Growth in sports nutrition isn’t only about getting more people to the site. It’s about making sure the experience does the heavy lifting once they arrive: building trust quickly, helping shoppers choose confidently, and giving them a reason to come back. For this brand, that challenge was sharper. Still building momentum locally in the UK market, their website needed to convert unfamiliar visitors efficiently and make the subscription offer feel clear and worthwhile. Blend’s work focused on long-term CRO improvements that reduce hesitation across the journey, from evaluation and comparison through to checkout, while strengthening subscription adoption over time. This case study highlights year-on-year performance for the same 7-month window (1 January to 31 July 2025 compared to 2024). The results are particularly telling because conversion improved significantly despite lower visitor volume, showing the impact of compounding optimisation rather than relying on traffic growth alone.

The Problem

Having already established demand in other markets, the brand had strong products and clear demand, but the UK direct-to-consumer experience still needed refinement to support sustainable growth over time. While a Shopify redesign created a stronger foundation to work from, there were clear opportunities to reduce friction, improve clarity, and increase subscription adoption.

Key challenges included:

  • The UK store needed to convert unfamiliar visitors more efficiently. The brand had not yet built the same traction in the UK as other markets, so the site needed to build trust quickly and guide first-time shoppers toward confident purchase decisions.
  • Customers needed clearer value framing when evaluating products. Shoppers weren’t always getting the right information at the right time to confidently understand what a product does, who it’s for, and why it’s worth choosing. When value isn’t immediately clear during browsing and comparison, customers slow down, second-guess their selection, or leave to look for clarity elsewhere, which adds friction and weakens conversion.
  • Subscriptions were under-leveraged. Subscriptions were available, but the value exchange was not always clear early enough in the journey. Without clearer subscription pricing and decision support, many customers default to one-time purchase simply because it is easier to understand.
  • The purchase journey still had avoidable friction, especially on mobile. Once customers had intent, the experience needed to make it easier to move from cart to checkout without unnecessary steps. Reducing time-to-purchase was a key lever for improving conversion efficiency.
  • Product education needed to be easier to digest. In a category where shoppers want quick clarity, overly technical product descriptions can slow decision-making. Simplifying how benefits are communicated was important for reducing hesitation and supporting commitment.
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What We Did To Help

The Approach

We focused on where sports nutrition shoppers tend to pause: when they’re comparing products, weighing up subscription, and making the jump from cart to checkout. To remove those sticking points, we tightened up value messaging on PDPs, made the subscription offer easier to understand, and reduced friction in the checkout flow so ready-to-buy customers can finish faster.

Because the UK store is mobile-led, we were careful with anything that added extra taps or visual complexity, and let the data guide what worked best on mobile vs desktop. Finally, we validated changes through A/B testing, so the brand could scale proven wins and build a long-term optimisation roadmap with confidence.

A/B Test 1: Pricing Strategy (Per Dose / Per Capsule Pricing)

When shoppers are choosing between products, price is rarely evaluated as “the total”. It is evaluated as “what am I paying per serving?” If customers have to do that maths themselves, the decision slows down and hesitation increases. Clear unit pricing removes the mental work and makes value easier to recognise quickly.

What We Tested

We tested whether displaying pricing on a per-dose or per-capsule basis would improve purchase confidence, increase Revenue per Visitor, and support subscription selection.

The Test

Original: Standard price displayed only (no unit price framing).
Variant 1: Added per-unit pricing context (for example, per dose / per capsule), tailored to the product’s serving format.

Result (Winner: Variant 1)

  • +3.40% increase in eCommerce Conversion Rate
  • +17.76% increase in Revenue per Visitor
  • +5.81% increase in Select Autoship Option (Click on Autoship)
  • +23% increase in clicks on Add to Bag

Why This Worked

Per-unit pricing made the product feel more affordable and easier to justify without changing the actual price. It reframed the cost into something customers could evaluate instantly, which reduced hesitation and increased commitment. That clarity also supported subscription behaviour, because once the unit cost feels reasonable, the recurring purchase feels like a smarter decision rather than a bigger commitment.

A/B Test 2: Displaying Both Subscription and One-Time Purchase Prices on Product Cards (Collection Pages)

Collection pages are often used to compare options quickly. If subscription savings only appear later on the PDP, some customers never see the value difference at the moment they are deciding what to click. Showing both prices early can make the subscription benefit tangible, but it can also introduce interaction friction, especially on mobile.

What We Tested

We tested whether adding subscription pricing to collection product cards would improve conversion and subscription adoption, while still supporting quick add-to-cart behaviour.

