Prism Sun Catcher CRO Audit
A CRO teardown of Prism Sun Catcher's homepage, collection page and product page, with a redesign that guides home decorators and gift buyers to the right handmade sun catcher.
Watch the full 32-minute recording.
Pressing play loads the video from YouTube — you can allow it for every teardown under cookie preferences.
What we found.
Prism Sun Catcher sells handmade crystal prism sun catchers, a product tied to home, light and emotion rather than a commodity. The hero already shows moving beams of real sunlight and rainbows. The navigation is split by design, color, specialty and occasion, and collection cards show the beams on hover. One customer video review on the homepage explains the product better than any copy could.
The problem is the presentation layer, not the product. The hero tells a visitor what the brand makes but not who it is for or why they should trust it, and the Customer Reviews page in the menu opens empty. A shopper about to enter card details sees no proof that anyone has bought here before, and has every reason to go back to Amazon, Etsy or Temu instead.
The same gap repeats on every page. Collection pages are a grid of names and prices. Add to cart stays hidden until hover, and sorting is limited to price, availability, name and date, so comparing designs means opening each product. The product page has a long description, no reviews, nothing about shipping, returns or breakage near the button, and no gift note or bundle.
The direction is a guided buying path for the two kinds of people who arrive: someone decorating a home and someone buying a gift. A finder that asks a few questions, comparison cards that explain themselves, window size guidance and visible proof do what a good shop assistant does in person. The website is the salesman, and right now it is not helping anyone choose.
Problem, opportunity, impact
The site shows lovely handmade prisms like a catalog. It never says who they are for, it has almost no proof that anyone has bought, and it gives decorators and gift buyers no guided path to the right piece.
It could work like a good shop assistant: ask whether the visitor is decorating or gifting, recommend the right prism for their window, prove that real customers love it, and add an engraving, a chain or a gift note to the order.
Visitors who already arrive from small scale ads would find the right sun catcher faster, trust a store they have never heard of, and more often add a second item or gift extras instead of leaving.
Scored across five dimensions.
Five dimensions, each scored out of ten.
-
01
Homepage & PDP review Where attention leaks and buyers hesitate, section by section.
-
02
Mobile UX audit 70% of your traffic — judged on its own terms.
-
03
Trust & credibility check The signals that make first-time buyers convert.
-
04
Collection & discovery Filtering, merchandising and guidance from browse to buy.
-
05
Prioritized CRO roadmap Ranked by impact vs. effort, ready to ship.
Every issue, paired with its fix.
15 issues found, 18 fixes proposed.
Hero Explains The Product But Not The Buyer
The moving hero shows colorful beams, real sunlight and real rainbows, so visitors understand what the brand makes. It does not say who the sun catchers are for or why they should trust a store they have never heard of.
Customer Reviews Page In The Menu Is Empty
The navigation links to Customer Reviews, but clicking it shows no reviews at all. A visitor looking for reassurance finds a blank page at the exact moment they are deciding whether to trust the store.
One Video Review Carries All The Social Proof
The homepage has a single customer review with a video and explanation, which is the most convincing thing on the site. Apart from that one review, no other customer feedback appears anywhere.
No Separate Path For Decorators And Gift Buyers
Some visitors want a prism for their own home or an event, and others want a gift. The site treats both the same way and leaves them to work out which product suits their purpose on their own.
Homepage Sections Are Product Grids Without Context
The homepage groups products into sections with large images, but each one is just a grid. Nothing explains what makes one design different from another or which one a visitor should pick.
Collection Cards Show Only Name And Price
On collection pages such as Specialty, each card shows an image, a name and a price. Size, use, rating and a short description are missing, so the cards cannot answer the visitor's questions.
Add To Cart Appears Only On Hover
The add to cart button on collection cards stays hidden until the visitor hovers over a product. Shoppers who do not hover, and most mobile visitors, never see a direct way to buy from the collection.
Sorting Offers No Way To Compare Designs
Collection sorting covers price, availability, alphabetical order and date only. Nothing filters by window size, color or design, so comparing means opening fifteen to twenty product pages one at a time.
