The Hidden Conversion Killer: Site Speed

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In today’s newsletter

• Every second in load time bleeds 7 % of your conversion rate—stop the leak!

• Memorial day prep: How to win the promo window

• 3 Brands that turned boring products into scroll-stopping content

• Urgency that converts (without killing your margins)

  Let's dive into it!👇

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Every second in load time bleeds 7 % of your conversion rate—stop the leak!

The biggest silent killer of conversions isn’t bad copy, a weak offer, or even price—it’s a slow site. Visitors won’t email you to complain; they simply vanish. Google’s data is brutal: when load time stretches from one to three seconds, the chance of a bounce jumps by 32 %. After that, every extra second trims roughly 7 % off your conversion rate.

Why does this happen?
Most of the time the blame sits with two culprits:
1. Heavy images. We all love crisp product photos, but an uncompressed file can weigh several megabytes, and mobile shoppers feel every byte.

2. Extra code that still loads—even though you no longer use the feature. Install an app, delete it later, and fragments of JavaScript and CSS often linger. Tracking pixels and old theme tweaks do the same. All that dead weight loads on every page request.

Step 1: See the damage for yourself
Fire up Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix—both are free. Drop in your URL and let them crunch the numbers. The report highlights slow images, unused code, and any scripts bogging down the first byte. If mobile “Time to Interactive” is north of three seconds, you’re paying a speed tax on every sale.

Step 2: Hand your dev a punch list
The audit will spell out fixes, but here’s the plain-English version:

• Compress and convert images to WebP at about 75 % quality. You keep the sharpness, lose the weight.

• Minify and bundle CSS and JavaScript so the browser fetches fewer, lighter files.

• Delete the leftovers. Old app snippets, abandoned pixels, and unused theme code may be invisible, but they still cost milliseconds.
  

If you have a developer on call, email them the report and this checklist. They’ll know what to do. No developer? Skip the hand coding

Head to the Shopify App Store and grab an optimization tool that automates the heavy lifting. One we’ve had good luck with is Plug in Speed. It compresses images, minifies code, and even sweeps out leftover snippets—all in a single click—then shows your load-time gains on a live dashboard. Set it once and watch bounce rates shrink alongside file sizes.

Run the test today, trim the fat, and give shoppers the lightning-fast experience they expect. Those reclaimed seconds could be the easiest revenue you earn this quarter.

Memorial day prep: How to win the promo window

A lot of the brands I’ve seen usually start their Memorial Day planning way too late, and then they wonder why it flopped. If you want your promo to hit, start this week. Here's what to focus on:

1. Tease the sale early, but don’t call it a sale. Start planting the seed with a “Something big is coming” email & SMS 7–10 days out. Give early access to your list before the promo drops. You want people checking your site the morning of, not reacting to a last minute blast.

2. Don’t just discount. Reframe the offer. Instead of “20% off everything,” anchor it to behavior or emotion.

   Examples:

   • “20% off for our Day Ones”

   • “The Buy 2, Stock Up for Summer Sale”

   • “Biggest bundle deal we’ve ever run”

   Well, you can get creative here.

3. Adjust flows now, not mid-promo. Go into your post-purchase, abandon cart, and browse abandon flows this week and any other flows that’s necessary. Make sure they reflect the sale price, promo period, and any messaging changes. Nothing kills momentum like a promo email followed by a full-price flow.

4. Push urgency… but make it believable. Time-box the sale. Include a progress bar or inventory warning if it’s real. Avoid fake scarcity. It usually works once, then erodes the trust eventually. Don’t be that brand.

5. Prep a “missed it?” segment. Have a follow-up campaign ready for people who opened but didn’t buy. Try a soft nudge: “Couldn’t check out in time?” with a 12 hour extension. Or bundle an exclusive offer for them the next week.

Memorial Day is not BFCM, sure, but it’s a real revenue driver if you take it seriously.

-Ibrahim

3 Brands that turned boring products into scroll-stopping content

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True Classics made you feel the fabric. Keep Top blended tennis balls to save the planet. And Currys? They're making air fryer content actually binge-worthy. These brands aren’t just marketing — they’re creating moments you want to be a part of.

Urgency that converts (without killing your margins)

Urgency works. But when every email screams “last chance,” people stop caring.

Here’s how to test urgency in a way that feels fresh, and still drives conversions.

1. Make urgency about access, not always discount. Try things like:

   • “Flavor X only shipping for 72 hours”

   • “Exclusive restock, this week only”

   • “Limited-time bundle for subscribers”

   It’s a tighter window without touching price.

2. Add urgency to bouncebacks. Let’s say a customer buys a 30-day product. On Day 7, send: “Need a top-up? Reorder in the next 48 hours and we’ll throw in a gift.”

   That time limit pushes action without sounding like a sale.

3. Use countdowns in flows, not broad campaigns. You don’t need timers in every campaign. But inside your abandon cart or welcome flow? Absolutely. A quiet “This offer expires in 36 hours” can do more than a giant promo graphic. But again, ALWAYS TEST.

4. Shift the urgency trigger. Instead of price, also test:

   • Low stock (“Only 200 left”)

   • Early access (“Goes public Friday”)

   • Gift-with-purchase (“Ends at midnight”)

Same behavior spike, cleaner brand perception. Urgency is basically you telling them why should they care NOW.

Alright folks, that’s it for today!

-Ibrahim

Have any questions that you need help with?

Ask here - look out for Friday’s issue where Ibrahim will answer them.