How we helped Rough Trade improve performance through site speed optimisation
Rough Trade partnered with Fabric to analyse and optimise the performance of their ecommerce website as part of a wider CRO programme. By identifying structural issues within the homepage architecture and reducing unnecessary page weight, we significantly improved key performance metrics and overall site responsiveness.
CRO Services, Site Speed
Shopify
The Challenge
Rough Trade operates a Shopify-based ecommerce platform, using Shopify for our product catalogue and data while employing a custom front end built in Prismic for user browsing and basket functionality.
Over time, functionality originally intended to be used sparingly had been expanded significantly, leading to performance issues on the homepage.
When Fabric began analysing the site, the homepage was loading slowly, with users waiting up to 3.5 seconds before any content appeared on the page. Even once loading began, it took an additional two to three seconds for the main hero image to render. This delay risked frustrating users and increasing bounce rates, particularly for mobile visitors.
Given the direct relationship between site speed and conversion rate, improving performance became a key priority within the wider CRO programme.
The Strategy
Fabric applied its structured site performance audit framework to identify the root causes of the slowdown.
We began by analysing the homepage (typically the primary entry point for site traffic) using multiple performance measurement tools including WebPageTest, Google Lighthouse and SpeedCurve. This enabled us to build a comprehensive view of the site's current performance and identify key bottlenecks.
Alongside this analysis, we benchmarked Rough Trade against direct competitors, creating monitoring profiles within SpeedCurve to track performance improvements over time and compare performance against industry peers.
Finally, we conducted a detailed technical review of how the page was constructed and rendered, analysing scripts, assets and page components to identify unnecessary load and opportunities to optimise how content was delivered to the browser.
The Results
Fabric identified 12 key areas for improvement, ranging from common optimisations such as image compression and modern formats like WebP, through to more advanced technical improvements including script loading behaviour and render-blocking resources.
The most significant issue identified was the overall size of the homepage and the number of merchandising components being loaded.
At the time of analysis, the homepage contained 21 separate product carousels, each loading multiple images and associated product data. While only a portion of these images were initially visible to users, the structure of the page meant that over 100 images were being loaded on the homepage alone, alongside large volumes of associated product data.
This resulted in an exceptionally large HTML payload of 7.42MB - which the browser needed to download, parse and execute before rendering any visual content.
Working closely with the Rough Trade development team, we recommended reducing the number of carousels on the homepage to better align with the original design intent. Following discussions with the merchandising team, the number of carousels was reduced from 21 to 9, significantly lowering the overall page weight.
The impact was immediate:
- HTML size reduced from 7.42MB to 3.1MB
- Time to First Byte reduced from 3.6s to 1.4s (-59%)
- Start Render improved from 4.6s to 2.6s (-43%)
- First Contentful Paint improved from 4.8s to 2.8s (-41%)
These improvements dramatically increased the responsiveness of the homepage, particularly on mobile devices where performance constraints are more pronounced.
Fabric continues to work closely with Rough Trade to identify further optimisation opportunities across the site as part of the ongoing CRO programme.
Don't take our word for it, take theirs!
“Fabric combined GA4 best practice with a deep understanding of our unique setup.Their technical expertise gave our teams confidence in the data — and clarity across the business.They don’t just implement; they listen, adapt, and deliver.”
“We work with some of the biggest sports organisations in the world, so having absolute confidence in our data is critical. Fabric came in and delivered a full GA4 solution that met the standards we needed, while working closely with my team to make sure everything was done properly.
"Fabric have run multiple A/B and MVT tests across the site, uncovered some unexpected results, and been able to test bigger changes before committing to development. They also reviewed our site speed and recommended simple fixes — one of which reduced load time by 30%. Fabric have been brilliant at prioritisation, listening to what we need, and helping us move faster while making smarter decisions.”