Product Description Is Long And Hard To Scan
The product page leads with the name, size and the $70 price, then a long block of description. The detail lower down is useful, but none of it is broken into sections a buyer can scan before deciding.
Shipping, Returns And Breakage Go Unanswered
Nothing near the add to cart button covers delivery, shipping cost or returns, or what happens if a glass piece arrives broken or wrong. For a fragile crystal product, those are the questions that stop a purchase.
Product Pages Have No Reviews Of Any Kind
The product page shows no reviews for the item and no storewide reviews either. The buyer has nothing from other customers to confirm that the prism looks and performs as described.
You May Also Like Is The Only Next Step
Below the product, a generic You May Also Like row is the only suggestion. It leaves the decision to the visitor and makes leaving as easy as clicking through.
No Levers To Raise Average Order Value
The site offers no gift note, engraving, chain extension or pair discount at the point of purchase. Every order stays a single item even when the buyer would happily add something.
Email Signup Gives Visitors No Reason
The email signup asks for an address but offers nothing in return. A visitor who is not ready to buy has no reason to leave their details and no route back to the store.
Nothing Justifies The Price Against Marketplaces
The product page never explains why a handmade prism is worth more than the cheaper versions on Amazon, Etsy, eBay or Temu. Without that, price becomes the only point of comparison.
Rewrite The Hero To Say Who It Is For
Keep the moving rainbow background and add a headline saying who the sun catchers are for: people decorating a sunny room and people looking for a meaningful gift. Show a review rating beside it.
Add Two Hero Buttons For Home And Gifts
Place two clear calls to action in the hero, Shop For My Home and Find A Gift. Each visitor can then pick their intent in the first few seconds and land in the right part of the store.
Build A Rainbow Finder Quiz
Add a short finder that asks who the sun catcher is for, which direction the window faces and what kind of rainbow they want, then recommends a specific prism. It is the digital version of asking how you can help.
Restructure Navigation By Design, Color, Window And Price
Reorganise the Shop Sun Catchers menu so visitors can browse by design, color, window and price. Link straight to collections such as Pink Star so nobody has to open several tabs to find one style.
Add A Gift Menu By Occasion And Recipient
Give gifts their own menu with options by occasion, by recipient and by price. Pair it with a homepage gifting section covering weddings, memorials, new homes, birthdays and Mother's Day.
Collect Reviews And Fill The Reviews Page
Ask past buyers for written, photo and video reviews, and publish them on the Customer Reviews page. Until there is a review in the menu, remove the link so it does not open on an empty page.
Show Storewide Reviews On Product Pages
Where a single product has no reviews yet, show storewide reviews near the product name and in a section below. Every product page then carries some proof that real customers bought and liked their prism.
Turn Collection Cards Into Comparison Cards
Add size, a one line summary, rating, a badge such as Most Loved or Signature, and a visible add to cart button to every card. Shoppers can then compare designs without opening each one.
Add Filters By Window Size
Add quick filters such as Most Loved, Small Window, Standard Window and Large to collection pages, plus a short size guide that links window size to prism size and price.
Place Delivery And Breakage Promises Beside The Button
Directly around add to cart, state free shipping, handmade in Omaha, how breakage in transit is handled, and secure checkout. That answers the fragile glass question before it stops the sale.
Break The Product Description Into Scannable Sections
Split the long description into short labelled blocks for size, colors, what is included, how to hang it and care. Move the image gallery up so photos sit beside the price.
Add A Window Sizer To The Product Page
Add a sizer where buyers choose which way their window faces and how big it is, then see whether this prism suits it. That removes the most common doubt for a first time buyer.
Explain Why A Handmade Prism Is Worth It
Add a Why It Is Worth It section showing that each piece is handmade in Omaha, how it is built and how it differs from cheap marketplace versions. That gives the $70 price a reason.
Offer A Gift Note And Engraving At Add To Cart
Add a This Is A Gift option with a note field, an engraved glass dome and an extension chain for tall windows. One buyer can then leave with several items instead of one.
