What’s important here is that the buttons were now condensed, so this cluster of calls to action took up less space. They replaced it with a similar message (“you can always cancel later”), just below the “Ready to Buy?” header. I managed to snag this one while Amazon was running a split test…Īmazon decided to test removing “you can always remove it later” from on the Add-to-Cart button. Removing “you can always remove it later” + Button Shrink Note how the secondary action (“Add to Wish List”) is roughly the same color as the Add-to-Cart button. The objective: Make sure everyone sees the bordered, stand-alone “Ready to Buy” area with the Add-to-Cart and 1-click buttons. This design expanded the renamed “Ready to Buy” area to 262 pixels tall.

While the Add-to-Cart button stayed the same, with this incarnation, Amazon launched its “1-Click” feature and added it to the “Ready to Buy” area. Notice how the wording at the top goes from “Buy from ” to the more productive “Ready to Buy?”… The objective: Make people comfortable clicking on the Add-to-Cart button. Back then, few people felt comfortable putting their credits cards online and Amazon, for the most part, sold books. These were the early days of e-commerce, when customers feared that the Earth might implode if they hit the wrong button. Notice how many point-of-action assurances there are (“you can always remove it later” on the button, and the lock icon with “Shopping with us is safe. Please be patient until I show you the test they are doing this week. Their iconic Add-to-Cart button was one of the first to use an irregular shape a circle with a cart icon on the left, blued to a rectangular button with the “Add to Shopping Cart” message. Here’s an early version of Amazon’s ready-to-buy area:

They make decisions based on their business needs, not yours. PLEASE NOTE: Just because Amazon does it, doesn’t mean you should. Let’s look at the evolution of this critical first stage of the checkout process to see what you can learn from it before we look at the current test. In 2008, I chronicled in an old blog post, my addictive nature by sharing my collection of Amazon Add to Cart button and accompanying area screenshots I have been collected since the late 90s. This is the first major test of this area I have seen in years. Is the background of the box white or blue?Īmazon is doing a significant test to their add to cart button and the area surrounding it, what I call the “ready to buy” area. Go to, search for a book and look at their add to cart button, ready to buy area. You may be in a test cell right this moment.

Amazon cart