Charleston Soy Works CRO Audit
A 32 minute CRO teardown of Charleston Soy Works, the candle and body oil brand, covering the homepage, collection page and product page, plus a redesign built around a guided scent journey.
Watch the full 32-minute recording.
What we found.
Charleston Soy Works has a product most candle brands do not have. The duo is a soy candle that melts into a warm body oil, so it works as light, as fragrance and as skincare from one jar. The site already carries customer reviews, a clear ingredient section, estimated delivery on the product page, and scent profiles written into the collection cards.
What the site does not do is explain any of that before it asks for the sale. The homepage opens on a large image that carries no promise, and the visitor never gets an answer to the three questions every shopper arrives with: what is it, who is it for, can I trust it. The sections that follow are good on their own but run in an order that builds no argument.
The same pattern repeats further down the funnel. The collection page is a grid with no filters and no comparison, so choosing a scent is left entirely to the shopper. On the product page the add to cart button is an outline that reads like another divider, the description is one long block of text, product reviews are absent, and the return and safety answers a skincare buyer needs are missing.
The direction is a guided buying journey instead of a catalogue. Explain the duo in the hero, translate every scent into something a person can picture, add filters and a scent finder, make the buy button impossible to miss, and put the reassurances beside it. A shopper who cannot picture a scent will not risk money on it, however good the wax is.
Problem, opportunity, impact
The site shows the products without explaining them. A visitor cannot quickly tell what the candle and body oil duo actually is, who it is for, or why to trust the brand, so the session ends before the add to cart.
Charleston Soy Works sells a candle that melts into a warm body oil, which is a genuinely interesting product. Put that story in the hero, put scent into words a buyer understands, and give visitors a guided path to their match.
If the hero explains the product, the add to cart button becomes unmissable, reassurances sit beside it and bundles are offered, more of the traffic already arriving should reach the cart.
Scored across five dimensions.
Five dimensions, each scored out of ten.
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01
Homepage & PDP review Where attention leaks and buyers hesitate, section by section.
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02
Mobile UX audit 70% of your traffic — judged on its own terms.
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03
Trust & credibility check The signals that make first-time buyers convert.
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04
Collection & discovery Filtering, merchandising and guidance from browse to buy.
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05
Prioritized CRO roadmap Ranked by impact vs. effort, ready to ship.
Every issue, paired with its fix.
16 issues found, 19 fixes proposed.
The Hero Image Carries No Promise
The homepage opens on a large image and a second image below it. Neither one tells a first time visitor that this is a candle that melts into a body oil, so the strongest thing about the product goes unsaid.
Three Basic Questions Go Unanswered
A visitor arrives asking what it is, who it is for and whether the brand can be trusted. The homepage answers none of the three above the fold, which is where the hesitation that blocks add to cart begins.
Reviews Are Buried Far Down The Page
Customer reviews exist, but they sit well below the fold with no visible count or store wide rating near the top, so the proof arrives long after the visitor has decided whether to keep reading.
Homepage Sections Run In A Broken Order
The page moves from hero to reviews to skin claims to ingredients to collections. Each section is fine alone, but none builds on the one before it, so the visitor is given information they are not ready for.
The Product Is Never Explained Before The Pitch
One jar is a candle, a room fragrance and a massage oil. The site sells before it explains, so the visitor is asked to buy something whose value has not been laid out anywhere on the page.
The Collection Page Works As A Catalogue
The grid shows what is available and stops there. There is no comparison, no guidance and no prompt toward a next action, so the page lists inventory rather than helping anyone choose.
No Filters For Scent Or Occasion
Scent is a personal choice, yet a shopper who wants only floral has to open products one at a time. Two or three of those and the comparison becomes work the visitor did not sign up for.
The Product Page Shows No Reviews
There is no rating, no review count and no testimonial on the product page. Even for a newer product, the store wide rating could carry the trust that is currently missing at the point of decision.
