Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) is the process of improving an online experience so that a higher percentage of visitors complete a desired action; such as purchasing, signing up, or adding to basket.
Why CRO Matters
CRO is one of the most powerful levers for unlocking growth without increasing traffic. It helps teams understand:
- How effectively the site turns intent into action
- Where friction exists in the customer journey
- Which elements of the experience build trust or create hesitation
- How design, content, and pricing influence behaviour
- How to increase revenue without increasing spend
Strong CRO compounds over time, every improvement makes the next one more valuable.
How CRO Works
CRO blends data, experimentation, and behavioural insight:
- Quantitative analysis: funnel metrics, drop‑off points, heatmaps
- Qualitative insight: user testing, surveys, session replays
- Hypothesis building: identifying what might improve behaviour
- A/B testing: validating changes with controlled experiments
- Iteration: refining based on results and new patterns
- Experience design: improving clarity, speed, relevance, and trust
Example: If 3% of visitors currently purchase and CRO improvements lift that to 3.6%, that’s a 20% increase in revenue without any additional traffic.
Common Use Cases
- Improving checkout completion
- Increasing add‑to‑basket rates
- Enhancing PDP clarity and trust
- Reducing friction in navigation or search
- Testing pricing, messaging, or imagery
- Optimising landing pages for campaigns
Related Terms
- Conversion Rate
- Add to Basket
- Funnel Analysis
- A/B Testing
- User Experience (UX)
- Purchase Intent
What CRO Really Tells Us
CRO is often framed as a technical discipline; tests, metrics, statistical significance. But at its core, it’s a study of human behaviour. It reveals how people make decisions when they’re curious, uncertain, distracted, or ready to buy.
A rising conversion rate usually reflects clarity: the customer understands the product, trusts the brand, and feels confident taking the next step. A falling conversion rate often reflects confusion or doubt: something in the experience isn’t matching what the customer hoped to find.
What makes CRO especially powerful is how it exposes the gap between what teams believe customers want and what customers actually respond to. Sometimes the smallest changes, a clearer size guide, a cleaner layout, a honest description, unlock the biggest shifts in behaviour.
And beneath all of that, CRO is a practice of empathy. It asks teams to see the journey through the customer’s eyes, to remove unnecessary effort, and to make the path to purchase feel natural rather than forced. When teams treat CRO not as a series of tweaks but as a way of understanding people more deeply, they build experiences that feel intuitive, trustworthy, and genuinely helpful.
