Our e-commerce site converts poorly: should we optimise what we have or rebuild the site?

Poor conversion does not automatically mean the site must be rebuilt

A redesign is a solution. Low conversion is a symptom. Between the two, the diagnosis is missing. A simple rule already separates the two cases: optimisation is often enough when losses are concentrated on a few identifiable steps; a redesign becomes more relevant when the problem affects the structure of the journey, the positioning or the platform.

Before changing the design, identify where users drop off. For example:

• visitors arrive but do not look at products;
• they look at products but add nothing to the basket;
• they add to the basket and then leave;
• they start checkout without completing it;
• they buy once and never come back.

These situations do not have the same causes and do not call for the same investments.

Three cases where optimising first is the better choice

The problem is localised

One step, one message, one piece of information or one point of friction accounts for a large share of abandonments. Fix it before rebuilding the rest.

The site already lets you change the journey

Shopify, WooCommerce and other platforms allow many changes without starting from scratch. A useful recommendation takes that technical reality into account.

You still lack evidence

If nobody knows why users leave the journey, rebuilding the site essentially means rebuilding on the same assumptions.

A typical situation

A page can contain all the right information and still lose the user if it does not provide it at the right moment. In the same way, the conversion problem may not come from acquisition itself but from the gap between the promise that brought the user in and the experience they then discover. Before rebuilding the interface, also check the continuity between acquisition, promise and the first moments of the experience.

When a redesign becomes the more logical choice

It is more justified when several elements are structurally unsuitable:

• an information architecture that has become difficult to navigate;
• a journey built by stacking things on top of each other;
• a platform that is too restrictive for the current business model;
• a poor mobile experience;
• a value proposition and content that need substantial rework;
• technical debt that blocks important changes.

In that case, the diagnosis also serves to define what must not be reproduced in the new version.

The data to look at before deciding

Cross-check at least:

• Analytics: where do users actually leave the journey?
• Session recordings or observations: what do they do just before leaving?
• Qualitative feedback: what do they not understand, not find, or not want to do?
• Sales and support data: which objections or misunderstandings keep coming back?

Context matters too. A perfectly readable screen can arrive too early, ask for information the user does not yet have, or interrupt a task they are carrying out elsewhere.

What 5LEGS offers

For a well-defined topic:

• Landing page conversion audit: €2,500 excl. VAT;
• Complete Sales Funnel Audit: €5,000 excl. VAT;
• Customer Journey Review + recommendations: €5,000 excl. VAT;
• UI/UX Design Audit: €2,500 excl. VAT.

For a broader problem, L’Autoroute E-commerce is an engagement of around 90 days at €24,000 excl. VAT, covering diagnosis, sales funnel, pricing, CRM, platform, UX writing and automation among other things.

The three founders of 5LEGS lead the engagement themselves, with complementary specialists when the topic requires it.

Not yet sure exactly where the journey breaks? Start with We have traffic but few sales: how do we find where our e-commerce journey is losing customers?.

In short

Do not choose between “keep the site” and “rebuild everything” based on intuition. First measure where the journey loses value. You will then know what to fix, rethink or actually rebuild.