How a Saudi Coffee Store Increased Conversion Rate from 0.8% to 2.5%

03 — Research, Execution & Validation

Executive Summary

A Saudi e-commerce store selling coffee and related products was investing approximately 50,000 SAR per month in paid acquisition, but the website was converting only 0.8% of its visitors into customers

The business did not have a traffic problem alone. It had a conversion-efficiency problem

Visitors were reaching the store, viewing products, and interacting with the website, but too many were leaving before completing a purchase

Mersad built a structured Conversion Rate Optimization program combining quantitative analysis, qualitative research, UX improvements, merchandising, customer journey optimization, and continuous experimentation

The program increased the store’s conversion rate from 0.8% to 2.5%, representing a relative uplift of 212.5%

Across the program, 85 experiments were launched, with 70 recorded as winning outcomes

Based on an average order value of 200 SAR, the conversion improvement significantly increased the commercial value generated from the same acquisition investment

Client Context

The client operates a Saudi e-commerce store on Zid, selling coffee products to customers across Saudi Arabia

The store was already investing in customer acquisition and generating consistent traffic, but the website was not converting enough of that traffic into purchases

The commercial challenge was not simply to increase traffic

The real opportunity was to improve the efficiency of the existing traffic and generate more revenue from the same media investment

Key business inputs included:

50,000 SAR monthly advertising spend
0.8% baseline conversion rate
200 SAR average order value
Zid e-commerce platform
Saudi Arabia as the primary market
Paid traffic as a major acquisition channel

The Business Challenge

A low conversion rate was limiting the return generated from marketing spend

At a conversion rate of 0.8%, the business needed approximately 125 sessions to generate one purchase

After reaching a conversion rate of 2.5%, the store required approximately 40 sessions to generate one purchase

This change improved the store’s ability to convert existing traffic without requiring an equivalent increase in advertising spend

The main challenge was distributed across multiple parts of the customer journey rather than being caused by one isolated page

The optimization program therefore needed to investigate:

Traffic quality
Landing-page relevance
Product discovery
Navigation and category structure
Product-page persuasion
Pricing and offer clarity
Trust and reassurance
Cart friction
Checkout progression
Mobile usability
Technical performance
Analytics and event tracking

Research Approach

Mersad started by separating confirmed evidence from assumptions

The team reviewed how visitors moved through the store and where the largest losses occurred across the funnel

The research program combined:

GA4 funnel analysis
Source and campaign segmentation
Device-level performance
Landing-page performance
Product and category analysis
New versus returning customer behavior
Session recordings
Heatmaps
On-site behavior
UX and heuristic evaluation
Mobile usability review
Cart and checkout analysis
Customer objections and trust gaps
Product merchandising performance
Experiment results

This allowed the team to identify whether performance problems originated from traffic, customer experience, product presentation, technical friction, or operational conditions

Key Findings

The research identified several areas where the store was losing purchase intent

Product Discovery Friction

Customers needed clearer routes to relevant products, categories, formats, and coffee preferences

Weak product discovery increases cognitive effort and forces users to browse more before finding a suitable option

Product Page Decision Friction

Some product pages did not present enough information above the fold to support a fast purchase decision

Users needed clearer visibility of:

Product benefits
Coffee characteristics
Pricing
Available variants
Delivery expectations
Reviews
Returns
Payment methods
The primary Add to Cart action

Weak Purchase Reassurance

Important trust information was not always visible at the moment customers needed it

Information about delivery, payment, freshness, returns, and product quality needed stronger placement across the buying journey

Mobile Experience Issues

A large portion of e-commerce traffic typically interacts through mobile devices, so small mobile usability problems can create significant commercial leakage

The program prioritized thumb-friendly interactions, clearer hierarchy, stronger CTA visibility, and reduced visual friction

Cart and Checkout Friction

Users reaching the cart were already demonstrating strong purchase intent

The cart experience needed to reduce hesitation, clarify the next action, and avoid introducing unnecessary decisions before checkout

Offer and Merchandising Clarity

Product positioning, bundles, recommendations, and value communication needed stronger commercial structure

The goal was not to use discounts indiscriminately, but to make the available value easier to understand

استراتيجية تحسين معدل التحويل (CRO)

Mersad developed a prioritized optimization roadmap based on expected business impact, confidence, implementation effort, and urgency

The roadmap focused on five core workstreams:

1. Funnel Efficiency

Improving progression between:

Landing page and product discovery
Product view and Add to Cart
Add to Cart and cart
Cart and checkout
Checkout and purchase

2. Product Page Optimization

Strengthening:

Value proposition
Product hierarchy
Product information
Reviews and trust signals
Variant selection
Mobile Add to Cart visibility
Delivery and payment information
Cross-sell opportunities

3. Navigation and Merchandising

Making product discovery easier through:

Clearer category structure
Improved product cards
Better product recommendations
Stronger product grouping
More relevant upsells and cross-sells

4. Cart and Checkout Optimization

Reducing friction near the final purchase decision through:

Clearer checkout actions
Improved reassurance
Better summary of the order
Reduced distractions
Stronger payment and delivery visibility

5. Experimentation

Testing high-priority hypotheses rather than relying on stakeholder opinions or generic best practices

Experimentation Program

The optimization roadmap was translated into a structured experimentation program

A total of 85 experiments were launched across different funnel stages

According to the recorded program results:

70 experiments produced winning outcomes
15 experiments did not outperform the control or required further validation
Recorded win rate: 82.35%

Experiments focused on areas such as:

