Website changes can sometimes have unexpected consequences. After a site migration made it harder for mobile users to find the search option, a leading lawncare brand’s online sales suffered OuterBox helped the leading lawn care brand dig into the problem and regrow its mobile conversions.
Overview
Our client is one of the country’s leading marketers of branded consumer lawn and garden products. OuterBox has supported its eCommerce efforts since 2024, assisting with conversion rate optimization (CRO) and testing UX changes against live visitor behavior before the client’s internal team commits development resources to a permanent build.
126%
Search Rate Increase
175%
Search CVR Improvement
32%
Average Order Value Increase
Challenge
The company’s historical data from the showed shoppers relied heavily on search to find products, but the recent site migration had buried the mobile search bar inside a collapsed menu. Once it took an extra tap to reach, conversion rates dropped. The client needed to quickly test designs that would prove whether restoring easy mobile search functionality could improve sales results.
Solution
OuterBox built a search field test grounded in Baymard Institute search-bar guidelines. Our concept pulled the search field out of the hamburger menu and placed it directly beneath the main navigation. It also remained sticky on scroll so it stayed reachable as shoppers browsed. We A/B tested two variations against control: Variation 1 labeled the bar as “Search” while Variation 2 replaced that text with “What are you looking for?” Both ran across 100% of mobile visitors from February 19 to March 4, 2026, drawing a combined sample of 76,704 sessions.
Results
Both variations of the search bar outperformed the control, producing significant increases in search rate and search conversion rate (CVR). Variation 2 (“What are you looking for?”) delivered overall better performance and engagement of the two. Compared to control, the search rate rose 127% for Variation 2 compared to 106% for Variation 1 (“Search”).
Search conversion rate for Variation 2 was also 175% higher than control. Revenue per visitor from search nearly quadrupled, and average order value from search-originated purchases was 32% higher.
Unearthing the Real Problem
A drop in sales can look like a broad site issue, but sometimes it’s narrower than that. The client’s site refresh had created unintended friction for users, but our work went further than just quickly identifying the issue and slapping in a fix. By testing variations of solutions, we could help the client identify a lasting solution that got even better results.
Easing the Burden on Internal Teams
What separated this from a typical UX fix was speed. OuterBox proposed, built, launched, and completed the live test all within 6 weeks, keeping the winning variation hosted and running after the test window closed to ensure continuity. That gave the client’s internal team a proven design blueprint with real conversion data behind it, allowing them to implement the permanent with a blueprint already in place. OuterBox’s client point of contact called it the fastest she’d seen a development task move from proposal to in-house implementation in her 7 years with the company.
