Romanelli Design CRO Audit
A 32 minute CRO teardown of Romanelli Design, a Catholic devotional store selling solid wood altars, shrines and kneelers, covering the homepage, collection page and product page with a full redesign.
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What we found.
Romanelli Design sells something people want: solid wood home oratories, altars, shrines, kneelers and prayer pieces in beautiful designs. The homepage already carries customer reviews, real photos from buyers, a clear description of the home devotion artwork, and a founder section with a photo and story. The collection cards show a real photo on hover, which the audit called a strength.
The core problem is that the hero section tells a first time visitor nothing. The name says it is Romanelli Design, but not who the pieces are for, whether other people trust the brand, or where to go next. The navigation lists occasions, oratories, altars and shrines, journals, contact and story with no buying path between them, so the visitor is shown products before anyone has asked how they can be helped.
The same pattern repeats down the funnel. The collection page is a grid with no filters, no sorting and no decision points beyond a name and a price, so comparing four products means opening four pages. The product page shows a name, a price and a shipping cost calculated at checkout, then buries size, material, delivery and returns in long text. Nothing on the page tries to raise the order value.
The direction is to make each page do one job. The homepage earns trust and asks how it can help, the collection page helps the visitor compare without leaving it, and the product page answers every question before the add to cart button and offers a chaplet or a full set alongside the piece. The one idea worth remembering is that the website is the salesperson, and right now it is leaving everything up to the customer.
Problem, opportunity, impact
Visitors arrive with intent and find a well made product, but the homepage answers none of the basic trust questions in the first five seconds and offers no buying path, so they hesitate instead of buying.
A site that works like a good salesperson: it earns trust in the hero, asks what the visitor needs, routes them to the right altar, shrine or kneeler, and then completes the order with a matching chaplet or a full oratory set instead of a single piece.
The traffic the store already has stops leaving empty handed, more visitors reach a product they can picture on their own wall, and orders grow from one piece to a pair or a set through the new cross
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.
12 issues found, 16 fixes proposed.
Hero Section Answers None Of The Basic Questions
The hero tells a new visitor nothing beyond the brand name: not who the pieces are for, not whether other people trust the store, and not how to trust it. Those answers need to land in the first five seconds.
Navigation Offers No Buying Path
The shop menu lists occasion, home oratories, altars and shrines and solid wood prayer pieces, then journals, contact, story and facts. Nothing in it moves the visitor toward a purchase or tells them where to start.
Products Are Pushed Before The Visitor Is Asked What They Need
The homepage starts selling as soon as the visitor lands, without the digital equivalent of a salesperson asking how they can help. That is the point where confusion and hesitation begin.
Finding The Right Piece Takes Ten Or Twenty Pages
A visitor who wants one specific item has to open page after page to find their own path, because the homepage does not route them to it and the categories do not narrow the choice.
Customer Reviews Do Not Click Through Anywhere
The review section is a good addition, but clicking a review does nothing. The visitor has to scroll through it manually, and the Etsy purchase details sit almost at the bottom of the screen.
Trust Signals Are Scattered Across The Homepage
Reviews, buyer photos, the home devotion artwork description, the founder story and the journals are all present, but spread across separate sections rather than built into one buying journey.
Collection Page Has No Filters Or Categorisation
Landing on the collection shows a grid of Catholic devotional gifts with no filters and no sorting, so comparing the four products on the page means opening each one to see what is inside.
Product Cards Show Only A Name And A Price
Each card has a photo, a name and a price, but no reviews, no badge and no summary of what the piece is. There are no decision making points, so the collection reads as a catalogue rather than a place to choose.
Shipping Cost Is Only Revealed At Checkout
The product page says shipping is calculated at checkout and nothing about free shipping, which leaves the cost of posting a wooden piece unknown at the moment the visitor is deciding.
Key Product Facts Are Buried In Long Text
Size, material, delivery times and returns appear to be on the page, but the visitor has to read through a lot of text and images to reach them. The rating sits apart from the price and the add to cart button.
The Product Page Feels Like A Catalogue Entry
The layout presents the piece as something listed rather than something for sale. It does not justify the purchase or remove hesitation, which is the job of the most important page on the site.
No Attempt To Raise The Average Order Value
The product page sells one item and stops. There is no matching chaplet, no pair, no set and no reason to add a second piece, which the audit called the biggest place the store is leaving money on the table.
Answer The Three Trust Questions In The Hero
Rewrite the hero so it says what the store makes, who it is for and why it can be trusted, with reviews placed directly under the headline so the proof is visible the moment the page loads.
Rebuild The Shop Menu Around How People Buy
Organise the navigation by category, occasion and budget, with altars and shrines split by placement, finish and statue height, kneelers by who prays, and a dedicated gifts section for godchildren, newlyweds, priests and grieving friends.
Add A Find Your Piece Finder Next To Shop Everything
Offer a guided finder that asks about placement, who it is for, size, finish, timing and budget, then recommends a piece. It is the digital version of a salesperson asking how they can help.
Route Visitors Into Category Funnels From The Homepage
Place clear entry points for prayer kneelers, new home and baptism occasions and the finder under the hero, so someone looking for a kneeler reaches only kneelers in one click.
