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Thread & Step — DTC retail project preview

Case Study

Thread & Step

DTC retail · United States — domestic shipping

-38%

LCP improvement

+44%

Story block engagement

-12%

PDP exit rate

Shipped

Editorial–commerce linkage

The Challenge

PDPs buried sustainability proof points below the fold, mobile LCP lagged during image-rich launches, and editorial stories felt disconnected from commerce.

Full write-up

PDPs that carry story and speed for a DTC brand

Thread & Step sells craft and materials online — we modularised PDPs for sustainability storytelling while clawing back mobile LCP through image discipline.

Premium DTC brands lose conversions twice: once when pages feel slow, again when ethical sourcing claims feel bolted below the fold next to generic size charts.

Content model first

We introduced modular PDP blocks: materials, care, factory notes, and impact statements shipped as structured slices editors could reorder per launch. Campaign landing components reused the same slices so merchandising and editorial stopped fighting duplicate CMS entries.

Performance as brand

Art-directed crops shipped through a responsive pipeline with blur placeholders so skeleton states felt intentional, not broken. LCP budgets were tracked like accessibility issues — blocking releases when regressions sneaked in.

Editorial tied to commerce

Launch playbooks mapped hero campaigns to default PDP module ordering so seasonal pushes highlighted the right proof points without manual rework per SKU.

Metrics shared publicly

We publish indexed LCP improvement, engagement with story blocks, and directional PDP exit behaviour — not basket economics.

Timeline & outcomes

Optimisation cadenceNov 2024 – Apr 2026

Engagement timeline

  1. Phase 1

    Content model & PDP IA

    Nov 2024 – Feb 2025

  2. Phase 2

    Modular launch & CWV sprint

    Mar – Sep 2025

  3. Phase 3

    Campaign-linked storytelling

    Oct 2025 – Apr 2026

Indexed outcome curve (baseline = early sprint, 100 = latest measurement)
Indexed performance trend

Values are normalised indices for communication only — not revenue or confidential KPIs.

Before / after index — key UX and delivery signals

Mobile LCP (inverse pain index)

Baseline
42
Outcome
88

Story-module engagement

Baseline
50
Outcome
86

Quality-of-experience index

Baseline
55
Outcome
92

What We Built

  • Modular PDP blocks for materials, care, and impact storytelling
  • Responsive image pipeline with art-directed crops
  • Launch playbook tying campaigns to PDP modules
  • Core Web Vitals remediation sprint

Tools Used

Shopify HydrogenTypeScriptVercelSanityDatadog

Related case studies

Commerce and story had to load together — performance budgets were treated as part of brand quality.

Engagement charter · Delivery constraint

Timeline

Nov 2024 – Apr 2026

Investment

£10,000 – £18,000

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