We worked with Relive to improve their key performance metrics and achieved over 50% faster Largest Contentful Paint and almost zero layout shifts across all key pages. This resulted in a 3% increase in conversion rate, a 6% decrease in bounce rate, and a 9% increase in page views per session.
Web performance is often overlooked as a way to improve both user experience and business results. This case study shows what’s possible when you focus on real, effective improvements instead of shortcuts or tricks.
Relive is a Japanese brand making clothing that stimulates acupuncture points and helps people feel and perform better.
Discovering performance issues and setting goals Jump to heading
Every project starts with a baseline. We used both synthetic tests and real user data to understand where Relive’s store was struggling. We looked at Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), and Interaction to Next Paint (INP). Here’s what we saw before making changes:
During our review, we found several issues hurting both performance and user experience:
- Previous attempts to improve performance had led to the use of scripts that attempted to trick web performance tools. These scripts detected when the site was being tested, then altered the page to manipulate the results. Additionally, they injected an invisible, oversized character to trick the browser into marking it as the Largest Contentful Paint element.
- Videos on the homepage were slowing down the first load, making visitors wait before seeing video content.
- Some scripts delayed rendering, preventing users from seeing content until those scripts finished running.
- Lazy loading was applied to key images, including those that should have appeared right away. This delayed the display of product images.
- The site header and grid layouts sometimes caused content to jump around as pages loaded, depending on how the browser handled each frame. This made the experience feel unstable.
- Switching product options (like size or color) sometimes felt slow, especially on low-end devices or under slow network conditions.
We agreed with Relive that our main goal was to get real, measurable improvements in loading speed, stability, and interactivity for actual customers—not just for web performance tests.
If you want to know more about fake performance consultants, check out our blog post on performance scams.
Step 1: Cleaning up and speeding up loading Jump to heading
Our first step was to remove scripts that tried to manipulate performance scores. These tricks don’t help real users and can even cause problems down the road. We believe that honest improvements are the only way to build trust and deliver a better experience.
Next, we focused on improving the way videos and images loaded. We optimized video loading on the homepage, ensuring the first frame of the video is visible while the video is still being downloaded. We also improved how a render-blocking script was handled, making sure that important content was visible as soon as possible.
Finally, we conducted a thorough review of all lazy loading practices, ensuring that the most critical images and elements are loaded immediately. This optimization allows customers to view products more quickly, reducing the wait time before they can interact with the site.
Step 2: Making the site stable and smooth Jump to heading
Visual stability matters. When content shifts during loading or navigation, it can confuse and frustrate shoppers.
While the 75th percentile showed good CLS scores, we noticed that about 10% of users still experienced moderate layout shifts. We addressed header and grid layout issues that triggered these jumps under slow conditions, helping ensure the layout remains stable from the moment the page begins to load for nearly all users.
Step 3: Improving interactivity Jump to heading
A fast-loading site alone isn't sufficient if it still feels slow to use.
We improved the speed of switching between product options by 8ms at the 75th percentile (4% faster), demonstrating that every millisecond counts. While this may seem minor, these incremental improvements collectively contribute to a smoother browsing and shopping experience, making the store feel more responsive and enjoyable, especially under slower conditions.
Results: Faster, smoother, and more reliable Jump to heading
After our changes, Relive’s store was much faster and more stable:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): LCP improved by over 50% on every key page. 90% of users now see the main content on a page loading in under 2.5 seconds. This keeps them engaged and reduces frustration.
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): CLS dropped to almost zero, eliminating content jumps. This results in a more professional and trustworthy experience for users.
- Interaction to Next Paint (INP): INP improved by 8ms at the 75th percentile, contributing to a more responsive and smooth experience for every interaction, particularly under slower conditions.
The difference is clear: Relive’s customers now enjoy a faster, smoother, and more reliable shopping experience. But the impact goes beyond user experience. Relive’s business results have improved as well. In the 90 days following these changes, conversion rate increased by 3%, bounce rate dropped by 6%, and pageviews per session rose by 9% compared to the previous period. Better performance didn’t just delight shoppers. It drove measurable growth for the business.
Lessons learned and next steps Jump to heading
This project reinforced an important lesson: there are no shortcuts to real performance. Tricks and fake fixes might make test results look better, but they don’t help your customers. Honest, well-documented changes are the only way to create lasting improvements.
One of the most remarkable aspects of this project was how little effort was required on our side. Without needing detailed directions, the Shopify professional services team easily identified the fundamental issues and drove them through to absolute resolution. As a result, page load speed improved by over 50%, layout shifts were reduced to virtually ZERO, and the customer experience improved dramatically. These enhancements translated into tangible business outcomes, including a 3% increase in conversion rate and a 6% decrease in bounce rate. We are confident that entrusting this initiative to the Shopify team was the right decision.
Taisuke Fujisaki - Chief of Web Marketing Department
Performance work is never finished. As Relive adds new features and content, we encourage them (and all merchants) to keep an eye on their metrics and continue making small, meaningful improvements. Shopify admin now provides a full breakdown of real user performance.
About us Jump to heading
We are the Growth Services Web Performance Team. Our goal is to help merchants get their online stores as fast as possible through direct paid engagements, platform work, and education. Contact us to start your own performance journey.