Scoring Big with Social Proof: Stadium Drives +17% RPV with AI-Optimized Messaging
Sporting Goods Retailer
Enhance conversion rate, customer experience, and operational scalability
Social Proof Messaging
The Results
The implementation of social proof delivered compelling results.
On products where Social Proof was shown (Stadium SE PoC):
Early sitewide results after rollout across all five Scandinavian domains:
Note: These sitewide numbers reflect early performance post-PoC. As the rollout expands and ongoing optimizations continue, results are expected to evolve further.
The real-time, data-driven messaging resonated strongly with Stadium’s online audience, encouraging faster purchase decisions and reducing hesitancy through the subtle influence of crowd signals.
The Client
Stadium is one of Scandinavia’s most prominent sports retailers, offering apparel, footwear, and gear across all activity levels. With a strong omnichannel presence across Sweden, Finland, and Norway, Stadium is deeply committed to promoting an active lifestyle and delivering seamless customer experiences both in-store and online.
With personalization already in motion through long-term use of Ada Global’s RecommendTM and EngageTM solutions, Stadium was ready to take the next step by adding social proof to elevate their ecommerce game.
The Opportunity
While Stadium wasn’t grappling with specific pain points, a quick pitch and demo of Ada Global’s Social Proof Messaging sparked their curiosity. The promise: real-time social validation layered into the shopping journey to boost CVR and shopper confidence.
As a data-forward brand, Stadium saw potential in experimenting with message types that conveyed what others were viewing, buying, and adding to cart—all in real time. Importantly, they wanted a solution that could scale across five different sites and languages, without compromising on speed or customer experience.
The Solution
1 Social Proof Messaging
Stadium partnered with Ada Global to roll out Social Proof Messaging across item pages on all five of its Scandinavian sites—stadium.se, stadium.fi, stadiumoutlet.se, stadiumoutlet.fi, and stadiumoutlet.no.
Over a 6-week proof of concept (PoC) for stadium.se, the teams tested six message types, each triggered by different shopper behavior signals—views, add-to-carts, and purchases. Each message was displayed in Swedish, with formats such as:
- Trendar idag (Trending Today) and Trendar (Trending) based on real-time views
- Säljer snabbt (Selling Fast) and Veckans snabbsäljare (This Week’s Bestsellers) based on recent purchases
- Populär idag (Popular Today) and Populär (Popular) based on add-to-cart activity
Messages were prioritized by metric, with the system automatically selecting the next best-performing message if the primary one didn’t meet its display threshold. This ensured maximum coverage without compromising message credibility.
The logic and design were optimized collaboratively between Stadium’s team and Ada Global’s solution consultants, taking into account thresholds, time intervals, tone of voice, and aesthetic preferences.
Here is a key use case implemented on the site:
Social Proof Message on Item Page Based on Add-to-Carts Activity
Message displayed: Popular Today
2 Testing and Optimization
The solution was rigorously A/B tested using a 50/50 control vs. treatment split. Key metrics were tracked for products with social proof shown versus those without.
Ada Global’s MVT (Multivariate Testing) tool enabled Stadium to:
- Compare message types like Trendar idag (Trending Today) and Säljer snabbt (Selling Fast)
- Experiment with different triggers, including product views, add-to-carts, and purchases
- Optimize placement, design, and thresholds to maximize visibility and impact
While full AI-powered decisioning was not yet live during the PoC, the foundation was laid for Stadium to eventually automate message selection using real-time performance metrics like RPV, CVR, and ATC rate. This next step is expected to further streamline optimization and reduce manual tuning.
The tests revealed consistent performance uplifts across combinations of messages, time intervals, and placements. The strongest lifts were seen on product detail pages where social proof was visible, validating its influence on shopper behavior.
Next Steps
Buoyed by the success of the item page rollout, Stadium is now planning:
- Category page messaging: Showing popular products on collection pages
- Social proof within recs placements: Enhancing engagement inside product recommendation carousels
- Segment-based messaging: Tailoring proof by shopper type and behavior patterns
These efforts reflect Stadium’s ongoing ambition to create smarter, more intuitive digital journeys and its confidence in Ada Global’s personalization capabilities.
“Even small variations in message type created surprisingly different uplifts. It’s rare to see a tool this flexible and impactful at the same time.”
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