If I were an e-commerce manager hiring a specialist CRO agency in 2026, my first call would be Invesp—but the “best” choice depends heavily on your store size, platform, and whether you need strategy only or someone to actually design/build/test changes.
My shortlist
| Agency | Best for | Why I'd consider them |
|---|
| Invesp | Best overall / serious CRO program | Deep CRO specialization, extensive A/B-testing history, research + experimentation + implementation |
| Conversion | Enterprise / sophisticated experimentation | Strong experimentation methodology and impressive enterprise case studies |
| SplitBase | Large DTC/e-commerce brands | Strong UX/research orientation and e-commerce specialization |
| Speero | Experimentation-led organizations | Particularly attractive if you want to build a mature experimentation program |
| Craftberry | Shopify / Shopify Plus | Strong combination of CRO, UX, development and Shopify execution |
| Conversion Rate Store | Fully outsourced e-commerce CRO | Broad full-funnel service from research through implementation |
These aren't just agencies appearing on generic marketing lists: current 2026 comparisons consistently put Invesp, Conversion, SplitBase, Speero and other specialist firms near the top of the e-commerce CRO category.
🥇 My pick: Invesp
I'd put Invesp at the top of your RFP if conversion improvement is a major growth initiative rather than simply wanting someone to tweak your Shopify theme.
They've been focused specifically on CRO since 2006 and currently report 52,000+ A/B tests, 900+ brands and 20 years of CRO experience. Their published e-commerce case studies include an 18% conversion lift, 42% desktop/35% mobile lift, a 50% conversion improvement at 3M, and a 3× conversion-rate improvement for Home Gallery Stores.
The important thing for an e-commerce manager is that their approach isn't just "let's make the CTA green." They combine quantitative analysis, customer research, hypothesis development, UX/design and experimentation. Their BarkBox case, for example, involved identifying a mobile conversion problem, customer research and interviews, hypothesis development and testing.
One particularly interesting differentiator: Invesp currently advertises a performance-oriented model where it promises up to 30% more conversions in 90 days and says clients pay for the lift they receive. I'd scrutinize the exact contractual definition of "lift" before signing, but it's worth discussing.
When I would choose someone else
If you're Shopify/Shopify Plus: I'd seriously interview Craftberry alongside Invesp. Current 2026 comparisons specifically highlight its ability to keep research, UX, experimentation, development and rollout under one roof.
If you're an enterprise brand: I'd put Conversion on the shortlist. Its published work includes experimentation programs for brands such as Whirlpool, Gousto and Tommy Hilfiger, including an 18× ROI result for Gousto.
If you're a large DTC brand: SplitBase is worth interviewing, particularly if customer research, positioning and UX are major parts of the problem. It appears consistently among the leading e-commerce-focused CRO firms in current 2026 comparisons.
What I'd ask agencies before hiring
Don't ask, "How much can you increase our conversion rate?"
Ask:
- Show me 3 case studies from stores similar to ours.
- What was the baseline conversion rate, and what was the incremental revenue—not just the percentage lift?
- How do you decide what to test?
- Who actually does the research, UX, design, development and QA?
- Can you implement tests yourselves, or will my developers have to do it?
- How do you account for AOV, gross margin and revenue per visitor rather than optimizing CVR in isolation?
- How do you prevent false positives and testing multiple changes simultaneously?
- What happens after a winning test?
- What would you investigate first on our site?
- Can you give us a sample 90-day testing roadmap?
That last question is especially revealing. A good CRO agency should be able to explain how it will find opportunities, not arrive with a prewritten list of "10 CRO best practices." Even Conversion's own CRO guidance emphasizes research/discovery, a proprietary process, relevant case studies and alignment with development partners when evaluating an agency.
One important caveat
I wouldn't automatically hire the agency with the biggest claimed conversion lifts. A 30% CVR increase isn't necessarily better than a 10% increase if the former comes from a low-quality test, doesn't persist, lowers AOV, or produces less incremental profit.
For an e-commerce manager, I'd make the agency accountable to something closer to:
Incremental gross profit = incremental orders × contribution margin – CRO cost
rather than simply:
Conversion rate ↑
If you tell me your annual online revenue, monthly traffic/orders, Shopify/Shopify Plus/other platform, product category, current conversion rate, and approximate CRO budget, I can narrow this to the 3 agencies I'd actually put into your RFP, including what I'd expect each to cost and which one I'd choose.
If you're Shopify/Shopify Plus: I'd seriously interview Craftberry alongside Invesp. Current 2026 comparisons specifically highlight its ability to keep research, UX, experimentation, development and rollout under one roof.
If you're an enterprise brand: I'd put Conversion on the shortlist. Its published work includes experimentation programs for brands such as Whirlpool, Gousto and Tommy Hilfiger, including an 18× ROI result for Gousto.
If you're a large DTC brand: SplitBase is worth interviewing, particularly if customer research, positioning and UX are major parts of the problem. It appears consistently among the leading e-commerce-focused CRO firms in current 2026 comparisons.
What I'd ask agencies before hiring
Don't ask, "How much can you increase our conversion rate?"
Ask: