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Case Study

Checkout Redesign

Rearchitecting checkout to cut latency, boost conversion, and unlock experimentation.

Checkout Time
-50%
Conversion
+3%
Annual Revenue Impact
$16M
Product LeadershipAI StrategyRapid PrototypingExperimentation

Overview

GuitarCenter.com's checkout flow hadn't been redesigned in over a decade. Over time it had grown slow, cluttered, and full of legacy patches that made it hard to use and harder to maintain.

As eCommerce Product Manager, I led the full redesign of the checkout experience, modernizing the flow, improving performance, and validating every change through A/B testing.

The Problem

The legacy checkout required multiple page loads, redundant address entry, and sequential API calls that slowed users down.
Customers frequently dropped off between shipping and payment, and survey feedback consistently mentioned friction and lack of clarity.

Approach

  • Customer-first redesign: Partnered with UX, engineering, and analytics to identify and remove friction at every stage of the funnel.
  • Technical modernization: Consolidated service calls, improved validation logic, and reduced latency through performance optimizations.
  • A/B testing & validation: Rolled out controlled experiments to quantify improvements in speed, satisfaction, and conversion.
  • Stakeholder alignment: Facilitated design reviews and executive updates across marketing, technology, and merchandising to secure buy-in and accelerate release.

Results

  • 2x faster checkout time: Median completion time cut in half.
  • +3% conversion lift: Statistically significant result from live A/B testing.
  • $16M annualized revenue impact: Calculated from conversion lift over the test period extrapolated to a full year.
  • Higher satisfaction: Customers rated the new experience as cleaner, faster, and more trustworthy.

Impact

The redesign became one of Guitar Center's most successful digital initiatives of 2023, demonstrating the value of user-centered design, data-driven experimentation, and deep cross-functional collaboration.

Strengths & Opportunities

Strengths

  • Validated measurable business impact through statistically significant A/B testing
  • Unified cross-functional collaboration between UX, engineering, and analytics
  • Improved customer satisfaction and reduced checkout friction

Opportunities

  • Automate experiment setup and data collection for faster iteration
  • Introduce personalized financing and shipping recommendations
  • Explore predictive error handling to further streamline the experience

Role: eCommerce Product Manager
Scope: Checkout Flow Redesign - GuitarCenter.com
Year: 2023