Every e-commerce expert has opinions about the “best” way to sort products, but the truth is that optimal product arrangement varies dramatically between stores. What works brilliantly for one WooCommerce shop might perform poorly for another with different products, customers, and business goals. Instead of relying on generic best practices, successful store owners use A/B testing to discover what specifically works for their unique situation.

Why A/B Test Your Product Sorting?

A/B testing product sorting allows you to:

• Validate assumptions with actual customer behavior
• Measure the direct impact of different sorting strategies on conversion rates
• Discover unexpected patterns specific to your customer base
• Continuously improve rather than settling for “good enough”

Small improvements in product sorting can yield surprisingly large results. Even a 1% conversion improvement compounds dramatically over time, potentially representing thousands in additional revenue.

Key Product Sorting Variables Worth Testing

1. Performance-Based vs. Curated Sorting

Test whether algorithmically sorted products (based on sales, reviews, etc.) outperform manually curated arrangements. Many store owners are surprised to discover that data-driven sorting frequently outperforms even their most carefully considered manual arrangements.

WooRanker facilitates this testing by allowing you to easily switch between automated performance-based sorting and your existing manual arrangement to see which drives better results.

2. Emphasis Weighting Factors

Different scoring factors may impact conversion rates differently:

• Does prioritizing highly-rated products outperform highlighting bestsellers?
• Does featuring new arrivals drive more engagement than promoting limited stock items?
• Do category-specific sorting rules outperform store-wide approaches?

WooRanker’s customizable weighting system makes testing these different emphasis patterns simple, allowing you to adjust factor importance and measure the resulting performance changes.

3. Mobile vs. Desktop Arrangement

Customer behavior differs significantly between devices. Test whether:

• Different sorting strategies should apply to mobile vs. desktop users
• Fewer products per row improves mobile engagement
• Device-specific factor weighting yields better results than universal settings

With increasing mobile traffic, optimizing device-specific sorting can dramatically impact overall conversion rates.

4. Seasonal Adjustments

Test the impact of proactively adjusting product sorting for seasonal shifts:

• How early should you begin highlighting seasonal products?
• What percentage of prime visibility should seasonal items receive?
• Does seasonal sorting impact average order value differently than conversion rate?

WooRanker’s flexible tag and category weighting makes implementing and testing these seasonal adjustments straightforward.

Implementing Effective A/B Tests for Product Sorting

1. Isolate Variables

Test one sorting change at a time to clearly identify cause and effect. Changing multiple sorting factors simultaneously makes it impossible to determine which change drove any observed results.

2. Establish Clear Success Metrics

Define specific metrics to evaluate performance, such as:

• Conversion rate
• Average order value
• Revenue per visitor
• Pages viewed per session
• Time on site

Different sorting strategies may impact these metrics differently, so clarify which outcomes matter most for your business.

3. Ensure Statistical Significance

Run tests long enough to gather meaningful data. For most WooCommerce stores, this means collecting at least several hundred transactions per variation before drawing conclusions.

4. Account for External Factors

Control for variables like:

• Day of week fluctuations
• Marketing campaign influences
• Seasonal shopping patterns

These external factors can skew results if not properly accounted for in your analysis.

From Testing to Implementation

Once you’ve discovered optimal sorting strategies through A/B testing, implementing them shouldn’t require ongoing manual effort. WooRanker allows you to apply your test-proven sorting rules automatically across your store, ensuring consistent application of your optimal strategy without requiring continuous adjustment.

Don’t rely on guesswork for something as critical as product sorting. Implement systematic A/B testing to discover exactly what works for your unique WooCommerce store, then automate the implementation of your proven strategies.

Your competitors may be guessing—but with data-driven sorting optimization, you’ll know exactly which product arrangement maximizes your conversion potential.