The Test

Original: Only one-time purchase price shown on product cards. Collection page add-to-cart supports one-time purchase only.
Variant 1: Show both one-time and subscription prices on product cards (for example, £63.99 and £57.59).
Variant 2: Allow customers to select one-time or subscription from the card without showing both prices upfront.

Result (Winner by Device)

Mobile Devices (80% of traffic) - Winner: Original

Variant 1 vs Original

  • -23% decrease in eCommerce Conversion Rate
  • -31% decrease in Revenue per Visitor
  • +59.31% increase in Select Autoship Option (Click on Autoship)

Variant 2 vs Original

  • -26% decrease in eCommerce Conversion Rate
  • -38% decrease in Revenue per Visitor
  • +35.37% increase in Select Autoship Option (Click on Autoship)

Desktop Devices (20% of traffic) - Winner: Variant 2 (and strong desktop performance overall)

Variant 1 vs Original

  • +125% increase in eCommerce Conversion Rate
  • +136% increase in Revenue per Visitor
  • -72% decrease in Select Autoship Option (Click on Autoship)

Variant 2 vs Original

  • +227% increase in eCommerce Conversion Rate
  • +548% increase in Revenue per Visitor
  • +20% increase in Select Autoship Option (Click on Autoship)

Rollout Decision

  • Desktop: Publish Variant 2 on desktop devices
  • Mobile: Keep the Original

Why This Worked

On desktop, the design shift supported faster decision-making and enabled more customers to add products directly from the collection page with less effort. Desktop users also have more precise control and space for comparison, so the extra pricing or selection mechanics did not create friction.

On mobile, the same interaction became too heavy. When customers had to engage with dropdowns or options that took over the screen, the flow became slower and more error-prone, which hurt conversion even though Autoship clicks increased. The test proved that subscription intent can be increased on mobile, but the UI pattern needs to be lighter and more visually clear to avoid harming completion.

A/B Test 3: Adding an Express Checkout Button in the Smart Cart

When customers add a product to cart, they are often at peak intent. If the next step requires multiple clicks and page loads, some of that intent is lost. Express checkout reduces the time between “I want this” and “I’ve paid”, which is especially valuable on mobile.

What We Tested

We tested whether introducing express checkout options directly in the cart drawer would reduce friction and improve conversion and revenue per visitor.

The Test

  • Original: No express checkout option shown in the smart cart.
  • Variant 1: Express checkout button shown in the smart cart.

Results (Winner: Variant 1)

Overall:

  • +6.79% increase in eCommerce Conversion Rate
  • +26.20% increase in Revenue per Visitor

Mobile:

  • +16.46% increase in eCommerce Conversion Rate
  • +53.29% increase in Revenue per Visitor

Desktop:

  • +1.79% increase in eCommerce Conversion Rate
  • +3.32% increase in Revenue per Visitor

Why This Worked

Express checkout worked because it reduced friction at the moment customers were most ready to complete the purchase. The impact was strongest on mobile, where shoppers are more likely to check out immediately and are less tolerant of additional steps. By letting customers move straight from cart to payment, the experience captured intent before it had time to fade.

A/B Test 4: Adding Key Value Propositions to All Product Detail Pages

Some PDPs already included value propositions, while others did not. This created inconsistency in how clearly products communicated their benefits. In sports nutrition, customers often decide quickly, and the lack of clear on-page reassurance can reduce confidence at the point of purchase.

What We Tested

We tested whether rolling out key value propositions across PDPs would improve engagement and conversion, and whether brand-based propositions or product-based propositions performed better.

The Test

Original: No value propositions.
Variant 1: Brand-based propositions (trust and brand reassurance).
Variant 2: Product-based propositions (benefits specific to the product).

Result (Winner: Variant 1)

Variant 1 vs Original (Brand-Based Propositions)

  • -8.84% in Engagement
  • +149.71% in Conversion Rate

Variant 2 vs Original (Brand-Based Propositions)

  • +4.38% in Engagement
  • +66.47% in Conversion Rate

With a statistical significance of 94.91% for Variation 1, we recommended ending the test with Variation 1 as the winner for Kinetica UK.

Why This Worked

Brand-based propositions performed best because they reduced perceived risk quickly. They gave shoppers confidence in the brand before asking them to assess product details. Even when engagement fell, conversion rose significantly, which suggests customers needed reassurance more than they needed more content. Once trust is established, commitment becomes easier.

