Case study — Supplement
Why I let orders drop 80% to save a supplement brand.
The client
They sell premium, certified supplements to an older demographic.
The client sold certified, high-potency supplements to older buyers. They hired me for a visual refresh to unstick stagnant sales, relying on a “$0 trial” model to acquire new customers without realizing the hidden cost it carried.
The problem
“Our site looks outdated. We need a modern redesign to increase our product sales.”
They didn't have a styling problem; they had a business logic flaw. Buyers took the free trial, were surprised by automated renewals, and returned shipments in frustration. I knew a visual reskin would never fix an acquisition model bleeding 90% of its volume.
- Signal A massive 90% return rate buried in Shopify data, costing them double in shipping.
- Constraint We were initially hired just to reskin the landing pages and product catalog.
- Unknown Would an honest checkout kill their acquisition numbers completely?
How it got solved
Hover a step
-
01
Redesigned the catalogue
I built the requested educational pages first. It improved the promise but didn't stop the returns.
REDESIGNED CATALOGUE: SIX PRODUCTS, ONE CLAIM EACH -
02
Uncovered the real P&L issue
I dug into their Shopify data and session recordings. I found a 90% return rate tied to the trial.
SESSION RECORDINGS: 60-DAY INVOICE TO CHURN TIMELINE -
03
Rebuilt for opt-in transparency
I redesigned the checkout to require active subscription opt-in and added a one-time purchase option.
OPT-IN CHECKOUT: SUBSCRIPTION AND ONE-TIME PURCHASE, PRICED IN THE OPEN -
04
Argued the case with evidence
Order volume fell 80%, causing client concern. I walked the CEO through unit economics to show net profit gains.
REAL COST PER ORDER: SHARE OF ORDER VALUE, $0 TRIAL VS OPT-IN -
05
I stood by the honest checkout
When they reverted the catalog redesign, I protected the transparent checkout. Net kept orders grew 80%.
THE REVERTED CATALOGUE LOOK: INGREDIENT EDUCATION PAGE
The impact
Orders fell 80%, but returns dropped from 90% to 10%, so net kept orders grew 80%.
- −80%
- Initial order volume
- 10%
- Final return rate
- +80%
- Net kept orders
By making the subscription opt-in, I stopped an unsustainable bleed of return shipping fees, merchant chargebacks, and angry support calls. It proved my core design conviction: user experience problems are almost always business unit economics in disguise.