Lara Sweetland: +143% Online Order Conversion Rate
E-commerce CRO for Croatian artisan bakery Lara Sweetland — from 1.9% to 4.6% CVR through product page optimisation and checkout simplification.
Lara Sweetland is a Croatian artisan bakery and confectionery brand specialising in handmade cakes, pastries, and custom orders. With a devoted local following and a growing online presence, the brand wanted to convert more of its website visitors into orders — particularly for gifting occasions and custom cakes.
The Challenge
Artisan food e-commerce has a specific conversion challenge: the product quality is inherently difficult to convey online. Customers can’t smell the pastries or taste the ganache. The website has to do the sensory work through visuals, copy, and trust signals.
At 1.9% conversion rate, Lara Sweetland was well below what the product quality and brand reputation warranted. Visitors were landing, browsing, and leaving — often to order from a competitor or visit in person.
What We Found
1. Product photography wasn’t telling the full story
The existing product photos were good quality but showed finished products on plain white backgrounds. They didn’t show texture, cross-sections, or scale. For premium artisan products, context photography (on a table, being sliced, in a gift box) dramatically increases purchase intent.
2. Ingredients and allergen information was buried
For food products, customers with dietary requirements need allergen information before they’ll add to cart. This information existed on Lara’s site — but only in a PDF linked from the footer. Multiple session recordings showed visitors navigating away specifically to find ingredient information.
3. Custom cake order flow was confusing
Custom cake orders required sending an email, then waiting for a quote, then confirming, then paying. The process was fine for committed buyers but lost price-sensitive and first-time customers who wanted certainty upfront.
4. No cross-sell or upsell at cart
The average order was a single item. There was no in-cart suggestion system (“Pair with our signature coffee cake” or “Add gift packaging”). The cart was a dead end rather than an extension of the shopping experience.
What We Changed
Product photography brief — Provided a photography brief for context shots: lifestyle photography, cross-sections for layered cakes, scale reference images. Implemented on the top 10 products by traffic.
Allergen and ingredient information — Moved key allergen info to the product page itself, above the fold on mobile. Added a clear “Contains:” summary at the top of each product description.
Simplified custom order entry — Added a “Starting from €X” price range for custom cakes with a structured enquiry form (occasion, date, portion count, dietary requirements). Customers could now self-qualify before contacting, and Lara received more actionable enquiries.
Cart cross-sells — Added 3 complementary product suggestions in the cart (“Customers who ordered this also loved…”). Average order value increased by 53%.
Results
Over 75 days:
- Conversion rate: 1.9% → 4.6% (+142%)
- Add-to-cart rate: 6.8% → 17.3% (+154%)
- Average order value: €34 → €52 (+53%)
The combination of higher conversion rate and higher average order value meant total revenue from the same traffic more than tripled over the course of the programme.