The Add To Cart Button Reads As A Divider
The button is an outline with borders that match the rules above and below it. Only the left and right edges mark it as a button, so the single most important action on the page is easy to scroll past.
Reassurances Are Missing Beside The Buy Button
This is a product people put on their skin. Nothing near the add to cart answers whether it can be returned, how a return works, or what makes it safe to use, which leaves the risk sitting with the visitor.
No Wax And Material Disclosure On The Product Page
Candle and skin contact products carry state level labelling expectations, California in particular. The product page is not upfront about the wax and materials near the buy point.
The Description Is One Long Block Of Text
The copy contains real benefits, but it is written as a paragraph rather than something scannable. Shoppers skim, so the selling points are effectively invisible inside the block.
Shipping Terms Sit Away From The Decision
Estimated delivery is shown, which is good, but the free shipping threshold is placed where a shopper on the product page will not see it, so it never influences the size of the order.
No Bundle Or Multi Buy Offer Anywhere
Scent is a category people buy more than one of. There is no buy two and save, no build a bundle and no complete the duo, so average order value is left entirely to chance.
Scent Is Named But Not Described
Names like sandalwood or lily mean little to most buyers. Outside the collection cards there is no language telling a visitor what a scent actually feels like or how strong it is.
Existing Video Cannot Be Used On The Page
The store has video that would show the product in use, but the clips carry heavy text burned over them, which creates a contrast problem and rules them out of a hero placement.
Say What The Duo Is In The Hero
Open with a plain line that this is a soy candle that melts into a warm body oil. Make the first thing a visitor reads the thing that makes the product unusual.
Answer The Three Questions Above The Fold
Cover what it is, who it is for and why the brand can be trusted within the first screen, using a short supporting line and a visible rating rather than a second decorative image.
Move Social Proof Up And Show A Count
Put the store wide rating and the number of customers near the top of the homepage, so proof arrives while the visitor is still deciding whether to keep going.
Reorder The Homepage Into One Argument
Sequence the sections so each one sets up the next: what the product is, how it works, who it suits, what it replaces, what customers say, then the paths into the catalogue.
Add A Find Your Scent Entry Point
Place a short scent finder on the homepage that asks a few questions and returns a match. It does the job a shop assistant does when they ask how they can help.
Open Paths By Buyer Intent
Give visitors routes to explore rather than a product push: for yourself, as a gift, personalised, or for a group. Let the shopper pick the path that matches why they came.
Show A Clear Value Comparison
Set the duo against buying a drugstore candle and a body oil separately, with both prices visible, so the visitor can see what one jar replaces and what it costs them to do it the old way.
Write Every Scent As A Feeling
Describe each scent in words a person can picture, such as the first ten minutes at the beach or a hotel lobby you did not want to leave, and state the strength as subtle or strong.
Add Shop By Occasion Sections
Group products into date night, fall favourites, thank you, and wedding and shower, so a visitor can place the product into a moment in their own life rather than in a grid.
Put Filters On The Collection Page
Let shoppers filter by scent family, strength and occasion so someone who wants floral sees only floral, instead of opening product pages one at a time to compare.
Make The Add To Cart Button Impossible To Miss
Give it a solid fill and enough weight that nothing on the page competes with it. The primary action should never rely on two thin side borders to be recognised as a button.
Place Reassurances Beside The Buy Button
State the return policy, how a return is handled, who pays postage and what makes the product safe on skin, all within sight of the add to cart rather than in a separate tab.
Declare The Wax And Materials Upfront
Add a short materials and safety line near the add to cart covering the wax and ingredients, which also keeps the store clear of state labelling requirements before ad spend starts.
Break The Description Into Scannable Benefits
Turn the paragraph into short benefit led lines with the scent profile, strength and use cases pulled out, so a skimming visitor still collects every reason to buy.
Show The Free Shipping Threshold On The Product Page
State the order value that earns free shipping right by the buy button, and show how close the current selection is, so buying a second jar becomes the obvious move.
