Shopify Custom Theme & UX Rebuild

Overview

A Shopify theme out of the box is a starting point, not a product. The original Dansu store couldn't properly showcase the product or communicate the brand — the UX was generic, mobile experience was weak, and the product pages lacked the visual and persuasive structure needed to convert cold traffic. I rebuilt it from scratch.

The Problem

Paid and organic traffic was arriving but not converting at the rates the creative quality deserved. The product pages had no visual hierarchy, the mobile layout was poorly adapted, and there were no trust elements, clear use-case framing, or differentiated hooks to hold attention. Low conversion wasn't a traffic problem — it was a product experience problem.

What I Did

I rebuilt the storefront using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, treating the site as a conversion product rather than a branded brochure.

Product pages: Rebuilt from the ground up with custom image galleries showing the product in real use-contexts (festival, gym, running) rather than studio shots. Added sticky add-to-cart sections, dynamic variant selection logic, and trust elements placed at the key decision points in the scroll journey.

Mobile layout: Redesigned for mobile-first behaviour — fast load, thumb-friendly tap targets, image ordering optimised for smaller screens, and reduced cognitive load in the purchase flow. Mobile was the primary traffic source and had been an afterthought in the original build.

Collection and navigation: Cleaned up information architecture so customers could find the right product for their use case without friction. Category pages were restructured around the festival, gym, and running verticals rather than generic product listing order.

CRO experimentation: A/B tested price anchoring positions, opening hook copy, image order (lifestyle-first vs product-first), and social proof placement. Decisions were data-driven. Nothing changed permanently based on a gut call.

Brand alignment: The rebuilt site became visually consistent with the brand identity across every surface — typography, colour, imagery — not a generic Shopify store with a logo dropped in.

Impact

• Conversion rate improved significantly following the rebuild
• Mobile performance increased substantially — the primary traffic source converted better
• Reduced bounce rate through clearer product framing and faster page performance
• Site became the primary conversion surface for both paid and organic acquisition channels
• Brand perception lifted — the product read as considered and premium, not templated
• CRO learnings from the store fed back into paid creative briefs, closing the loop between ad and landing experience