Conversion Rate Jumped from 0.2% to 1.3% & Weekly Orders Grew 4–5× — StepUp Coffee Shopify Case Study
A focused case study on transforming a sprawling dropshipping catalog into a coherent, resilient, and conversion-driven Shopify brand for StepUp Coffee.
How Webrex streamlined StepUp Coffee's product strategy, improved UX performance, and lifted conversions with a brand-first approach.
StepUp Coffee began with warmth and intention—curating tools for slower, more thoughtful brewing. The founder is calm, rational, and minimalist. But the store had grown noisy and complex.
What we found
1,800+ product listings
Mixed and competing product categories
No unified visual language
No central brand position
No dominant product to drive identity or growth
What it meant
A brand with warmth and a founder with clarity—without an anchor.
Our mandate: reduce noise, restore coherence, and build a clear, defensible identity.
Our Philosophy
Less, but better
StepUp Coffee didn’t need more — it needed fewer and better choices. Scaling chaos only compounds it; first we align the foundation, then we scale what works.
Brand Clarity
Focus: Identify what the brand stands for. Objective: Remove noise and express intention.
Conversion Architecture
Focus: Optimize the store experience. Objective: Make the path to purchase effortless.
Profit & Scale Systems
Focus: Rebuild sourcing and ads. Objective: Ensure growth is financially sustainable.
Structure first. Systems next. Scale last.Always in that order.
The Challenge
Clarity before scale
StepUp Coffee wasn’t failing — it was undefined. A warm brand without structure made decisions hard and growth harder.
Structure and identity before scale
Key Problems We Identified
Undefined Structure
No clear product hierarchy, no anchor product, and no guided decision path across 1,800+ listings.
Lack of Clarity
Why ads underperformed
No audience or funnel segmentation
Broad, unfocused keywords
Decisions not guided by data
No tracking or attribution structure
Spend went out, learnings never came back
Unprofitable Spend
What the store signaled
1,800+ listings with competing categories
No guided path to a decision
No anchor product to define the brand
Choice Overload
The result
~0.2% conversion rate
Unprofitable ad spend
0–1 orders per week
No repeat purchase motion
A quiet brand presence
Stalled Growth
What it meant
This wasn’t a media problem — it was a structure and identity problem. Before scale, we needed simplicity.
Our first step: reduce complexity, define the product hierarchy, and build a brand‑led path to purchase.
Strategic Reset
Core Impact
What this looked like in practice
A confusing catalog and undefined brand positioning slowed decisions and suppressed profitability. Our focus shifted to simplifying choices, defining a hero narrative, and building a brand-led path to purchase.
Lack of Direction
Inefficient Spend
Low Conversion
Strategy
A Strategic Decision
Choosing a clear center of gravity
ClarityFocusRitual
So we made a strategic decision:
StepUp Coffee would not be “a store.”
It would be a brand built around slow brewing rituals.
What this decision created
The hero SKU
A flagship product that concentrates value and momentum.
The direction-setting identity anchor
Design, tone, and ritual that signal where the brand is headed.
Foundation for creative messaging and offers
Clear narratives and offers built around the ritual‑centric promise.
Every strong brand has a center of gravity. This became StepUp Coffee’s.
Product Universe
Redesigning the Product Universe
From clutter to a curated core — refocusing the catalog around what customers reliably choose and love.
Before — Cluttered catalog
After — Curated product set
We analyzed
Search Intent Patterns
What customers actually search for when looking for coffee products.
Product Engagement Heatmaps
Which products customers interact with most often and for how long.
Add-to-Cart Correlations
Combinations and features that drive the highest conversion rates.
Cost-Per-Click Distribution
Which categories command premium advertising costs — and why.
Conversion Tracebacks
Mapping the journey from discovery to purchase across touchpoints.
Key insight
And one insight was undeniable
A single Moka Pot consistently attracted higher‑quality engagement — quiet, reliable, repeatable purchasing intent.
This product held
Design permanence
Daily emotional use
Compatibility with the founder’s calm brand philosophy
Supply Chain & Pricing
Supply Chain & Pricing — The Structural Breakthrough
The AliExpress supplier cost of ~$38 per unit prevented true scale.
Illustrative flow showing supplier discovery, pricing negotiation, and fulfillment stabilization.
So we:
Identified the original manufacturer
Verified product SKU lineage
Evaluated shipping node distribution
Negotiated volume-based pricing
Secured US-based fulfillment support
Outcome
Cost Component
Before
After
Product Unit Cost
~$38
$25–$30
Average Delivery Time
10–18 days
5–9 days
Customer Complaint Rate
Moderate
Significantly reduced
Impact
This wasn’t just cost savings. It was brand stability.
Margins became predictable. Fulfillment became reliable. Customer trust became repeatable.
CRO
Conversion Optimization — Designing for Ease, Not Persuasion
We redesigned the Moka Pot page to reduce friction and elevate emotional clarity. The goal: effortless understanding, effortless choice.
Before — Legacy product page layout
After — Redesigned product page layout
+80%
Time on page
-35%
Bounce rate
+6.2x
Add-to-cart rate
1.3%+
Conversion rate
What We Changed
Simplified layout with precise typography and generous negative space
Replaced generic shots with warm, morning‑light lifestyle imagery
Crafted copy focused on ritual, not features
Added discreet trust markers (not loud badges)
Introduced return & shipping clarity above the fold
Structured benefit blocks with visual rhythm
Reduced cognitive load using minimalist iconography
Clear primary action with supportive secondary actions
Resulting Behavior Shifts
Visitors slowed down instead of bouncing
Time on page increased by +80%
Bounce rate dropped below 40%
Conversion rate rose to 1.3%+ (from ~0.2%)
Experiment Design
Hypothesis: Ritual-first framing decreases decision fatigue and increases intent
