10X traffic. 0.1% conversions. What would you fix first?
How a few UX fixes and cohort insights helped an eCommerce brand 10X its traffic before Black Friday.
Well, hello, and welcome to this week’s edition of the eCommercer.
We’re mixing things up a bit this week.
Rather than me sharing a story from inside one of our brands, I wanted you to hear directly from one of our eCommerce Cohort members — Don Watz from HQ Truck Parts
A few weeks ago, Don volunteered to share his site and KPI report with our eCommerce Podcast cohort. What followed was a masterclass in humility, experimentation, and the power of community.
With a few smart tweaks and a shift in focus, his site traffic jumped from 1,000 a month to over 11,000 visitors a week. Incredible stuff! He’s been kind enough to share what he learned, in his own words, below.
And on the eCommerce Podcast this week, I’m joined by Robby Bryant from Campaign Monitor and we talk about something every brand needs to get right before Black Friday — email authentication. It doesn’t matter how good your campaigns are if Gmail and Yahoo never let them through the door.
Lots of practical value this week.
Have a great week, wherever you are in the world.
Until next time,
Thought For The Week By Don Watza, eCommerce Manager of HQTruckParts.com →
How a Cohort Session Helped HQTruckParts.com 10X Site Traffic
When I joined the eCommerce Podcast cohort, I was mainly focused on one thing: traffic.
Our site had dropped from around 6,000 visitors a month to barely 1,000, and sales had fallen off a cliff. I came to the session ready to talk through my KPI report — I had 12 metrics I was tracking — and my goal was simple: get back to those visitor numbers we used to see.
Matt asked for a volunteer who’d be willing to share their site and take honest feedback, so I put my hand up.
What I didn’t expect was for the conversation to shift completely.
From Traffic to Conversion
When the cohort team looked at my site, it became clear that my focus needed to change. Yes, visitor numbers mattered, but the real issue was conversion.
The group immediately pointed out several UX improvements I’d missed:
The hero image was taking up too much space.
Categories weren’t visible enough.
The top menu needed fixing.
And visitors couldn’t see products quickly enough.
It was a good reminder that eCommerce success rarely comes from one big change — it’s lots of small, consistent improvements.
Experiment, Adjust, Repeat
Matt encouraged me to keep experimenting while focusing on both traffic and user experience. Within a few weeks, the results were beyond what I expected.
We went from around 1,000 visitors a month to more than 11,000 visitors per week. That’s a tenfold increase — and proof that the changes were working.
I’m incredibly grateful for the cohort’s insight and encouragement. Having other founders and Matt challenge my assumptions helped me see the bigger picture.
Next Challenge: Conversion
With traffic up, the next bottleneck became clear — conversion rate. Our category benchmark for truck parts is around 1.5–4%. Historically, we were within that range. But with the traffic surge, our conversion rate dropped to 0.1%.
So that’s my next focus: making it easier for visitors to buy.
I’m working on new landing page tweaks to guide customers more intuitively from browsing to checkout.
What I’ve Learned
Getting more visitors felt like the goal at first, but what I’ve learned through the cohort is that traffic only matters if it converts.
I’ve proven I can bring people back — now it’s about making their experience so smooth they want to buy again and again.
It’s easy to get lost chasing numbers. The cohort helped me see that every click should lead somewhere — not just to higher traffic, but to better results.
This Week’s Episode of the eCommerce Podcast →
Stop Losing Customers After They Click Buy Now
Two weeks until Black Friday.
Your campaigns are ready. Your offers are sharp. Your list is segmented.
But if your emails aren’t properly authenticated, they’ll never make it past the gatekeepers.
The Sheriff Problem
In this week’s episode, I sit down with Robby Bryant from Campaign Monitor, who explains how mailbox providers like Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft have become the sheriffs of the internet — and they’re policing sender behaviour harder than ever.
“Four or five years ago, you could send a mediocre email with little consequence,” Robby told me. “Those days are gone.”
Without proper authentication, the algorithms simply won’t trust you and your Black Friday emails will get rejected before they even start riding.
The Numbers You Can’t Ignore
Robby shared the thresholds that determine whether you land in the inbox or the spam folder:
Spam complaints under 0.1% – more than 10 complaints on a 10,000-send campaign, and you’re in trouble.
Unsubscribes below 1% – healthy curiosity is fine, mass exits aren’t.
Bounces under 2% – dead addresses destroy your sender reputation.
The margins are razor-thin, and rebuilding trust takes months you don’t have.
The Authentication Trinity
SPF, DKIM, and DMARC — three acronyms that sound like sunscreen brands but guard your email deliverability. Robby breaks down exactly how to configure them and why engagement now matters more than clever copy.
“You’re not going to hack your way past these controls. You need genuine user engagement.”
What Actually Works
The brands getting 30–40X ROI from email aren’t running genius campaigns. They’re nailing the basics:
✓ Authentication correctly set up (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
✓ Regular cadence (at least weekly through the holiday season)
✓ Clean, healthy lists (no dead weight)
✓ Balanced content (60% text, 40% visuals)
With two weeks until Black Friday, you’ve still got time to get this right. The question is, will your emails even make it through the gate?
Robby’s Links:
Website: campaignmonitor.com
LinkedIn: Connect with Robby
Freebie of the Month →
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Be A Guest →
Got an eCommerce business with stories worth sharing?
Come be my guest on the eCommerce Podcast, where I chat with founders about the wins, the disasters, and everything in between. Your story could be the one that helps another founder grow smarter (or avoid your mistakes).