In collaboration with Boost Marketing

TL;DR

• Client: Freedom of Movement (FOM) – lifestyle and accessories brand
• Goal: Improve collection page conversion and reduce bounce rate
• Hypothesis: Inserting lifestyle content between product rows would increase engagement
• Result: +80% collection purchase rate, +16% increase in overall CVR, -3,5% bounce rate 
• Tools: GA4, Mida, Depict
  

The Brand & The Challenge

Freedom of Movement (FOM) is a South African lifestyle brand known for its premium leather goods and minimalist aesthetic. Their team, along with partner agency Boost Marketing, was looking for ways to elevate the on-site experience and drive deeper engagement on key collection pages.

While their products are strong, the collection pages followed a standard grid format — functional, but not particularly immersive. We saw an opportunity to tell more of the brand story within the product grid.

The Hypothesis

Together with Boost Marketing, we asked:

What if lifestyle imagery — the kind FOM uses so beautifully on social — could be brought into the shopping experience itself?

Our shared hypothesis was that inserting rich, lifestyle content blocks between product rows would:

• Make the page feel more editorial
  
  
• Encourage scrolling and exploration
  
  
• Reduce bounce rate by giving visitors more to connect with emotionally
  
  

The A/B Test Setup

To validate the hypothesis, we ran a structured A/B test using:

• Mida for test management
  
  
• Google Analytics 4 (GA4) for behavioral metrics
  
  
• Depict for visual merchandising and content placement
  
  

Variant A (Control): Standard product grid

Variant B (Test): Product grid interspersed with lifestyle imagery blocks (using Depict’s content card feature)

‍

We ran the test over a period of 2 weeks on both mobile and desktop, across ~37 000 measured sessions.‍

The Results

The results validated our intuition.

Compared to the control, the Depict test variant saw:

• 🔁 +80% increase in collection purchase rate
• 📈 +16% increase in overall conversion rate
• ⏳ -3,5% decrease in bounce rate
  

As can be seen from the graph above:

• The Control theme is obtaining higher initial engagement (more users adding to cart) - however, those sessions are far less likely to convert.
• Depict users are more likely to complete their purchase, resulting in a significantly more efficient funnel.
• Despite lower add-to-cart rates, Depict drives stronger downstream performance and better return on traffic.

What We Learned

This test confirmed that merchandising isn’t just about what you show — it’s about how you tell the story.

By embedding lifestyle content directly into the grid, FOM was able to:

• Significantly improve overall conversion conversion rates
  
  
• Create a more memorable, emotionally resonant shopping experience
  
  
• Bring branding and commerce closer together

What's Next

Following the successful test, FOM has rolled out the winning variant sitewide. We’re now exploring more ways to use visual storytelling within the shopping experience — including video blocks, editor’s picks, and seasonal highlights.

A Word from Boost Marketing

“It’s rare to see such immediate wins from such a simple change. The results speak to the power of visual storytelling — and how tools like Depict make it fast to experiment and iterate.”
— Mark-Anthony Goncalves, CRO & PPC Lead @Boost Marketing

Final Thoughts

Visual merchandising doesn’t have to mean overhauling your entire site. Sometimes, one well-placed image is enough to transform the experience.

👉 Interested in testing visual merchandising for your brand? Try Depict for free!

‍

‍