E-commerce UX Research and CRO for Numu Market

Product: E-commerce site for Numu Market, an organic grocery store focused on strengthening local producers in Mexico City

Users: Existing in-store customers and potential online shoppers that fit a conscious consumer profile

Product lens: This project influenced the roadmap by setting a solid foundation and a guiding strategy to enable scaling of Numu's online sales channel and increase revenue in a channel that can capture more clients in a more efficient way than just relying on their brick and mortar store.

Numu Market was in an early startup phase, where most initiatives were still being built and validated. In this context, resource allocation and prioritization were critical, and the concept of an MVP carried even greater weight. While the physical store performed well, the e-commerce site had near-zero impact on revenue. This was a major risk, as the web channel is essential for:

3. Supporting long-term growth

From a UX and product perspective, the lack of online conversions indicated a structural problem that could not be ignored.

• Points of friction- moments in the flow users couldn't continue smoothly and experience was hindered or broke down ​​​​

We prioritized identifying the highest-leverage blockers rather than redesigning the entire site, focusing on changes that could move the needle quickly and sustainably.

Through discussions across business, operations, and marketing, we identified two non-mutually exclusive hypotheses explaining the lack of conversions:

1. Cost & product offer disconnect Customers did not perceive sufficient value or clarity in the online offering.

2. Poor user experience Navigation and flow friction made it difficult to complete an order.

At the same time, we questioned whether traffic coming from SEO and Google Ads was reaching the right audience, further complicating the problem.

Given the multifactorial nature of the issue, we needed validation from real users to identify the primary blockers.

Before user research, I conducted a heuristic evaluation of the site to identify preliminary usability issues. However, internal analysis alone was insufficient. We needed to understand which problems actually prevented users from converting.

2. In-person focus group with existing Numu customers who shopped in-store but not online

-Goal: Understand perceptions of pricing, product offering, and online value proposition

-Format: Focus group consisting of 10 users. Divided first segment where users completed a simulated checkout flow in the e-commerce site and then completed a segment where questions where asked about their experience and their perception.

This dual approach allowed us to test both hypotheses simultaneously. Each method addressed a different dimension of the problem.

• Testing focused specifically on flow-breaking moments rather than overall aesthetics, in order to isolate the highest-impact usability issues.

• Several issues identified in the heuristic evaluation proved to be less impactful than anticipated once observed with real users

• Users who were already loyal in-store customers still experienced uncertainty and friction online, highlighting a gap between the physical and digital experience

• Reallocated effort away from low-impact issues toward changes that directly supported order completion

• This validation step allowed the team to move forward with confidence, ensuring that improvements were evidence-based, scoped appropriately for an MVP, and aligned with business goals.

• Perceived value and product clarity were not sufficiently communicated online. Consumers of these products understand that the price label might be higher, but that they are paying to reduce the toll regular products might take on their health, local economy and environmental impact.

• Align online product presentation more closely with in-store expectations and communicate value of choosing organic, local commerce more effusively

This project highlighted how, especially in early-stage startups, UX research is not a nice-to-have, but rather what allows efforts and resources to be focused on what will actually generates business impact. By validating hypotheses quickly and affordably, we were able to focus efforts where they mattered most, accelerating improvement and directly driving sales.

For future phases, recruiting for focus groups needs to be more intentionally structured. While the sessions generated valuable insights about the Numu user persona, the research would have been more effective if participants had been potential online customers rather than existing in-store shoppers.

Because these users were already converted through the physical store, their shopping behaviors and expectations differed from those of online-first customers. Although we were able to capture why some users might choose competitors and clearly identify the primary reasons they purchase at Numu, these findings, valuable as they were in further understanding our buyer persona, deviated from the original objective of the focus group. As a result, the session gradually shifted from validating e-commerce conversion hypotheses to serving a different research purpose.

This limitation was largely driven by time and resource constraints, which led the recruiting team to rely on an existing customer database. Although this approach accelerated execution, it reduced the precision of the findings relative to our conversion goals, as we gathered indirect insights rather than direct validation of the primary hypothesis we set out to test.

In later stages of this e-commerce CRO initiative, this gap will be addressed by implementing more targeted recruitment strategies, ensuring research is conducted with users we aim to convert, rather than those already convinced by Numu's value proposition.