Value proposition
Hero messaging
Product-card content
Product-page hierarchy
Add to Cart visibility
Trust signals
Delivery communication
Pricing presentation
Reviews
Product recommendations
Cart design
Checkout actions
Mobile user experience
Offers and bundles
Navigation
Category merchandising

Not every change was treated as an A/B test

Obvious bugs, tracking problems, broken functionality, and severe usability blockers were implemented directly rather than being tested

Example Hypothesis

Because we observed that high-intent users were reaching product and cart pages but not progressing efficiently toward purchase, we believed that clarifying product value, strengthening trust information, and improving the visibility of primary actions for mobile and returning users would improve purchase conversion

We would know this was true when the variation increased completed purchases without negatively affecting average order value, checkout completion, or customer experience

Execution

The program was executed through continuous collaboration between CRO, Analytics, UX/UI, Development, Merchandising, and E-commerce Operations

Each optimization moved through a controlled workflow:

Data collection
Problem diagnosis
Hypothesis development
Prioritization
UX and design preparation
التطوير
Tracking setup
Quality assurance
Experiment launch
Result analysis
Implementation or iteration

This structure helped ensure that ideas were not launched based on preference alone

Each experiment needed a clear business problem, supporting evidence, target audience, success metric, and implementation requirement

Conversion Rate Result

The conversion rate increased from:

0.8% → 2.5%

This represents:

+1.7 percentage points

and a relative uplift of:

+212.5%

The store ultimately converted at approximately 3.125 times its previous rate

This meant the business generated substantially more orders from the same level of traffic

Order Impact

With an average order value of 200 SAR:

At a 0.8% conversion rate, every 10,000 sessions would generate approximately:

80 orders

Estimated revenue:

80 × 200 SAR = 16,000 SAR

At a 2.5% conversion rate, the same 10,000 sessions would generate approximately:

250 orders

Estimated revenue:

250 × 200 SAR = 50,000 SAR

Commercial uplift per 10,000 sessions:

+170 additional orders
+34,000 SAR additional revenue

This calculation isolates the conversion effect and assumes traffic volume, average order value, pricing, and product mix remain stable

Projected Revenue Impact

The client was spending approximately 50,000 SAR per month on advertising

Because the original revenue or ROAS was not provided, the following scenario uses an illustrative baseline ROAS of 2.0 to demonstrate the financial impact

Before CRO

Monthly ad spend: 50,000 SAR
Illustrative ROAS: 2.0
Estimated monthly revenue: 100,000 SAR
Average order value: 200 SAR
Estimated monthly orders: 500

After CRO

If traffic quality, order value, prices, and media efficiency remained stable, applying the 3.125× conversion multiplier would produce:

Projected monthly revenue: 312,500 SAR
Projected monthly orders: approximately 1,563
Projected ROAS: 6.25
Incremental monthly revenue: approximately 212,500 SAR

These figures are projections, not confirmed client results, until validated against actual revenue, order, traffic, and media data

الأثر التجاري

The program changed the economics of customer acquisition

Instead of depending only on additional advertising spend, the business generated more value from traffic it was already paying to acquire

Potential commercial effects included:

Higher revenue from existing traffic
Improved ROAS
Lower effective cost per order
More efficient marketing investment
Stronger purchase conversion
Better customer experience
Improved scalability
Reduced revenue leakage across the funnel

The most important result was not simply the increase in conversion rate

The business created a stronger foundation for profitable growth because every future session had a higher probability of becoming a customer

What Made the Program Work

The result did not come from one redesign or one successful test

It came from a continuous optimization system combining:

تحليل البيانات
User behavior
علم النفس السلوكي
تجربة المستخدم (UX)
الاختبارات والتجارب
Merchandising
التطوير
Business strategy

The team did not assume that every problem was caused by design

Traffic quality, product mix, customer segment, technical performance, pricing, promotions, stock, delivery, and payment conditions were considered before conclusions were made

Key Learnings

Traffic Growth Alone Is Not Enough

Increasing traffic without improving conversion efficiency can increase costs faster than revenue

CRO Improves Marketing Economics

When the same traffic converts at a higher rate, the value generated from advertising can increase without an equivalent increase in media spend

Funnel Problems Are Connected

Homepage, product discovery, product pages, cart, and checkout should not be optimized in isolation

A weakness in one stage affects the performance of the entire customer journey

Experimentation Requires a System

Testing random design ideas does not create a reliable optimization program

Strong experimentation requires evidence, prioritization, tracking, QA, statistical analysis, and business interpretation

Commercial Metrics Matter

Conversion rate should not be evaluated alone

Revenue, AOV, orders, profitability, customer mix, and implementation cost must also be considered

الخلاصة

Mersad helped the Saudi coffee store transform its website from a low-efficiency sales channel into a stronger commercial growth engine

The conversion rate increased from 0.8% to 2.5%, representing a relative uplift of 212.5%

Across 85 recorded experiments, 70 generated winning outcomes

The program demonstrated how a structured CRO approach can improve customer experience, strengthen marketing efficiency, and create significantly more revenue from existing traffic

Rather than relying only on additional advertising spend, the brand improved the ability of its website to convert demand into measurable business growth

Ready to Improve Your Store’s Conversion Efficiency?

Mersad helps e-commerce brands identify revenue leakage, improve customer journeys, and increase commercial performance through analytics, UX research, experimentation, and e-commerce strategy

Book a Growth Call to identify where your store is losing revenue and which opportunities should be prioritized first