During Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM), shoppers are buying gifts, stocking up, and making decisions fast. A cart that suggests the right add-on and makes checkout quick converts more purchasing intent into revenue.
On September 23rd, Barrel's Director of Strategy Val Geisler and Design Director Christine Carforo hosted a live user experience (UX) and conversion rate optimization (CRO) audit of Momofuku's mobile site, selected from 82 brand submissions. Momofuku's cart already does several things well. Val and Christine found ways to push it further, and those recommendations apply to almost any consumer packaged goods (CPG) brand heading into the holidays. To see the full walkthrough, download the free recording of the live audit.
Holiday shoppers arrive with higher intent and less patience. Many are buying for several people at once, which creates natural openings to add one more item. They're also more likely to abandon a cart that asks them to do extra work.
"I just want to check out," Christine said while reviewing Momofuku's mini cart, the slide-out cart drawer that appears when a shopper adds a product. "I don't want to go through the whole checkout experience." The recommendations below give shoppers reasons to add more and fewer reasons to leave.
The path to a bigger cart starts before the cart. On Momofuku's product listing page (PLP), each product card has a "Shop Now" link that looks like a quick add but opens the product detail page (PDP). For simple products like sauces, Val recommended testing a true quick-add button. "They don't have to do extra clicks to get something in their cart," she said.
Momofuku's PLP also makes bundle savings clear on each product card, which is worth copying. When shoppers can see the value of a bundle before they click, larger orders feel like the obvious choice.
Momofuku's mini cart includes a free shipping bar that shows shoppers how close they are to the threshold. Christine recommended A/B testing a tiered version. In an A/B test, you show two versions to different shoppers to see which performs better. The first tier earns free shipping, and a second tier adds a free gift, like a tote bag or one of Momofuku's wooden spoons.
"I think people love free gifts, and that's always a nice way, especially around the holidays, to encourage someone to add more product to their cart," Christine said. She admitted she's done it herself. "I have many free gifts from brands that are really cool. And it's just a memorable experience as a customer with the brand."
Choose a gift that's on-brand and useful. A branded item that shoppers use at home keeps your brand in their kitchen or bathroom long after the holidays.
Momofuku's mini cart doesn't include express payment options like Apple Pay, Shop Pay, or Google Pay. These buttons let shoppers skip the full checkout form and pay with saved details. For a quick, low-consideration purchase like a jar of Chili Crunch, that shortcut can make the difference.
Christine recommended adding express payment as a secondary button under the main checkout button. Which option to feature depends on your customers, so test and prioritize whichever performs best for your brand.
Momofuku already shows upsells in its mini cart, and Christine saw a natural fit. "All of Momofuku's products go great together," she said. "If you're buying noodles, the sauces are really great too."
She did catch one issue: the upsell section recommended a product already in the cart. Set your recommendation rules to exclude items the shopper has already added, and prioritize products that pair with what's there. For CPG brands, think in terms of routines and meals: the sauce that goes with the noodles, the cleanser that goes with the moisturizer.
Once shoppers move from Momofuku's cart to checkout, the upsells disappear. Christine recommended bringing product recommendations into checkout too. "This is another opportunity to just catch someone right before they leave," she said.
Shopify supports checkout customizations like upsells, though some placements are only available on certain plans. Confirm what your plan supports before you scope the work.
This wasn't an issue for Momofuku, but Val flagged it as a common gap. If your brand offers a discount for email signup, apply the code in the cart automatically. Otherwise, shoppers remember the discount at checkout, leave to find it in their inbox, and often don't return. "If they remember, oh, I have a discount in my email, they go to their inbox and they're gone," Val said.
"As much as I love to have the conversion metric from email, I also just want customers to check out," she said. Keeping shoppers on the page protects the sale.
"We are not our customers. That's the most important thing to remember: test everything, because ultimately what you think might work well isn't what works for your customers." — Val Geisler
The full recording covers Momofuku's mobile site from homepage to checkout. In the cart and checkout portion, you'll see:
Download the free recording of the full audit.
Use this to review your cart before peak season:
A tiered shipping bar is a progress bar in the cart that shows shoppers how close they are to one or more rewards. The first tier is usually free shipping. Additional tiers might add a free gift or sample, encouraging shoppers to add another item to reach the next reward.
Base your thresholds on your current AOV. The next tier should feel like a reachable step up for a typical order. Test different thresholds before BFCM so you go into peak season with data.
Test to find out. Apple Pay, Shop Pay, and Google Pay each perform differently depending on your customers' devices and habits. Feature the option that performs best, and keep others available.
Yes, Shopify supports checkout customizations, including upsells. Some placements are only available on certain Shopify plans, so check what yours supports before planning changes.
If you offer a discount for email signup, yes. Applying the code in the cart keeps shoppers from leaving your site to find it, which protects the sale.
Barrel is a commerce agency that works with CPG brands on strategy, design, and performance across every channel. As a Shopify Platinum Partner, we've worked with 300+ CPG brands, including McCormick & Company, Waterloo, OneSkin, and Instant Pot.
If you want our team to review your cart and checkout before your BFCM code freeze, reach out at barrelny.com/contact. To see the full live audit, download the free recording.
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