Josephine Crochet CRO Audit
A 16 minute CRO teardown of Josephine Crochet, looking at how the homepage, the kits collection and a single kit page hand the buying decision back to the shopper.
Watch the full 16-minute recording.
What we found.
Josephine Crochet sells hooks built around a dimpled grip and a range of crochet kits with genuine personality, and the site already says many of the right things. The comfort focused proposition is stated, the dimple design gives the brand something proprietary to talk about, and secure checkout, shipping, product quality, the mission and customer feedback all appear somewhere on the page.
The problem is not the product. It is that the visitor is handed information and left to make the decision alone. What Josephine is, why it is different, which item suits this particular shopper and exactly what arrives in the box all sit at roughly equal weight, so a first time visitor has to assemble the case for buying rather than being walked through it.
The same pattern repeats further down the funnel. The kits collection filters on availability and price, which answers nothing about which kit to choose, so shoppers open several products to work out the difference themselves. On the kit page the details that actually drive the purchase, the project, the skill level and what is included, sit well away from the add to cart area, alongside copy still marked to be confirmed.
The direction is to give each page one job. The homepage establishes what Josephine is and sends people down the right path, the collection helps them choose between kits, and the product page answers the last questions next to the button. The traffic is already arriving; the site simply has to make it confident enough to buy.
Problem, opportunity, impact
The site gives visitors plenty of information but very little guidance, so the shopper has to work out what makes Josephine different, which kit suits them and what is actually in the box on their own.
Josephine already has proprietary product detail, a clear mission and a range that covers several shopping intents. Sequenced around the decision, the same pages could sell the range instead of simply listing it.
Faster understanding on the homepage, less comparison work on the collection, fewer unanswered questions at the add to cart, and complementary products merchandised where they make sense.
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, 17 fixes proposed.
Homepage Gives Every Message Equal Weight
The homepage introduces several messages and product directions at once rather than answering what Josephine is, why it is different and where to go next in a deliberate order.
The Dimple Difference Sits Too Low
The dimpled hook design is the clearest point of differentiation Josephine has, but it is presented as another section further down instead of something a visitor grasps within seconds.
No Obvious Path Per Shopping Intent
Someone after a premium crochet hook, someone choosing a macrame kit and someone buying a gift are making different decisions, yet the homepage offers no distinct route for each.
Collection Filters On Availability And Price
The kits collection filters by availability and price only. Neither answers the one question a shopper has on that page, which is which kit they should buy.
Skill Level Is Never Shown While Browsing
Skill level, project type, what is included and how long a project takes are the details that separate one kit from another, and none of them are visible in the grid.
Shoppers Must Open Products To Compare
Because the grid shows name, image and price, working out the difference between kits means opening several product pages and holding the comparison in your head.
Collection Reads As A Grid, Not A Guide
The page behaves like a product listing rather than a shopping guide, so the comparison work that the store could do for the customer is left to the customer.
Purchase Details Sit Below The Fold
On the Quakers kit the buyer eventually learns it makes one duck, is intermediate friendly, and includes yarn, a step by step pattern and materials. All of that is found late rather than near the buy area.
Shipping And Returns Live Elsewhere
Shipping and return reassurance is not placed near the add to cart, so the customer has to leave the decision point and go looking for it at the moment of hesitation.
Placeholder Copy Remains On A Product Page
Details such as finished size and price still read as to be confirmed. Unfinished information creates hesitation at exactly the point where the decision is being made.
The Hook Upgrade Is Not Merchandised
The kit page mentions that a crochet hook can be added as an optional upgrade, which is directly tied to completing the project, but it is stated rather than sold.
Complementary Products Are Left To Chance
Extra yarn, accessories, bundles and the next project are all natural additions to a kit order, yet discovery of them depends on the shopper going looking.
No Gifting Route In The Navigation
Gifting season and the cold months are both approaching and these products suit both, but there is no gift path in the navigation for someone buying for another person.
Cart Does Not Use A Shipping Threshold
The cart does not show how close an order is to free shipping, so a clear and honest reason to add one more useful item goes unused.
Beginners Have No Stated Starting Point
Someone brand new to crochet has no obvious place to begin, so the store leaves the easiest first purchase for the most uncertain visitor to identify alone.
Proof Is Present But Scattered
Customer feedback, quality claims, secure checkout and the mission all exist on the site, but they are spread across the experience rather than placed where each decision happens.
Sharpen The Positioning At The Top
Open the homepage by stating what Josephine is and why it is different, so a first time visitor knows within seconds whether this store is for someone like them.
Lead With The Dimple Benefit
Move the dimpled hook design high on the page and explain it as a comfort benefit rather than a feature, since it is the one thing no competing hook can claim.
Build Buying Paths By Intent
Create clear routes for the hook buyer, the kit buyer, the beginner and the gift buyer, so each visitor is sent to the right place instead of browsing everything.
Give Each Homepage Section One Job
Assign every section below the fold a single purpose, whether that is establishing credibility, explaining the product or pointing the visitor toward where to shop next.
Filter Kits By Skill Level And Project
Replace availability and price filtering with skill level, project type, time to complete and gift suitability, so the filters answer the question the shopper actually has.
Show What Is Included In The Grid
Surface what comes in each kit on the collection card itself, so the difference between two kits is visible without opening either product page.
Turn The Collection Into A Guide
Add a not sure where to start route on the kits page for beginners, so the least confident visitor is given a recommended first kit rather than a full grid.
Answer Browsing Questions On The Collection
Place the common questions, customer makes and a what is in the box explainer on the collection page, so the reassurance arrives while the choice is still being made.
Move Kit Essentials Beside Add To Cart
Put the project, the skill level, what is included and what else is needed directly around the main product information and the buy button on every kit page.
Place Shipping And Returns At The Button
Bring delivery timings and the return policy next to the add to cart, where they can actually influence the decision, instead of leaving them on a separate page.
Resolve Every To Be Confirmed Detail
Finish the finished size and price fields on the kit pages. Unresolved copy at the decision point reads as an unfinished store and gives a reason to wait.
Merchandise The Hook Upgrade Deliberately
Present the optional crochet hook as part of completing the project, positioned in the buy area, rather than a line of text the buyer may or may not notice.
Sell The Complete Setup, Not One Item
Offer extra yarn, relevant accessories and a sensible next kit as a useful way to finish the order, and bundle them where the combination genuinely makes sense.
Add A Gift Route Before The Season
Put a gift entry in the navigation and guide the gift buyer to a suitable kit quickly, in time for the gifting season and the colder months these products suit.
Show Progress To Free Shipping In Cart
Display how far an order is from the free shipping threshold and suggest something useful to close the gap, so the added item helps the customer as well as the order value.
Concentrate Proof Where Decisions Happen
Move the strongest customer feedback and quality evidence next to the moments that need it, the homepage positioning and the product page buy area, rather than spreading it evenly.
Implement, Measure, Then Keep Optimising
Treat the concept as a strategic direction and take it into the live Shopify store, then measure how customers respond and continue refining from real behaviour.
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.
- The products are strong; what is missing is a buying journey that translates that strength into a decision.
- Right now the visitor is handed information and still asked to make most of the decision alone.
- Filtering by availability and price answers nothing about which crochet kit someone should buy.
- Skill level, project type, contents and time to complete are what separate one kit from another, so show them while people browse.
- Copy that still reads to be confirmed creates hesitation at exactly the wrong moment.
- Each page has a different job: the homepage creates direction, the collection helps people choose, the product page closes the decision.
Questions this audit answers.
Crochet hooks built around a dimpled grip, crochet kits such as the Quakers duck kit, and related craft kits and materials. The range covers several different shopping intents, from a buyer after a premium hook to someone choosing a first project or a gift.
No. The audit explicitly is not about colours, fonts or making the site prettier. The finding is that the value of the products is not being translated into a simple, persuasive buying journey, and the fixes are about sequence and priority rather than appearance.
Information is present but not sequenced around the purchase decision. The right ingredients are spread across the experience, so the visitor has to work out what makes Josephine different, which product suits them and what they are getting without being guided.
Several messages and product directions are introduced at roughly equal weight. A first time visitor should get a deliberate sequence instead: what Josephine is, why it is different, whether it is for someone like them, and where to go next.
It is something proprietary and memorable that Josephine can own. It is a genuine point of differentiation, so the comfort benefit should be understood within seconds rather than appearing as one more piece of information further down the page.
Skill level, project type, what is included, how long the project takes and which kits make good gifts. Availability and price filtering does not help anyone answer which kit to buy, which is the only real question on that page.
The purchase driving details move up next to the buy area. For a kit like Quakers that means what you are making, the skill level, what comes in the box and whether anything else is needed, plus shipping and returns reassurance placed at the decision rather than elsewhere.
Fields such as finished size and price still read as unresolved on a product page. Unfinished information creates hesitation at exactly the moment the customer is deciding, so those details need to be filled in before anything else is tested.
By merchandising deliberately rather than leaving discovery to chance. The optional crochet hook upgrade is already tied to completing the project, and extra yarn, accessories, bundles and a sensible next kit can be offered the same way, plus a free shipping threshold shown in the cart.
The gifting season and the colder months are both approaching, and these products suit both. Adding a gift route to the navigation lets someone buying for another person be guided to a suitable kit quickly instead of browsing the full range.
No. It is a strategic direction showing how the pages could be restructured around the buying decision, not a finalised design. The value comes from implementing that thinking in the live store, measuring how customers respond and continuing to optimise.
The teardown runs 16 minutes and covers three pages on the live site: the homepage, the crochet kits collection page and an individual kit product page. Our CRO strategist then walks through a redesign concept for each of those three pages, plus the gifting entry point and the cart.
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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.