When analyzing an experiment in GemX, you’ll often see two key numbers: Conversion Rate and Revenue.
Many users ask: Which one actually matters more?
The short answer: It depends on what you’re testing and what business goal you’re trying to achieve.
This article explains the difference, when to prioritize each metric, and how to interpret them correctly in GemX.
What Is Conversion Rate?
Conversion Rate (CR) measures how efficiently your traffic turns into orders.
In GemX, the CR is the percentage of online store sessions that completed an order from the experiment.
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In simple terms: Conversion Rate = S essions that completed checkout ÷ Total sessions |
If 1,000 visitors land on a page and 50 place an order, your conversion rate is 5%.
Conversion rate is useful because it isolates behavioral efficiency. It helps you understand whether a page or variant persuades users to take action.
You should focus on conversion rate when:
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Testing CTA copy, button placement, or layout
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Improving product page design
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Adjusting hero banners or trust elements
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Validating UX changes without changing pricing
Learn more: If you’re unsure how to read CR inside GemX, see How to Read Experiment Results and Understanding Metrics and Session Views for detailed guidance.
What Is Revenue?
Revenue represents the total sales generated during your experiment after discounts.
Unlike conversion rate, revenue reflects direct business impact.
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In simple terms: Revenue = Gross sales - Discounts |
This means revenue can increase even if the conversion rate stays the same, or even slightly decreases, as long as AOV increases.
Revenue is more important when you test:
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Bundles and upsells
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Discount strategies
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Free shipping thresholds
In these cases, the goal isn’t just more orders. It’s higher total sales.
Learn more: To understand how GemX tracks revenue and orders, refer to How GemX Calculates Revenue & Orders and GemX Order Analytics.
Why Conversion Rate Can Be Misleading
Conversion rate alone does not tell the full story.
Here are two common scenarios:
Scenario 1: Conversion Rate increases, Revenue decreases
A discount encourages more purchases, so CR improves.
However, heavy discounting lowers AOV. Total revenue may stay flat or even drop.
Scenario 2: Conversion Rate decreases slightly, Revenue increases
You test a higher price, fewer people purchase, so CR drops slightly.
But the higher price increases AOV significantly, leading to higher total revenue.
If you only look at the conversion rate, you might choose the wrong winner.
Key takeaway: Conversion rate measures efficiency. Revenue measures business outcome. They answer different questions.
Which Metric Should You Optimize?
There is no universal answer. Choose based on the purpose of your experiment.
You should optimize the Conversion Rate when:
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You are testing UX or layout changes
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Product price remains the same
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Your goal is to improve behavioral performance
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You want to reduce friction in the funnel
Focus on the Revenue when:
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You are testing price, bundles, or shipping thresholds
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You are running multi-page funnel experiments
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Your goal is revenue growth, not just more orders
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You want to measure real financial impact
For most growing stores, the best practice is to monitor both metrics. Conversion rate helps you understand why performance changes, while revenue confirms whether the change is financially meaningful.
How to Compare Conversion Rate and Revenue in GemX
In GemX, both metrics are available inside Experiment Analytics.
To review them:
Step 1: Go to GemX: CRO & A/B Testing app from your Shopify admin
Step 2: Navigate to Experiment and click your target experiment to access its analytics
Step 3: Once located on the Experiment Analytics page, click View all metrics to open the Performance detail panel.
Step 4: From there, you can compare
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Conversion Rate
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Orders
- Revenue
and other metrics.
If revenue impact is critical for your test, you can click on the metric to validate its detailed performance across variants.
For example, this is the detailed analytics of the Conversion Rate across Version A and Version B.
Pro tip: Avoid choosing a winner based on a single metric. Always check whether changes in conversion rate align with revenue performance.
For deeper guidance, see:
Key takeaway: Do not treat conversion rate and revenue as competing metrics. They serve different purposes.
• Use conversion rate to validate user behavior.
• Use revenue to confirm business impact.
• Use both to make confident decisions.
When in doubt, start by defining your experiment goal clearly. The right primary metric will follow.
FAQs about Conversion Rate vs. Revenue
