They thought they had an ads problem. The real problem was after the click.

A DTC footwear brand with a strong product, strong reviews, and competitive pricing. Meta and Google were generating healthy traffic and strong add-to-cart rates. The low purchase rate was a mystery nobody could solve.

The team had spent six months optimising campaigns, testing new creative, and experimenting with offers. Nothing moved the purchase rate. Traffic was converting at under 1.1% despite add-to-cart rates above 3%. The problem was not upstream. It was on the product page. Fit and sizing uncertainty was creating friction at the final purchase decision. People wanted shoes. They just were not confident enough in the sizing to commit.

Identify where conversion was breaking down and fix the underlying friction rather than continuing to optimise campaigns.

Surveyed customers who had added to cart but not purchased. 61% of respondents identified fit or sizing uncertainty as the main reason they had not completed their purchase. Built a sizing-confidence system directly into the product page: a fit guide, size comparisons against Nike and Adidas, and enhanced reviews highlighting customer size and fit feedback. Rebuilt the retargeting sequence for cart abandoners around sizing reassurance rather than discount pressure.

• Purchase conversion increased from 1.1% to 2.4% within eight weeks, with no increase in ad spend. 
• Sizing-reassurance retargeting achieved 2.3x the conversion rate of discount-led retargeting.
• Return rate fell 24% as customers made more informed sizing decisions before purchase. 
• Blended CAC dropped 41% as the same traffic started converting at a higher rate.

"We kept changing the ads. We did not need better ads. We needed people to trust that the shoes would fit." Founder, footwear brand