Parker Thatch
What We
Test Next
Your new post-purchase survey tells us what almost stops a purchase: price first, then shipping and the wait. This round answers those worries in two places: the payment step, where almost every shopper who leaves checkout stops, and the bag page, which has no quick way to pay yet. Two primary tests and two ready spares, all mobile-first.
Two primary tests, two ready spares
The primaries go where the money is: the payment step and every bag page. The alternates are worked up and ready to swap in.
Primary tests
2 conceptsRecommended to launch firstReassure at Checkout
Almost every shopper who leaves checkout has already typed an address and picked shipping. They stop at the last step, often with a $700+ basket. Nothing on that step answers the worries your buyers tell us about. This test puts one answer right above Pay now: your promises, your customers’ own words, or the pay-over-time option you already offer.
| Signal | Source | Supporting data |
|---|---|---|
| Most of the money leaves at the last step. | Shopify, abandoned checkouts, Aug 14 to Oct 13, 2026 | 2,074 shoppers left checkout with $1.55M in their carts. 95.7% of them had already entered an address and shipping. |
| Big baskets leave more often. | Shopify, Aug 14 to Oct 13, 2026 | 52.7% of abandoned checkouts are $700 or more, vs 44.6% of paid orders. In October the average abandoned basket was $811.52. |
| Price almost stops buyers, and quality is why they pay. | Post-purchase survey, Oct 1 to 13, 2026 | 27 of 78 buyers said price almost stopped them. All of them still ordered, and several said why: “Just the price point, but I am willing to pay on good quality and amazing craftsmanship :)” |
| 1 in 12 buyers already pay over time. | Shopify, 2,058 web orders, Sep 14 to Oct 13, 2026 + survey | 8.0% of web orders (165) used Shop Pay Installments. A buyer: “Cost can’t really afford, but payments really help.” |
| Nothing at checkout answers that worry today. | Checkout review (desktop), Oct 14, 2026 | Checkout shows express Shop Pay, PayPal and Google Pay, and a “You May Also Like” block. We saw no promises and no reviews. |
| Your repair policy already answers price. | Your repair policy, Oct 14, 2026 | If a bag has a defect in its first 12 months, you arrange shipping, repair it and send it back, free of charge. |
| The leak is steady, not new. | Shopify sessions, Sep 7 to Oct 11, 2026 vs a year earlier | Checkout completion is 40.4%, vs 41.1% a year ago. It has held at about 40% all year. |
Each variation adds one block right above Pay now. Nothing else in checkout changes. We run all three against today’s checkout for about four weeks.
- Variation 1 · Our promisesUp to three short promises, each answering a worry buyers name in the survey. Price is the top worry, so one promise answers it: your 365-day repair guarantee. We pick the final promises once about 100 survey answers are in (around Oct 16), with your sign-off.
- Variation 2 · Customer reviewsYour star rating and two short quotes from your customers, picked with you. One quote says the bag is worth the price, in the customer’s own words. The other speaks to quality or shipping.
- Variation 3 · Pay over timeOne line that names the Shop Pay Installments option you already offer: “Pay in 4 interest-free payments with Shop Pay.” Pay in 4 covers orders under $1,000, so baskets of $1,000 or more see “Or pay monthly with Shop Pay.” On carts with a preorder bag: “Pay in 4 interest-free payments while your bag is made. Ships by Oct 30.”
Concept sketches only. Final design will differ. The payment step is drawn from standard Shopify checkout. The promises shown are placeholders: the final promises come from your survey answers and your sign-off. The repair line matches your current repair policy. Quotes are from your customers; you pick the final two, one of them about value. The pay-over-time line follows Shop Pay’s terms for each basket size.
Checkout tests run up to 3 variations against today’s checkout, so each idea is tested on its own first. Bonus slot: if more than one variation wins, a follow-up test combines them: two of them, or all three together.
