When most marketers hear ‘conversion rate optimisation’, they picture A/B testing button colours, or rearranging page layouts to squeeze out a small lift in on-site conversions. But that’s an outdated and dangerously narrow view of what CRO actually is, and what it should be doing for your business.
In a recent episode of The Leaf Colectivo, CRO expert Will Laurenson made the case for a more modern approach: one that treats optimisation as a business-wide lever, not just a website function.
CRO isn’t just about conversions anymore. Here’s why.
The problem with traditional CRO
The classic definition of conversion rate optimisation is relatively simple. It’s the process of optimising a website to increase the percentage of visitors who complete a desired action. In ecommerce, that action is usually making a purchase.
However, focusing too heavily on that number in isolation creates a distorted picture of performance.
This is because:
- You can increase conversion rate but decrease average order value (AOV)
- You can increase conversion rate but increase returns
- You can increase conversion rate but attract the wrong customers
In each of these cases, the conversion metric is going up, but your profitability might actually be going down.
CRO should drive customer revenue, not just conversions
Modern optimisation is about more than nudging someone toward a “Buy now” button. It’s about understanding the full customer journey and improving the quality of every action taken, not just the quantity.
That means shifting focus towards metrics like:
- AOV (Average Order Value): Are customers spending enough per session to sustain your customer acquisition cost?
- LTV (Customer Lifetime Value): Are they coming back, or are you paying to win one-time buyers?
- Return Rate: Are you acquiring the right customers, or driving purchases that end up coming back?
In short, Will suggests that we need to stop thinking of CRO as Conversion Rate Optimisation, and start thinking of it as Customer Revenue Optimisation – a practice that optimises for sustained, profitable growth.
Why conversion rate is often misleading
Let’s say your new product landing page’s conversion rate jumps from 2.5% to 3.2% this week. Brilliant news! That’s a win, right?
Not necessarily.
That increase might have been driven by low-quality traffic, like a sudden influx of visitors from a viral influencer post, or a steep discount offer. These users may convert in the moment, but they often return products, never buy again, or cost more to acquire than they’re actually worth.
Conversion rate alone doesn’t tell the full story. This metric is heavily influenced by your traffic quality, offer structure, customer intent and technical accuracy in tracking.
That’s why experienced growth teams never rely on CR alone to assess performance. It’s an indicator, but not a decision-making tool.
Real optimisation is cross-functional
The most effective CRO strategies sit across teams, not in a silo.
Paid media needs clean signals to optimise spend.
Creative needs insight into what resonates at the decision-making point.
Product and dev teams need to align with marketing on real behavioural data.
This means thinking about CRO as a growth engine, as opposed to a page-level tweak. It should influence how you design offers, how you build landing pages, how you track behaviour, and how you scale.
If you’re still thinking of CRO as fixing conversion leaks on your PDP, you’re missing the bigger opportunity. It’s not about making people convert. It’s about making it easy and obvious for the right people to say yes.
Hear more on The Leaf Colectivo
The shift from conversion to customer revenue was a key theme in our recent episode of The Leaf Colectivo with Will Laurenson. It’s one of the most practical, experience-driven conversations we’ve had on what actually moves the needle for ecom brands right now.
Want to dig deeper? Listen to the full episode on Spotify or YouTube.