Mobile-first e-commerce platform with 35% better checkout completion
How we rebuilt a slow WooCommerce store into a fast, mobile-first platform that improved checkout conversion and cut page load time by 40%.
The situation
A tech accessories retailer had an existing WooCommerce store that had grown beyond the point where plugins could solve the performance problems. Mobile page load averaged 6.2 seconds on a 4G connection. The checkout flow required seven steps, had no saved addresses or payment methods, and timed out sessions without warning — causing customers to lose their carts. Checkout abandonment sat at 74%.
The product catalogue had grown to 4,000+ SKUs with multiple variants. Search was a WordPress search box that returned unranked results. Customers couldn't filter by compatibility, colour, brand, and price simultaneously. Mobile accounted for 68% of traffic but only 29% of completed orders — a conversion gap the business attributed to UX but hadn't been able to fix with plugins.
What we built
Next.js storefront (web)
A statically generated storefront with Incremental Static Regeneration for product pages. Category and listing pages render at the edge via AWS CloudFront. Core Web Vitals target: LCP under 1.8 seconds on mobile. Product pages cache with a 15-minute TTL — long enough for performance, short enough that stock updates and price changes propagate quickly.
React Native app (iOS & Android)
A native mobile app for the core shopping journey: browse, search, cart, checkout, and order tracking. Shared business logic between web and app via a common API layer. The app was prioritised because 68% of the client's traffic was mobile, and native gestures and transitions convert better than a PWA in this product category.
Algolia-powered search and filtering
Product catalogue synced to Algolia for instant search with typo tolerance. Faceted filtering by brand, compatibility, price range, colour, and rating. Search results ranked by relevance score and manual merchandising overrides for promotional products. Average search-to-add-to-cart rate increased significantly post-launch.
Streamlined checkout (3 steps)
Collapsed from seven steps to three: contact info, delivery, payment. Guest checkout available without account creation. Address autocomplete via Google Places. Stripe Elements for card input — no redirect to a third-party page. Session persisted for 7 days so a returned visitor resumes their cart.
Results
- ~35% improvement in checkout completion rate
- ~40% reduction in page load time (6.2s → 3.7s mobile LCP)
- ~25% increase in mobile conversion performance
- Search usage doubled within the first 30 days post-launch
- Checkout abandonment dropped from 74% to 56%