An outdoor gear brand added a progress bar showing how much more customers needed to spend for free shipping: “You’re $23 away from FREE SHIPPING!”
Sounds smart. But the bar appeared after add-to-cart, creating instant sticker shock. Customers didn’t think “I’ll add more” – they thought “this is getting expensive” and bounced to compare prices elsewhere.
They moved the free shipping threshold to the product page as static text and removed the progress bar entirely. No surprises at checkout.
Cart abandonment dropped 12%. Average order value stayed flat – but more people actually completed purchase.
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