DTC Podcast Ep 559: 3 High‑Leverage CRO Moves Before Black Friday – with Jordan Gordon
Nov 14, 2025
Jordan Gordon, with 25 years in ecommerce and a leader at Pilot House, shares essential high-leverage conversion rate optimization strategies for Black Friday. He explains why traditional metrics like headline conversion rates can mislead and emphasizes the importance of direct conversion signals. Listeners discover how to utilize bundling tools for an impressive 8-30% lift in average order value and the critical choke points to optimize on their sites. Quick wins, like enhancing the speed of product pages, are key takeaways for marketers seeking impactful results.
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Benchmark Your Key Conversion Metrics
- Run quick benchmarks: check Add‑to‑Cart, total conversion, and direct conversion in Shopify to see if you’re in the right ballpark.
- Aim for ~5–7% Add‑to‑Cart, ~2% total conversion, and ~1.25% direct conversion as initial targets.
Direct Conversion Is Less Volatile
- Direct conversion filters out channel noise and gives a steadier signal for trend analysis.
- Use direct conversion alongside headline conversion to avoid volatility from changing channel mix.
Speed Up Your Top PDPs First
- Identify your top 3–5 product pages (PDPs) and make them ultra‑fast using a page tool like Niche.
- Prioritize sub‑3s load times because faster PDPs materially increase conversions at the site’s choke point.