Add A Complete The Duo Cross Sell
On the product page, offer the matching item with the saving shown in money, so the shopper sees exactly what adding it is worth before they reach the cart.
Build A Bundle Builder
Let shoppers pick several scents in one flow, show the running saving as they add, and send the whole selection to the cart in one action. It suits a category people buy in multiples.
Reshoot Short Video Without Text Overlays
Film the candle being lit, the wax melting and the oil being used on skin, with no burned in text, so the clips can run in the hero and in a how it works section.
Offer A Wrong Scent Guarantee
Tell visitors that if the scent is not right you will swap it and cover the postage. It removes the single biggest reason someone hesitates to buy fragrance online.
The version we'd build.
The teardown in 7 lines.
- The opportunity here is not more traffic, it is helping the traffic already arriving feel confident enough to buy.
- Every visitor arrives with three questions, what is it, who is it for and can I trust it, and the homepage currently answers none of them.
- A candle that melts into a body oil is a strong product, but the site sells before it explains, so the value never lands.
- The collection page lists what is available without helping anyone choose, which makes it a catalogue rather than a sales page.
- An add to cart button that looks like a divider is a button a shopper can scroll straight past.
- Fragrance cannot be photographed, so it has to be written, in words a person can actually picture.
- Remove the reasons not to buy and the question changes from will this work to when should I order.
Questions this audit answers.
Views mean interest, and add to cart means confidence. The audit found the site shows the products without explaining them, so a visitor who is curious still cannot tell what the duo is, how the scent will feel, or what happens if it is wrong. That uncertainty is what stops the click.
No. The teardown opens by saying the opportunity is not acquiring traffic right now. The people arriving from social posts and ads have already shown intent by clicking. The work is making the site answer their questions once they land.
It is a large image with a second image below it, and neither carries a promise. A first time visitor cannot learn from it that this is a candle that becomes a warm body oil. The most interesting thing about the product is left off the first screen.
The sections are good on their own. The problem is order. The page jumps from hero to reviews to skin claims to ingredients to collections, so nothing builds on what came before and the visitor receives information they are not ready to use yet.
Scent cannot be photographed or proved with an image, so language is the only tool available. Names like sandalwood or lily mean nothing to most shoppers. Lines like it smells like the first ten minutes at the beach create the emotional picture that makes someone want it.
Yes. It is an outlined button sitting between rules with matching borders above and below. Only the left and right edges distinguish it from a divider. The single action the whole page exists for should be the most prominent element on it.
How many people have bought from the store, whether the item can be returned, how a return works, and what makes the product safe on skin. The estimated delivery is already there and works well. Everything else a cosmetics buyer needs before spending is absent.
Because scent preference is personal and varies completely from one shopper to the next. Without filters, someone who only wants floral has to open products one by one. After two or three the comparison becomes tiring and the visit usually ends.
It plays the role a shop assistant plays in a physical store when they ask how they can help. A few short questions, then a recommendation. The shopper reaches a product through their own answers, which makes the choice feel like theirs rather than a push.
Fragrance is a category people buy in multiples, for themselves and as gifts. A bundle builder lets a shopper pick several scents, see the saving grow as they add, and send the lot to the cart at once. It raises order value while giving the buyer a genuine discount.
No. It is a strategic redesign concept put together by the design team to show what the pages could look like once the friction is removed. It is not a live build. The concept can be implemented on Shopify, and scope and timeline are discussed on a call.
The recording runs 32 minutes. It covers the Charleston Soy Works homepage, the collection page and the product page, then walks through a redesign of all three. The last chapters cover a bundle builder and a scent quiz before the next steps.
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5-minute video teardownA personalized walkthrough of your store, recorded by Eva.
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Homepage & PDP reviewWhere attention leaks and buyers hesitate.
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Mobile UX audit70% of your traffic — judged on its own terms.
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Trust & credibility checkThe signals that make first-time buyers convert.
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Prioritized CRO roadmapRanked by impact vs. effort, ready to ship.