Pay Your Way on Bag Pages
Most of your buyers already pay with a saved wallet: Shop Pay, Apple Pay or PayPal. About 1 in 12 already pay over time with Shop Pay Installments. But the bag page only offers Add to Cart, so every buyer has to go through the cart first. This test puts each shopper’s fastest wallet right under Add to Cart, with a pay-over-time line that answers the price worry.
| Signal | Source | Supporting data |
|---|---|---|
| Price is the top worry, and payments help. | Post-purchase survey, Oct 1 to 13, 2026 | 27 of 78 buyers named price. “Cost can’t really afford, but payments really help.” |
| Most buyers pay with a saved wallet. | Shopify, 2,058 web orders, Sep 14 to Oct 13, 2026 | 84.5% paid with a wallet: Shop Pay 63.0%, Apple Pay 15.2%, PayPal 6.2%. |
| Buyers already pay over time. | Shopify, 2,058 web orders, Sep 14 to Oct 13, 2026 | 8.0% of web orders (165) used Shop Pay Installments. The bag page never mentions it. |
| The bag page offers no fast way to pay. | parkerthatch.com, Oct 13 and 14, 2026 | The only way to buy is Add to Cart. The express buttons appear only at checkout. |
| The cart loses two in three. | Our cart test, Sep 24 to Oct 9, 2026 | Only 32.3% of shoppers who opened the cart clicked through to checkout. |
| Most shoppers are on a phone. | Shopify, 30 days to Oct 13, 2026 | 80.4% of page loads are on mobile. |
One change under Add to Cart on every bag page. Add to Cart stays the main button.
- Variation · Express pay and pay in 4Shopify’s express button under Add to Cart, showing the shopper’s fastest wallet for her device, in an outline style. One line under it with the Shop Pay Installments offer for that price, for example “Pay in 4 interest-free installments of $187.00” on a $748 bag. Pay in 4 covers orders under $1,000, so bags of $1,000 or more show a monthly-payment line instead.
Concept sketches only. Final design will differ. The button shows each shopper’s own fastest wallet; Shop Pay is shown as an example. The installment line follows Shop Pay’s terms for each price.
Ready alternates
2 conceptsWorked up, ready to swap inSold Out Before
Your best bags really do sell out, and buyers wait for them. Today the bag page never says so. This test adds a true, quiet message about each bag’s stock story, updated every day from Shopify, with no countdown and no stock counts. You asked us for a test that proves it. This is that test.
| Signal | Source | Supporting data |
|---|---|---|
| You asked for this test. | Our calls, Aug 26 and Oct 1, 2026 | “we need to conceive of a test where we can prove that.” The framing your team liked: “this product sold out three times last year. So, it’s currently in stock.” You loved it for the Daily Bag Leopard and the Jack. |
| Your bags really sell out. | Shopify, Aug 14 to Oct 12, 2026 | 9 bags are on preorder now, and 8 more were on preorder in the last 60 days. Together they earned $711,874 in 59 days, 27% of bag revenue. |
| Preorders are now 1 in 10 orders, and bigger. | Shopify, Sep 28 to Oct 12, 2026 | Preorders were 11.2% and 10.1% of orders in the weeks of Sep 28 and Oct 5. In October, preorder orders averaged $1,019.67 vs $605.82 for other orders. |
| Buyers feel the wait. | Post-purchase survey, Oct 1 to 13, 2026 | 4 of 78 buyers said the wait almost stopped them: “Shipping date. I wanted this bag for a trip. Leaving on the 13th of October. But I still want it.” |
| A true sold-out message has worked before. | Our test library, across brands | A “sold out twice” bar with a stock meter lifted revenue per visitor by 26.4% on another brand’s main product page. We use only the true part, the sell-out history, with no meter and no numbers. |
The message shows only on bags where it is true that day, and it updates itself from Shopify. No unit counts, no timers. The three variations test how loud it should be.
- Variation 1 · Quiet lineOne line under the price, in the body font and a muted color.
- Variation 2 · Sold-out barA slim navy bar under the price: a short headline over one status line.
- Variation 3 · Bar and selling fastVariation 2, plus “Selling fast in this color” on bags with under 3 weeks of stock. Only if you approve it.
| Stock state | Message |
|---|---|
| On preorder | “This batch sold out. Reserve yours from the next one. Ships by Oct 30.” |
| Back in stock | “Sold out in September. Back in stock now.” |
| Back in stock, with your count | “Sold out 3 times this year. Back in stock now.” |
Concept sketches only. Final design will differ. The copy is an example: each bag’s message comes from its real stock history in Shopify, and counts come only from your list.
