Kova Commerce · Hyde & Hare · Worked example

The beanbag test: gift or statement piece?

The five steps from the test builder, filled in for a real Hyde & Hare test. The question: which buyer should lead the beanbag ads in November? We'd run it in October so the winner is already in Scale when the beanbag season starts.

Step 1 · Pick the test

Why beanbags, why now

We always check questions 1 and 2 first. For this example we pick up at question 3, because it's the one that makes this test urgent.

Question 1

Is anything in Scale getting tired?

Checked first every Monday

Question 2

Did last week's log say "so next we test…"?

Checked first every Monday

Question 3

Is a launch, offer or busy season 4 to 6 weeks away?

In 1 to 27 November last year, beanbags were 26% of sales, against 16% the rest of the year, and the average order was £212 (£194 normally).

YES

Plan ahead

Test beanbags in October

The read takes a week and the winner needs to be in Scale by 1 November.

Question 4

Is there a buyer, claim or format we've never tried?

Not needed, question 3 said yes

Step 2 · Choose the build

Two buyers, so two ad sets

The same £749 beanbag is bought for two different reasons. Our customer research found both buyers, and the account has never run a beanbag ad made for the gift buyer.

Question 1

Are we changing just one thing on an ad that's already proven?

We do have a proven beanbag ad (Ad 127), but the question is who we sell to, not which opening works best.

No, next question

NO ↓

Question 2

Are we comparing different reasons to buy?

A gift for someone else, or the piece that finishes your own room. Different opening, different copy, different proof.

YES

One ad set per buyer

Idea test, split by buyer

Ad set 1: statement piece. Ad set 2: gift. Same product, same broad audience.

Question 3

Do we have one message and want the best way to show it?

Question 4

Do we only want better words?

Step 3 · Make the creative

Three versions per buyer, and what each one needs

The statement side can be built almost entirely from footage we already have. The gift side has to be made from scratch, which is why this test has to be planned now.

Ad set 1Beanbag as a statement piece

For your own home

Ad 127: a woman walks into a bright room towards a shearling beanbag

First 3 secondsWalking into the room, the beanbag waiting

Have

Ad 127 · Shearling video

FormatVideo in the room

ProofShown in use

Track record45 sales on £926 in Evergreen, but only £82 of spend in the last 30 days

Ad 195: Lianna in the living room with the beanbag, Black Friday 20% off text on screen

First 3 secondsLianna in the room, beanbag in frame

Re-cut

Ad 195 footage · Lianna

FormatVideo, person to camera

ProofShown in use

EditTake off the old Black Friday text

Ad 199: product photo of the beanbag in a room, Black Friday text at the top

On the imageA customer's words: "admired by everyone that sees it"

Re-cut

Ad 199 photo · static

FormatStatic, the piece in the room

ProofA customer says it

EditSwap the Black Friday text for the review line

Ad set 2Beanbag as a gift

For someone else

▶

First 3 secondsTissue and ribbon coming off, the beanbag revealed

Make

Unwrapping video

FormatVideo, hands only

ProofThe packaging, shown. 24% of reviews praise it unprompted

▢

On the imageWho it's for, in one line

Make

Gift static

FormatStatic, wrapped or with a tag

ProofThe material, close up

★

On the imageA real review from someone who gave one

Make

Gift review card

FormatReview card

ProofA customer says it

NeedsA real gift review. Only 7% of reviews mention a gift, so we check before we brief it

Copy

Written for each buyer, with 3 to 5 text options per ad set for the different stages. Neither side argues the price: the material sells it. Starting points from our June beanbag ideas (the copy round comes next):

Statement"Some seats you sit on. This one you sink into." Talks about your room.
Gift"Hard to wrap. Impossible to forget." Talks about the person opening it.

ChangesThe buyer: their reason, the openings, the copy

Stays the sameThe Giant Shearling Beanbag, the broad audience, £75 per ad set

Ad 127 goes in as a fresh copy rather than its existing post, so the statement side doesn't start with likes and comments the gift side can't have.

Before the gift side goes live

Site

A Christmas delivery date

The gift buyer's first worry is whether it arrives in time. The site doesn't say yet.

Site

Longer Christmas returns

Choosing a colour for someone else is a risk. A longer returns window takes it away.

Site

A gift option at checkout

There's no gift note or gift route today. Gift ads landing on a store with no way to send a gift will undersell the idea.

Step 4 · Budget and timing

£75 per buyer, live on 19 October

Hyde & Hare's Meta cost per sale over the last 30 days was £25 (£8,151 spend, 329 sales). So each ad set gets £75 before we call it, and stops at £50 with no sale.

No sale by £50 → stop

Verdict

£0launch£502× target£753× target

£150 for the whole test, about £21 a day, which fits inside the testing share (10 to 15% of roughly £270 a day). We also read revenue, not just sales: one beanbag order is worth about 3.5 average orders.

FRI 16 OCTMakeGift creative shot, re-cuts done, copy approved

MON 19 OCTLaunchBoth ad sets live in Testing

20 to 25 OCTHands offNo edits

MON 26 OCTRead7-day click sales and revenue

SUN 1 NOVIn ScaleThe winner leads November

Step 5 · Read and decide

What each result would mean for November

Decided before launch, so the read on 26 October is a decision, not a debate.

One side wins

It leads November

Statement wins: November beanbag ads lead with the room, and gift becomes one ad in the Christmas gift set. Gift wins: November leads with gifting, we make more gift creative, and the three site fixes move to the top of the list.

Both go into Scale

Meta splits the money between them in November, and we keep making both.

Both behind

It's the ad, not the buyer

Neither sold by £50. Next test: a new way to show the beanbag itself (step 2, question 3).

Whatever happens, the result becomes the "so next we test…" line, and that's Monday 2 November's question 2.

✓

The test card

The card that goes in the log

Top half written now. Bottom half on 26 October.

Plan ahead

Beanbag: gift or statement piece?

Proposed, not built

Why this, why now: Beanbags go from 16% to 26% of sales in 1 to 27 November. The winner has to be in Scale by 1 November.
We want to learn: Which buyer should lead November's beanbag ads?
Build: Idea test split by buyer · 2 ad sets × 3 versions · Testing campaign, same broad audience
Message · format · proof: Statement piece vs gift · video, static, review card · shown in use, packaging, a customer says it
Creative: 1 have (Ad 127) · 2 re-cut (Ads 195, 199) · 3 to make (all gift)
Budget: £75 per ad set (3 × £25), stop at £50 with no sale · £150 total · live Mon 19 Oct, read Mon 26 Oct
We expect: The statement piece wins on cost per sale: it starts with a proven ad, and 3 in 4 reviews name no one else. If gift wins or ties, November leads with gifting and the site gift fixes become urgent.
Result: Filled in on 26 October
So next we test: Filled in on 26 October

Sources: Meta Ads Manager (last 30 days to 1 Oct 2026; Ad 127 lifetime); Shopify orders Sept 2024 to Dec 2025; Hyde & Hare customer reviews and survey (personas research, Sept 2026); hydeandhare.com prices on 2 Oct 2026.