Brief
Extending the in-store experience into the online journey
Lacé built its reputation on a selection rooted in sneaker and streetwear culture, a passionate team and personal service. Its physical store embodies this close connection with customers. Its Shopify website already expressed a strong visual identity, but did not yet fully convey the guidance and trust that distinguish the in-store experience.
With e-commerce already growing, Maze was commissioned to conduct a UX/CRO audit of the website. The mandate was to understand barriers to purchase, identify opportunities for improvement and define a roadmap for evolving the experience, from product discovery through checkout and return visits.
Goals
Helping customers choose, building confidence and improving conversion
The goal was to better convert existing interest, rather than focus solely on acquiring traffic. Products needed to be easier to find and compare, with guidance on choosing a style and size, and answers about availability, shipping and returns before those questions became barriers.
The approach also needed to make Lacé’s credibility tangible to people discovering the boutique online without knowing its physical store. With mobile as a priority, the audit aimed to preserve the brand’s minimalist identity while providing the cues and reassurance needed for a considered purchase, sometimes developed over several visits.
Tools and partners
Complexity and challenge
Building confidence in a considered purchase, beyond the store’s local reputation
The footwear and streetwear pieces offered by Lacé are relatively infrequent purchases, with price points that can call for time to consider. Interest in a style does not necessarily lead to an immediate purchase: visitors may want to compare options, confirm their size and feel confident they are making the right choice before committing.
In-store, the team’s presence, its advice and the opportunity to try on products help build that confidence. Online, those reassurances are not a given, particularly for someone discovering Lacé without knowing its physical store. The challenge was to make the boutique’s real-world presence, expertise and quality of service visible, while clearly answering questions about sizing, shipping and returns. Customers needed to trust both the product and the retailer.
This reassurance had to fit into a highly pared-back experience, where some navigation cues and product information remained too subtle, particularly on mobile. The goal was not to drive impulse purchases at any cost, but to support a more confident decision without diluting Lacé’s identity.
Approach
Connecting customer journeys, data and the voice of the customer
We combined a UX/CRO inspection of the website with the available GA4 and Shopify Analytics data. The homepage, navigation, collections, product pages, cart and checkout were studied as stages of a single journey. Analyzing devices, acquisition channels, landing pages and new versus returning visitors helped identify the main points of friction.
Customer reviews and customer service signals complemented this analysis, highlighting the importance of advice, personal connection and trust. A benchmark of Qlassic, Sam Tabak and Browns Shoes helped compare navigation cues, product information and reassurance elements, without seeking to replicate competitors’ aesthetics.
Each recommendation linked a finding, its potential impact on the purchase decision and a concrete intervention. Measurement gaps, including the missing GA4 select_item and add_shipping_info events, were identified to distinguish observations from hypotheses requiring validation and prepare for tracking future optimizations.
Solution
A roadmap to guide purchasing and make trust visible
The report brings together a diagnosis of the customer journey, qualitative and analytics findings, and a roadmap that distinguishes quick fixes from structural improvements. The first step is to assess whether the current Shopify theme can support the recommendations. Priorities then focus on navigation, search, filters, product cards and product pages, with particular attention to sizing decisions and mobile readability.
A dedicated focus on trust aims to strengthen the connection between the website and the physical store: introduce the team and its expertise, highlight customer reviews, make help easier to access and give in-store pickup greater visibility. Shipping and returns information should appear closer to decision points, while the cart and checkout should maintain that continuity without adding doubts or surprises.
The roadmap also covers the experience of visitors arriving from advertising and conversion beyond the first visit. It recommends better-contextualized landing pages and Klaviyo automations that support the decision process: welcome messages, follow-ups after browsing or abandonment, back-in-stock notifications and post-purchase communication. A measurement component defines the events to add and the indicators to track in order to evaluate optimizations and adjust priorities.
Results
A clear direction for turning interest into confidence
The audit gave Lacé a structured understanding of the gaps between its in-store strengths and the guidance offered online. It identified a shared priority across the different areas of improvement: help visitors find, understand and choose products with the same confidence they seek in-store.
The outcome of the mandate is a diagnosis and a roadmap to guide future content, design, development and retention decisions. Lacé now has a framework for evolving its experience progressively, preserving what makes its brand distinctive and measuring the effects of changes after implementation.