Primal Kitchen's Stunning DTC Facelift: A Masterclass in Performance

Project Overview 

Primal Kitchen, known for clean-label sauces, dips, and supplements, required a website redesign to align with their premium and healthy image. 

The existing site was outdated, inaccessible, and inflexible, making it difficult to scale or manage content. 

The project focused on modernizing the design, improving performance, and enhancing navigation, all within a tight 2.5-month timeline for the development process.

Strategy and Approach

Design

The redesign introduced a modern aesthetic with updated colors, playful elements, and improved navigation. A new bundle builder, lifestyle imagery and a conversion-focused layout enhanced the user experience while maintaining brand consistency.

Development

A scalable design system was implemented, translating design components into reusable code for flexibility and efficiency. Key site elements, like the cart drawer and navigation, were optimized, and only essential apps were migrated to streamline performance.

CRO

The redesign integrated conversion-focused practices, improving product discovery, supporting social proof, and enhancing sales performance. Collaboration across teams ensured the site was user-friendly and optimized for conversions.

Challenges

The tight 10-week development timeline required prioritization and streamlining workflows. 

Balancing a modernized design with brand familiarity and ensuring accessibility compliance were key challenges. 

Additionally, the cart drawer and bundle builder required significant updates to enhance functionality.

Results and Outcome

The redesigned Primal Kitchen website delivered significant performance and business improvements. 

On desktop, performance scores rose from 65 to 80, accessibility improved from 91 to a perfect 100, and SEO increased from 77 to 92. 

Mobile performance improved from 25 to 34, with SEO rising from 77 to 85. 

The redesign also drove key business metrics: the purchase conversion rate increased by 6%, purchase revenue grew by 33%, and average purchase revenue per active user rose by 40%. 

Additionally, first-time purchases increased by 16%, and engaged sessions grew by 43%. These enhancements provided a modern, high-performing platform aligned with the brand’s goals.

Takeaways & Learnings

Having the right group who understand how to balance aesthetics with principles of performance optimization is key. 

This project underscored the importance of balancing brand modernization with familiarity to maintain customer trust. 

A scalable design system proved invaluable for enabling client autonomy while ensuring brand consistency. 

Close collaboration and prioritization were essential to successfully delivering a high-performing, conversion-focused website within a tight deadline.