Shop Straps by Your Bag
Which strap goes with which bag is the second most common question your team gets. The Straps page filters by color, size and price, but not by the bag a shopper already owns. This test lets her start from her bag and see the straps other owners wear with it.
| Signal | Source | Supporting data |
|---|---|---|
| It is a top customer-service question. | Our call, Aug 26, 2026 | “what strap would go with what” is the second most common question. |
| Bag buyers come back for accessories. | Shopify, Aug 14 to Oct 12, 2026 | 270 bag buyers came back for 348 accessory-only orders worth $72,314, a median 10.5 days later. |
| Buyers ask for it. | Post-purchase survey, Oct 1 to 13, 2026 | “I wish you had put together a bag suggestion that showed bags with straps/chains.” |
| Today’s pages cannot answer it. | parkerthatch.com, Oct 14, 2026 | The Straps page filters by color, size and price. Strap pages say “Fits - any of our bags with d-rings.” |
Shoppers pick their bag, and the page answers with the straps your customers wear with it.
- Variation 1 · Shop by your bagA row of 8 bag photos under the Straps title. Tap one, and the page shows “Most worn with the Daily Bag” (the top 3 from your orders, approved by you), one stylist’s pick, then the other straps that fit.
- Variation 2 · Plus strap pagesVariation 1, plus a “Most worn with” line and 2 bag photos under the price on every strap page.
Concept sketches only. Final design will differ. The bags and straps shown are examples: the “most worn with” picks come from your orders and your approval.
What the numbers say
From your Shopify orders, checkouts and payments (Aug 14 to Oct 13, 2026), test results, your new post-purchase survey (Oct 1 to 13, 2026) and our calls. These shaped every concept.
What October’s cart test taught us
The cart cross-sell lost. Straps in the cart drawer did not raise order value, and fewer shoppers went on to checkout. Among shoppers who opened the cart, revenue per visitor fell 12.4% with the strap row above the subtotal and 10.3% with a row under each bag.
The lesson matches September’s buy box test: at the moment of decision, do not put anything new between the shopper and the purchase. Only remove a doubt or a step. Every concept in this round follows that rule. The checkout test answers a worry. The express button on the bag page removes the cart step. The strap idea moves to the Straps page, away from the path to checkout. The post-purchase offer, which comes after the order is placed, and the new fit images are next in line. The collections test is still running.
Where the leak is
Fewer shoppers reach checkout than a year ago: 0.99% of sessions from Sep 7 to Oct 11, 2026, vs 1.21% a year earlier. But the share who finish checkout has held at about 40% all year. So this round works on both sides: the bag page, to bring more shoppers to checkout, and the payment step, to lose fewer of the ones who get there.
What your buyers told us
Your relaunched survey got 78 open answers in its first 11 days to “Was there anything that almost stopped you from ordering today?” Price came first, with 27 answers. Every one of those buyers ordered anyway, and several named the quality as the reason. Shipping cost and the wait came next, with 4 answers each. 70% of the buyers who answered were new customers, and 4 in 10 first heard of you on Instagram. These answers will pick the final promises for the checkout test.
Sources
Shopify Admin API: 6,064 orders (Aug 14 to Oct 12, 2026), 2,074 abandoned checkouts (Aug 14 to Oct 13, 2026), sessions (Sep 2025 to Oct 2026), inventory and preorder state, and payments (Sep 1 to Oct 13, 2026). Intelligems test results (to Oct 13, 2026). Post-purchase survey (Fairing), Oct 1 to 13, 2026. Our calls (Aug 26 and Oct 1, 2026). Your team Slack and Basecamp (to Oct 14, 2026). Public reviews (Yelp). Live site reviewed Oct 13 and 14, 2026, including checkout. Our team’s test library across brands. GA4 is still pending an access grant, so session-level funnel data is not yet included.
