Case Study: CRO Enhancements for Carmelle Makeup

Overview

Client: Carmelle

Business Need: Carmelle Makeup aimed to elevate its e-commerce performance by improving the user experience, increasing buyer trust, reducing cart abandonment, and ultimately boosting conversions. An in-depth site audit identified multiple friction points across the user journey—including issues with checkout flow, product presentation, mobile responsiveness, and lack of engagement features such as reviews, videos, and a loyalty program.

Objective

To implement a comprehensive suite of Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) enhancements with focus areas including:

Streamlining the customer journey from homepage to checkout
Enhancing brand credibility through customer feedback, secure badges, and real-time social proof elements.
Increasing engagement through loyalty rewards, blog content, and video integration
Optimizing site performance and responsiveness across all devices

Challenges

Cart Abandonment: Login was required before checkout, introducing friction and user drop-off.
Technical Bottlenecks: An outdated theme and unused apps were slowing down page loads.
Low Trust Indicators: Missing testimonials, reviews, and trust elements reduced customer confidence.
Content Gaps: Incomplete links, missing product videos, and limited blog content weakened user engagement and SEO.
Poor Navigation & Clutter: Multiple currency switchers and broken social media links affected usability.

Solution Approach

Step 1: CRO Audit & Planning

A complete audit was conducted covering:

UI/UX design
Navigation and mobile usability
Product detail page quality
Technical performance (speed, responsiveness, SEO)
Conversion barriers from the homepage to the checkout

Step 2: Implementation of CRO Enhancements

Homepage Improvements

Testimonials: Displayed real customer feedback to build social proof and trust.
Trust Badges: Secure payment and satisfaction badges were added to the footer.
Instagram Feed: Integrated InstaFeed to show dynamic social media content.
Promotions: Displayed offers like “Free Shipping on orders over $50” in the announcement bar.
Blog Visibility: Introduced SEO-optimised blog posts that are visible on the homepage to drive organic traffic.

Product Page Enhancements

Pricing Insight: Displayed alternative pricing references to emphasize cost benefits and product value.
Customer Ratings: Activated feedback features with star-based scoring to reinforce buyer confidence.
Video Overview: Embedded short videos to showcase course/product value clearly.
Back-in-Stock Alerts: Integrated alert feature for sold-out products.
Urgency Messaging: Added elements like “Only 2 left” and “Offer ends in 24 hrs” to drive action.

Cart & Checkout Optimization

Guest Checkout: Enabled optional login to streamline checkout and reduce drop-offs.
Shipping Cleanup: Removed duplicate shipping options to simplify user choices.
Cart Design Fix: Resolved header text overlapping issues on the cart page.

Footer & Navigation Enhancements

Contact Info: Added a clickable contact link in the footer for accessibility.
Favicon Setup: Added a site favicon for improved branding and recognition.
Social Links: Replaced broken social links and ensured they open in new tabs.
Currency Switcher: Removed duplicate switchers and implemented location-based currency display.

Feature Integrations

Loyalty Program: Integrated a loyalty and rewards system to drive repeat purchases.
Wishlist: Added a feature that lets users save favorite products for future visits, encouraging return purchases..
Restock Notification System: Enabled an alert mechanism to notify users once previously unavailable items are replenished.

Technical & Performance Enhancements

Theme Upgrade: Updated theme from v8.0 to v11.0 for improved compatibility and speed.
App Cleanup: Removed inactive/unnecessary apps (e.g., Aspire, Zapier) to boost performance.
Pixel Configuration: Verified tracking pixels were properly configured and firing.
Functional Testing: Conducted end-to-end validation of critical functionalities including payment processing, tax calculations, shipping workflows, course delivery modules, and third-party app integrations to ensure seamless performance.

Step 3: Testing

Performed cross-browser and mobile responsiveness testing
Validated guest and registered checkout flows
Reviewed SEO tags, image sizes, and blog schema
Tested loyalty, wishlist, review, and notification functionalities
Monitored pixel events and performance logs

Results

Metric	Before	After (Observed/Expected)
Cart Abandonment Rate	High	↓ Reduced significantly with guest checkout
Average Session Duration	Low	↑ Increased due to improved UX and engagement
Conversion Rate	Below industry average	↑ Targeted +15–20% increase
Page Load Speed	Slow	↑ Improved by removing heavy/unused apps
Return Customer Rate	Moderate	↑ Higher due to loyalty program and wishlist
Organic Traffic	Low	↑ Increased via blog SEO and homepage updates

Tools & Apps Implemented

Loyalty & Rewards: Smile.io
Wishlist: Wishlist Plus
Restock Notifications: Back in Stock: Restock Alerts
Customer Feedback Modules: Judge.me, Loox
Real-Time Buyer Activity Popups: Sales Pop
Instagram Feed Plugin: Instafeed
Conversion Boosters: Ultimate Sales Boost
Delivery Timeline Tools: Integrated Order Delivery Date app to provide customers with accurate shipment schedules

Future Enhancements

Advanced Analytics Dashboard: To monitor CRO metrics and user flows
A/B Testing: For placement of testimonials, urgency messages, and video length
Gamified UX: Add features like quizzes or spin-to-win incentives
Automated Email Flows: For cart recovery, review prompts, loyalty notifications

Conclusion

The full-scale implementation of conversion-focused improvements across CarmelleMakeup.com transformed the site into a faster, more trustworthy, and engaging shopping experience. With enhanced usability, performance optimisation, and confidence-building features, the store is now positioned for higher conversions, better customer retention, and sustainable growth.

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