Recart vs Built-in Popups

Can Recart popups outperform the built-in popups of a major ESP, even when the design and offer are identical? True Classic, a leading DTC brand, sought to answer this question through a rigorous split test, measuring list growth, conversion rates, and revenue impact.

Test Setup: 50:50 Split, 9 Days

Same Design. Different Outcome?

Results Highlights

List Growth

Revenue & Profit

Recart didn’t just capture more leads, it created a smoother, more intuitive journey that kept users engaged all the way through to purchase. The 10% lift in purchase conversion after submission shows that removing friction doesn’t just improve list growth - it drives real revenue growth.

What Makes This Possible?

If the popup designs and incentives were almost identical, then why did Recart perform so much better?

Lightning-Fast Loading

Recart popups are optimized for all visitors, including those who use older smartphones, slower internet connections, and outdated operating systems. Unlike unoptimized popups, which frequently fail to trigger under slower internet conditions.

‍Built-in popups of legacy SMS/email aren’t optimized for older and slower mobile devices - while 20-25% of all traffic comes from these sources.

Purpose-Built Architecture

Recart popups are purpose-built for increasing list growth and site conversion rates.

These optimizations delivered measurable results during our A/B testing: Recart captured 17.9K email subscribers compared to built-in popups 14.4K - a 19% lift. That advantage held true across systems: Klaviyo reported a 22% increase in net new email subscribers. And it wasn’t just email. On net new SMS subscribers, Recart outperformed the built-in popups of a major ESP by +29%.

Small UX Changes = Big Results

Recart popups are equipped with learnings from our 700+ A/B tests we ran with major brands. Even though the popups look the same - they convert very differently.

Tiny details, like transitions between steps, input field behavior, and scroll-protection help eliminate friction and make the customer experience better, leading to significant performance improvements.

That smoother experience led to better results for True Classic: Recart drove a 10% higher purchase conversion rate among users who submitted the popup. Gross profit per popup submitted also jumped 10% - better experience led to more items in cart, and more revenue.

Key Learnings

Conclusion

This A/B test on True Classic delivered one of the clearest signals yet: even when the design is identical, a highly optimized popups drive materially better results - both on list growth and revenue.

Materially better results might be an understatement. True Classic now gains an additional 300,000 email and 150,000 SMS subscribers a year.

The impact of these incremental subscribers is cumulative: at key moments like July 4th or BFCM sales, it’s absolutely critical that they are able to reach as many customers via email and SMS as possible.