Implementation: Subscription Optimisations

Subscriptions were a key long-term lever for the brand, but growth depends on more than offering a discount. Customers need to understand what subscribing means, what they gain, and what control they retain before they will commit. To support this, we improved subscription choice and education across the journey, focusing on clarity, reassurance, and reducing the “unknowns” that typically stall adoption.

Improving subscription choice at the point of purchase

On PDPs, we improved subscription frequency selection by adding a clear decision cue within the cadence options. The 4-week frequency was labelled as “Popular”, giving customers an immediate reference point at the moment they are choosing how often they want deliveries.

Instead of asking customers to interpret multiple options with no guidance, this experience highlights the cadence most customers choose, which increases confidence and reduces hesitation. Customers still have full control to select a different interval, but the selection process feels simpler and more reassuring, which supports both subscription adoption and overall conversion.

Educating customers before they reach the PDP

We added a dedicated subscription education section to the homepage so people understand the subscription option before they ever reach a product page. Instead of introducing subscriptions at the moment a shopper is trying to decide what to buy, the homepage section does the groundwork early by explaining the benefit in simple terms and making it clear that subscriptions are flexible, so it doesn’t feel like you’re locking yourself into something.

From there, we directed users to a subscription landing page, which does the heavier lifting by answering the obvious questions and removing common worries, helping more shoppers feel comfortable choosing subscription when they land on a PDP.

The Results

From 1 January to 31 July 2025, compared to the same period in 2024, this brand achieved major year-on-year performance growth across conversion, revenue efficiency, and subscription adoption.

These gains were not driven by traffic increases. In fact, site visitors fell by 32%, while conversion rate increased by 111%. That combination is the clearest sign of structural improvement: the site became materially better at turning existing demand into customers.

Having begun the CRO implementation programme in November 2023, the results reflect compounding optimisation over time. Instead of relying on short-term spikes, the store improved the fundamentals that drive performance month after month: clarity, reduced decision effort, and smoother paths to purchase.

How These Results Were Achieved

+111% Increase in eCommerce Conversion Rate

Conversion rate increased from 2.42% to 5.11% year-on-year.

The biggest change was that the site became easier to buy from. Fewer moments where customers had to stop and think, second-guess an option, or take extra steps just to get to checkout. Instead, the journey did more of the work for them by making choices clearer and the next step more obvious.

That matters in sports nutrition because many shoppers arrive with intent. When you slow them down, they don’t always “come back later”; they just drop off. By smoothing out those hesitation points, more sessions turned into completed purchases. The clearest proof this was experience-led, not traffic-led, is that conversion improved even while visitors fell. The store got better at converting the demand it already had.

+90% Increase in Revenue per Visitor

Revenue per visitor increased from £2.88 to £5.48 year-on-year.

This metric is useful because it shows whether the site is getting more value out of each visit, not just whether traffic is up or down. For this brand, that efficiency improved because more shoppers were able to move from browsing to buying without getting stuck along the way.

We saw a clearer, quicker route to checkout for high-intent customers, and fewer drop-offs caused by uncertainty or extra steps. So even with fewer visitors overall, a higher share of sessions translated into revenue.

Average Order Value dipped slightly by 3%, but revenue per visitor still climbed sharply. That’s a strong signal that the experience became better at converting the traffic it already had, which is exactly what long-term CRO is meant to deliver.

+122% Increase in Subscription Rate

Subscription growth came down to one thing: making it feel straightforward. The offer was clearer, the benefit was easier to see, and customers had more confidence about what they were signing up for.

A lot of people avoid subscriptions when they’re not sure how much control they’ll have. If it feels like you might get locked in, charged unexpectedly, or stuck with a delivery schedule that doesn’t suit you, the safer choice is a one-time purchase.

By making the subscription option easier to choose at the point of selection, and supporting it with clearer on-site education, subscribing felt lower risk. When the decision feels safe, more customers take it.

Overall Performance Improvements
YoY (Jan 1 – Jul 31): 2025 vs 2024

  • eCommerce Conversion Rate: 2.42% → 5.11% (+111%)
  • Average Order Value (Online Store): £47.19 → £45.77 (-3%)
  • Total Sales: +29%
  • Revenue per Visitor: +90%
  • Online Store Visitors: -32%
  • New Subscribers: +57%
  • New Subscriptions: +50%
  • New Subscriber Rate: +132%
  • Subscription Rate: +122%

  • 111%

    Increase in Conversion Rate

  • 90%

    Increase in Revenue per Visitor

  • 122%

    Increase in Subscription Rate
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  4. From there, we’ll outline clear steps to help get things on track.