More Revenue through Strategic Default Selection of Subscription Length
Result:
Webhosting
Germany
+ 7.3% Purchases
Table of contents
About Contabo
Contabo is a best-priced VPS and Bare Metal hosting provider, offering powerful, high-performance solutions at some of the most competitive prices in the industry. With real experts available 24/7, Contabo helps customers run their projects smoothly and efficiently — whether they’re just getting started or scaling something big.
Initial situation
The experiment was conducted at the product-page stage—an early but highly influential point in the purchase journey. Here, users select the tier of their VPS product before entering the configuration step.
Behavioral analytics revealed friction patterns: users explored various subscription-length options, often clicking back and forth in search of the lowest price, which had been prominently communicated earlier in the funnel. Engagement metrics, “begin_checkout” events, and abandonment data indicated that the subscription-length selector played a disproportionate role in purchase hesitation.
The underlying assumption was that users sought the minimum effective price, and that presenting longer-term options by default could reduce decision effort and align with the value proposition communicated earlier.
Variants
Hypothesis
If the 12-month subscription length is pre-selected,
Then users will more readily move to checkout and complete their purchase,
Because they immediately see the lowest achievable price per month.
Original
Variant 1
Variant 2
Changes:
Original: The original setup used a default selection of one month, which showed a higher nominal price and required users to actively switch to longer durations.
Variant 1: 6-month subscription by default
Variant 2: 12-month subscription by default
Test results
The test included two variations in a multivariate setup. The target group segmentation was based solely on the English version of the specific product page URL, without any additional segmentation filters. The experiment ran nine days and recorded more than 20.000 user sessions with a statistical significance of 90 %.
The test resulted in remarkable increases. Across the entire target group measured, purchases increased by 7,3 %, while total sales increased by 8,5 % increased. Among the three options tested - 1 month (original), 6 months (variation) and 12 months (variation) - the preset 12-month The clear best performer in terms of running time.
User behavior indicated a willingness to accept longer commitments when the price advantage was made immediately visible, reducing cognitive overhead and reinforcing perceived value.
Conclusion
Based on these results, the default subscription length was updated to 12 months. The findings provide actionable insight into customer commitment intent: users exhibit strong price sensitivity but respond positively when value is framed transparently and decisively. A follow-up experiment will compare the 12-month option against a 3-month preset to refine the understanding of optimal balance between commitment and perceived flexibility.
Subsequent structural changes to the site shifted the subscription-length selection to the product configurator phase, but the learnings from this test remain valuable for shaping future optimization strategies.
Implementation with Varify
Varify.io has been a game-changer for Contabo’s testing workflows. It’s affordable, flexible enough to run all kinds of A/B and multivariate tests, and integrates seamlessly with GA4 as well as our custom analytics tools. A solid choice for anyone serious about optimizing conversions.
I've been really impressed with Varify.io. It has been a game-changer for our testing framework. It's affordable, super flexible for different types of A/B tests, and I love that it easily connects with GA4 and our other analytics tools. It's made running and analyzing experiments so much smoother for our team.
Conversion Manager and Web Analyst at Contabo
Conversion Manager and Web Analyst