory vs similar item), and try the same idea in the mini cart.
  2. Inconclusive: the button position may matter more than the carousels. Test them separately.
  3. Loss: cross-sells may matter more than thought for some shoppers. Segment by cart value.

Slide 10 of 10

Your turn

Open your cart on a phone with one item in it. How far do you scroll to reach the checkout button? Count the offers on the way. Then read cart abandonment for the bigger picture.

What this case teaches

  • Wonder spotted that a higher average order value hid lower revenue per visitor.
  • Architect balanced the business goal (order value) with the shopper’s goal (checking out).
  • Validate used revenue per visitor because the change moves two metrics in opposite directions.
  • Expand separated the two parts of the change for follow-up tests.

Wick & Wane is a made-up shop used for teaching.

Frequently asked questions

Should the cart page show cross-sells?

A small number of genuinely relevant suggestions can raise order value. Many unrelated offers can distract shoppers from checking out. Keep the checkout button visible and test the trade-off with revenue per visitor.

Is Wick & Wane a real company?

No. It's a made-up shop used to teach the method, so there's no real result to report.

Sources (4)

  1. Choice overload: A conceptual review and meta-analysis. Chernev, Böckenholt and Goodman, Journal of Consumer Psychology 25(2), 2015. Accessed 12 November 2026.
  2. 50 Cart Abandonment Rate Statistics 2026. Baymard Institute. Accessed 12 November 2026.
  3. WXM: the Wave Experimentation Model. Wavesy. Accessed 4 November 2026.
  4. PXL: A Better Way to Prioritize Your A/B Tests. CXL. Accessed 4 November 2026.

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