Case Study: Insound achieves 39% conversion lift in search results with Optimizely

For Insound, Testing the 15-Year-Old Search Algorithm Drives 39% Lift

Insound, one of the earliest online music retailers, faced a search problem: a 15‑year‑old algorithm that prioritized historical popularity was surfacing older CDs as top results just as customer demand shifted heavily toward vinyl (vinyl became the majority of sales by 2008). That mismatch meant customers often didn’t see the formats and newer releases they were actually buying.

Clearhead used Optimizely to run an A/B test of four search‑result permutations—passing variables back to Insound, targeting traffic, and excluding certain behaviors and mobile—to rebalance recency, popularity, and format. The variation that boosted vinyl and weighted release date over past popularity lifted conversion rate 39% versus control (and 14% versus the next best), produced a modest AOV increase, and created a repeatable model for ongoing, personalized search experimentation.

Insound