Giesswein is a €100M+ annual revenue premium wool shoe brand that experienced a significant revenue drop after the post-COVID e-commerce correction. With no clear diagnosis for the decline, DRIP conducted a Category Entry Point analysis that revealed 'Initial Quality Perception' was the top purchase driver. Over three years of testing, we generated €12.2M in additional revenue — including a single test that added €232,500/month.
The Brand
Giesswein is an Austrian premium footwear brand known for its innovative use of Merino wool in shoe construction. With over €100M in annual revenue, the brand has a strong DTC presence across European markets, selling directly through their own online shop.
The brand's unique selling proposition — sustainable, high-quality wool shoes that combine comfort with eco-consciousness — resonated strongly during the COVID e-commerce boom. But when the post-COVID correction hit, Giesswein experienced a meaningful revenue decline with no clear understanding of why.
The Challenge
After the post-COVID e-commerce normalization, Giesswein's online revenue dropped significantly. The team didn't have a clear diagnosis: Was it a market shift? A product issue? A site experience problem? Without data-driven insights, they couldn't determine what had changed or how to fix it.
The brand was making decisions based on internal assumptions about what customers valued, but those assumptions hadn't been validated against actual customer behavior. The gap between what Giesswein thought customers cared about and what actually drove purchase decisions was unknown — and potentially large.
The Approach
We began with a Category Entry Point (CEP) analysis — a deep research methodology that maps the specific situations, needs, and motivations that bring customers to the brand. This revealed a critical insight: 'Initial Quality Perception' was the number one purchase driver for Giesswein customers.
Customers weren't primarily buying for sustainability or eco-consciousness (which Giesswein had been emphasizing). They were buying because they perceived Giesswein shoes as premium quality. The Merino wool wasn't an eco-story — it was a quality-and-comfort story.
Armed with this insight, we designed a testing program that doubled down on showcasing quality throughout the customer journey. Every test hypothesis tied back to the core driver: making the quality of Giesswein products immediately visible and tangible in the digital experience.
Key Tests & Results
Value Perception Badge on PDP
Added a prominent '100% Merino Wolle' badge directly on product detail pages. Rather than burying the material information in product descriptions, we made it immediately visible as a quality indicator — not an eco indicator. The badge leveraged the 'Initial Quality Perception' driver identified in the CEP analysis.
Material & Maintenance Highlight
Created a dedicated section on product pages highlighting material properties and care instructions. This positioned Giesswein's wool as a premium, long-lasting material — reinforcing quality perception and addressing durability concerns that prevent purchase.
Quick Add-to-Cart on PLP
Added an 'In den Warenkorb' (Add to Cart) button directly beneath each product tile on the product listing page, enabling one-click add without visiting the product detail page. This leveraged cognitive ease, decision simplification, and action bias — reducing friction between browsing and buying by eliminating an entire page load from the purchase path.
Overall Impact
Over three years, the optimization program generated €12.2M in additional revenue for Giesswein — a 25.3x ROI on the engagement.
The biggest single impact came from the Value Perception badge test, which alone added €232,500 per month in additional revenue. This single test demonstrates how finding the right psychological driver and amplifying it can have outsized impact.
Beyond the revenue numbers, the CEP analysis fundamentally shifted Giesswein's understanding of their own brand positioning. The insight that quality perception — not sustainability — was the primary purchase driver informed not just CRO but broader marketing and positioning decisions.
The Takeaway
The Giesswein case illustrates a common and costly mistake: brands often optimize for what they think customers care about, not what actually drives purchase decisions. Giesswein was emphasizing sustainability when customers were buying for quality. That misalignment meant the site was underselling its strongest value proposition.
The €232,500/month badge test is a perfect example of how small, specific changes grounded in real psychological research can have enormous impact. It wasn't a redesign. It wasn't a new feature. It was a badge — positioned correctly because the research told us exactly what mattered.
For premium brands experiencing post-COVID corrections: the fix often isn't to discount or diversify. It's to understand — with data — what your customers actually value, and make that value impossible to miss.
Working with DRIP ensures a continuous, data-driven approach to online shop development. Their optimization helps us focus on real value, combining internal and external ideas. As a German-speaking agency, they understand our audience better, and we appreciate their flexibility, collaboration, and quick response times.
Head of E-Commerce, Giesswein
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