A CRO Strategy as Sharp as the Knives It Helps Sell
Giant Mouse Knives came to MHT Media with a strong product and a loyal following, but a Shopify store that hadn't scaled with the brand. We built the CRO infrastructure, ran structured experiments, launched a Shopify Plus expansion store for international ads, and shipped 30+ support tasks, all while the brand was actively growing.
01 — Overview
An American Knife Brand Ready to Scale
Brand
GiantMouse is the meeting point of Scandinavian design and world-class craftsmanship. Founded by Danish designers Jesper Voxnaes and Jens Ansø alongside American entrepreneur Jim Wirth, each knife is conceived with the same philosophy: clean lines, deliberate ergonomics, and nothing that doesn't belong. These are knives made to be carried, used, and trusted by people who know the difference.
Tech Stack
Shopify (custom theme), Intelligems (A/B testing), Boost Commerce (search + filters), AMP Back in Stock, Klaviyo, Tapcart (mobile app), GovX, Yotpo (reviews).
Audience
Knife enthusiasts, EDC (everyday carry) collectors, outdoor and tactical users, military. Buyers are deliberate, brand-literate, and highly engaged. Limited-run drops sell out fast, the store has to keep up.
Engagement Scope
Ongoing CRO management, non-CRO Shopify Expert support including minor custom design and development.
02 — CRO Experiments
Every Experiment. Every Learning.
03 — What Was Shipped
From Store Triage to a Conversion Engine
In-stock sort priority fix, collection sorting dropdown redesign, update PDP FAQ metafields sitewide, GovX checkout fix, Route shipping removal sitewide, Mappy dealer locator bug fix, Boost AI reconfiguration + migration to expansion store, post-purchase form updates, inventory count display fix (stop at 0), hide ATC button on coin PDP, Our Story migration, account icon removal, GWP campaign setup, order confirmation branding, and more.
17 winners promoted to permanent implementation. Losers generated clear directional data, confirming GMK buyers are high-consideration, deliberate purchasers who respond to confidence signals over speed shortcuts. Active experiments ongoing. All hypotheses, results, and revenue estimates tracked in ClickUp.
04 — Key Learnings
What the Data Taught Us
High-AOV Buyers Need Confidence, Not Speed
The biggest CRO insight from this engagement: GMK buyers don’t impulse purchase. At $150 - $400 a knife, the decision cycle is deliberate. Accelerated checkout shortcuts (Buy with Shop Pay) lost because they felt mismatched with buyer intent. Trust signals, brand features, and use-case framing won because they reinforced the buyer’s decision at each stage of the journey.
Collection Page UX Shapes PDP Quality
Removing the hover-state ATC and View Product buttons from collection cards wasn’t just a CRO experiment, it was a hypothesis about where variant selection errors originate. When shoppers can add from the collection page without choosing steel or handle, they end up on the wrong variant. Pushing all intent through the PDP improved variant accuracy and reduced checkout abandonment from mismatched expectations.
Search Integrity Is a Revenue Issue
Misconfigured search (out-of-stock products ranking equally, excluded items appearing) silently damages revenue. When a shopper searches "GMF1" and sees an out-of-stock variant first, they either leave or assume the product isn’t available. Fixing Boost AI configuration and enforcing in-stock priority sorting across both stores was triage, and it had immediate conversion implications.
Context Sells Knives, Features Alone Don’t
The "Great For" section worked because it answered a question buyers were already asking: is this knife right for me? Elmax steel specs and blade geometry matter to enthusiasts, but the majority of GMK buyers especially those buying as a gift or for their first EDC knife need use-case clarity first. Contextual selling outperformed feature-list selling in every relevant test.
"Michael and the team at MHT Media didn’t just meet our CRO goals, they exceeded every expectation. From the outset, Michael took the time to understand the GiantMouse brand and how our customers interact with the site. His work was grounded in data, yet always open to bold ideas. He restructured key pages, streamlined the checkout flow, and implemented thoughtful A/B testing that led to clear, measurable improvements in conversions and user experience."
Director of Marketing, Giant Mouse Knives