Replace You May Also Like With Pairs Well With
Swap the generic row for a Pairs Well With section that suggests complementary pieces, such as a 6 inch prism in another color, and consider a small discount on pairs.
Add A Real Homes Photo Gallery
Build a Rainbows In Real Homes section from customer photos and the existing video review. Visitors need to see the light in rooms like their own, not only in product shots.
Offer A Free Window And Sun Guide
Replace the bare email field with a free guide on choosing a window and a prism. Visitors who are not ready to buy get a reason to sign up and a way back to the store.
Add An FAQ And How To Hang Section
Close the collection and product pages with hanging instructions and a frequently asked questions block on shipping, returns, breakage and sizing, so no question is left unanswered.
The version we'd build.
The teardown in 7 lines.
- A beautiful product still needs a page that says who it is for and why to trust the store.
- A Customer Reviews link that opens on an empty page does more harm than having no link at all.
- Decorators and gift buyers arrive with different goals, so the site should give them different paths.
- Collection cards that show only a name and a price force shoppers to open every product to compare them.
- For a fragile glass product, saying what happens if a piece arrives broken belongs right beside add to cart.
- A gift note, an engraving or an extension chain turns one sale into a larger order without any extra traffic.
- Before paying for more ads, make sure the visitors already arriving can find, trust and buy the right piece.
Questions this audit answers.
The presentation, not the product. The site shows handmade prisms like a catalog, without saying who they are for or showing much proof that people have bought. Visitors who like what they see still have no reason to trust the store over a marketplace.
The store already runs ads on a small scale, so visitors are already arriving. If those visitors do not buy, more traffic only means more people leaving. Once the site converts the traffic it has, scaling ads on Meta, Facebook or Instagram makes far more sense.
The moving background of beams and rainbows makes it clear what the brand makes. It does not say who the product is for, and it gives no reason to trust the store. The redesign adds a clearer message, a review rating and two buttons for home and gift shoppers.
A visitor who clicks Customer Reviews is actively looking for reassurance. Finding nothing makes them hesitate, and they do not want to be the first buyer. Many will buy a similar item from Amazon, Etsy or Temu instead.
One group is buying a sun catcher to decorate their own home or an event. The other is looking for a gift for someone else. The redesign gives each group its own route, with home shopping by design, color and window, and gift shopping by occasion and recipient.
It is a short quiz that asks who the sun catcher is for, which way the window faces and what kind of rainbow the visitor wants. It then recommends a specific product. It works as the online version of a shop assistant asking how they can help.
Cards show size, a short summary, rating, price, a badge and a visible add to cart button, and filters let visitors browse by window size. A size guide, reviews and an FAQ follow. Shoppers can compare designs without opening each product page.
It leads with a long description, shows images like a catalog, and has no reviews. Nothing near add to cart covers delivery, returns or broken pieces. The only next step is a generic You May Also Like row.
It adds a gift option with a personal note, an engraved glass dome, an extension chain for tall windows, and a Pairs Well With section. The aim is for one buyer to take two or three items rather than one.
A Why It Is Worth It section explains that each prism is handmade in Omaha and how it is made. It also explains why that differs from cheaper versions sold on marketplaces, so the buyer sees what the price pays for.
The current signup asks for an email address without offering anything in return. The redesign offers a free window and sun guide, which gives undecided visitors a real reason to sign up and a route back to the store.
Our CRO strategist reviewed the homepage, a collection page and a product page on prismsuncatcher.com, then walked through a redesigned concept for each of the three. The recorded teardown runs 32 minutes.
See what's quietly costing you sales.
Tell us about your store and we'll send a personalized 5-minute video showing exactly where you're losing buyers — and how to win them back.
Takes about 40 seconds. No call required.
-
5-minute video teardownA personalized walkthrough of your store, recorded by Eva.
-
Homepage & PDP reviewWhere attention leaks and buyers hesitate.
-
Mobile UX audit70% of your traffic — judged on its own terms.
-
Trust & credibility checkThe signals that make first-time buyers convert.
-
Prioritized CRO roadmapRanked by impact vs. effort, ready to ship.