Add Badges And Summaries To Every Product Card
Mark cards as most chosen, for daily use or starter shrine, and add a one line summary such as solid wood, sealed finish, sized for adult posture, plus reviews and a one to two week build note.
Show The Pieces In Real Homes
Add a section of customer photos showing the pieces on real walls and in real rooms, with the written reviews beside them, so the visitor can picture the piece in their own home before they buy.
Build A Complete Your Oratory Section
Group the pieces that make up a full oratory so a visitor can take the whole set rather than one item. Repeat the same idea on the collection page as a build your oratory section.
Offer Gift Cards For Buyers Who Need Something Sooner
Since pieces are built to order, give visitors who cannot wait a gift card so the recipient chooses the piece and finish, or point them to a small item that is ready to wrap.
Put Shipping, Damage And Response Promises On The Homepage
State that the piece will arrive safely, what happens if it is damaged and that questions are answered within 24 hours, then follow with the frequently asked questions and a before you choose section.
Add Filters, Sorting And Size Ranges To The Collection Page
Let visitors compare in place with filters, a sort control and size groups of under 6 inches, 6 to 12 inches and over 12 inches, with the finder and the call to action at the top of the page.
Move Material, Height And Build Time Above The Add To Cart Button
Show solid wood, the height, the one to two week build and the number sold right under the price, so nothing the visitor needs is below the fold or inside a block of text.
Answer Delivery, Returns And Shipping Right Under Add To Cart
Place the delivery, return and shipping answers immediately below the button and say plainly that returns are easy if anything is wrong, so the last doubt is handled before the click.
Complete The Pair With A Matching Chaplet
Once a variant is selected, offer the matching holy face chaplet or a companion piece beside it, so the order grows from one item to two or three without the visitor leaving the page.
Add A Wall Size Preview To The Product Page
Let the visitor enter their wall width and height and see how much space the piece takes, which removes the single biggest doubt about whether a shrine will fit the room.
Offer A Custom Build Option
Add a custom build path beside the standard options so a visitor who wants something different can describe the piece they are looking for and have the studio get back to them.
Sell The Whole Set On The Product Page
Below the reviews, offer the complete set rather than two separate products, so one visitor takes three pieces instead of three visitors taking one each.
The version we'd build.
The teardown in 7 lines.
- The biggest opportunity is not more traffic, it is helping the traffic already on the site feel confident enough to buy.
- A hero section that does not say who the pieces are for or why to trust the store sends visitors into hesitation within seconds.
- The website is the salesperson, and this one leaves everything up to the customer.
- A collection page with no filters, badges or summaries is a catalogue, not a decision tool.
- A shipping cost that appears only at checkout is an unanswered question at the moment of decision.
- A product page that sells one piece and stops is leaving money on the table.
- Changing one thing at a time will not fix it, because each page has its own job to do.
Questions this audit answers.
Romanelli Design makes Catholic devotional pieces for the home: solid wood home oratories, altars and shrines, prayer kneelers, and smaller items such as chaplets and cards. The pieces are built to order. The audit found the product itself to be strong and the designs beautiful.
The website. Our CRO strategist was clear that the product is not weak. The issue is the presentation layer: the site does not help a visitor feel confident, does not answer their questions and does not give them a path to the right piece.
The hero section says the brand name and nothing else. It does not say who the pieces are for, whether other people trust the store, or where to go next. The products are shown before the visitor has been asked what they need, and the reviews, founder story and buyer photos are scattered down the page rather than built into a journey.
It is the route from landing on the site to the right product. On this store a visitor has to open ten or twenty pages to find their own way. The redesign gives them that route through a reorganised menu, category funnels and a guided finder that asks a few questions and recommends a piece.
That hover effect is one of the things the audit liked. The problem is everything around it. There are no filters, no sorting and no reviews, badges or summaries on the cards, so the visitor cannot compare products without opening each one.
It is a short set of questions placed next to the shop everything button: where the piece will go, who it is for, size, finish, how soon it is needed and budget. Based on the answers it recommends a product. The audit describes it as the digital version of a salesperson asking how they can help.
In several places. A complete your oratory section on the homepage and collection page groups pieces into a set. The product page offers a matching chaplet once a variant is chosen, suggests three ways to set a place, and sells the whole set below the reviews. Gift cards cover buyers who need something sooner than a build allows.
Because the visitor has to read through long text and images to reach those answers. The redesign moves material, height, build time and the number sold directly under the price, and puts delivery, returns and shipping right under the add to cart button.
The current page says shipping is calculated at checkout and says nothing about free shipping. For a heavy wooden piece that leaves a real cost unknown at the moment the visitor is deciding, which is one more reason to hesitate.
No. The audit states up front that it is not about cosmetic changes to make the site prettier. Every recommendation is about what a visitor sees, what questions go unanswered, and where the buying path is missing.
The audit advises against it. Each page has its own job to do, and a single change will not make the site work as a salesperson. The two routes offered are to implement the full build in house, or to have the studio build it as a live Shopify site.
The video is 32 minutes long. It reviews the homepage, the collection page and the product page of Romanelli Design, then presents a redesigned version of each of the three pages and closes with 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.