TLDR
- Who: 96North, a 100% soy wax candle brand selling two SKU lines on Amazon US and UK
- What changed: NUOPTIMA cleaned up PPC, rewrote listings, raised prices strategically, and scaled ad spend across broad and longtail keywords
- The number: Revenue grew 988% from May to September, from $4,752 to $129,501 per month
988%
Sales increase (May to September)
20.2%
Conversion rate (up from 15.4%)
89%
Review count increase (669 to 1,268)
About 96North
96North launched on Amazon in August 2020, carving out a niche with all-natural soy wax candles. Their two product lines (luxury and classic) contain no paraffin, which matters to buyers: paraffin is a petroleum by-product that emits black soot when it burns. Soy burns cooler, lasts longer, is fully biodegradable, and releases more scent from a larger melt pool.
The brand had real product-market fit. What it lacked was a listing and ad strategy that matched.
The Challenge
When 96North came to NUOPTIMA, they were nearly out of stock and had no room to sell more units right away. PPC spending was inefficient, listings were not converting, the pricing structure left margin and psychological triggers on the table, and review collection was ad hoc. The opportunity was clear: fix the fundamentals, then scale hard once inventory was back.
The plan had four immediate priorities:
- Clean up PPC campaigns so every dollar went to proven placements
- Rewrite titles, bullets, and A+ content to convert browsers into buyers
- Optimize pricing to lift perceived value without crushing margin
- Build a repeatable review collection process
Once the listing and ad account were solid, the goal was to push monthly sales past $100,000. Higher sales volume would also compound organically: more units sold means more reviews, better keyword rankings, and lower total advertising cost of sales (TACOS) over time.
What We Did
Improving CTRs by 59%
2.2%
CTR before
3.5%
CTR after
59%
CTR increase
Click-through rate on Amazon search depends on four main signals: the lead image, the title, the review count and rating, and the pricing structure. We audited all four and rebuilt them.
- First image creative
- Title
- Number of reviews and rating
- Pricing and psychological offer
Rewriting Titles
Product titles carry the biggest weight on click-through rate. A good title communicates the features buyers care about and positions the product against competitors. The original 96North title did neither.
Before: 96NORTH Home Sweet Home Candle | Large 3 Wick | New Home Housewarming Candle | New Home Gifts for Home | 100% Soy Wax
That title buried the scent, skipped the burn time, and made no mention of the all-natural story. We restructured it: pushed the scent name to the front, called out 3 wick (the attribute tied to the market leader), added 50-hour burn time, and closed with the "all natural" qualifier that differentiates 96North from paraffin alternatives.
After: 96NORTH Fresh Linen & Soft Amber Candle | Large 3 Wick Jar Candle | 12 Oz Up to 50 Hours Burning Time | 100% All Natural Soy Wax | Relaxing Aromatherapy Candle | Housewarming Gift for Women and Men
Pricing Optimizations
After benchmarking competitor ASINs, we raised the price from $22.99 to $24.99, an 8.6% increase. At that higher base, we introduced tiered coupon codes (10% off for buying 2 or more, 5% off for buying 2) without meaningfully compressing margin. When 96North reverts to the original price during high-stock periods, they gain an automatic "SAVE 8%" badge that further lifts on-page conversion.
Review Collection
669
Total reviews before
1,268
Total reviews after
89%
Review count increase
Across both the Luxury and Classic collections, total reviews grew from 669 to 1,268 in 6 months. We put best-in-class review request tools in place to systematically follow up with every buyer, making review collection a predictable output of volume rather than a manual effort.
A+ Content and Bullets
15.4%
CVR before (January)
20.2%
CVR after (June)
31%
CVR increase
Title and pricing improvements drove most of the conversion rate lift, supported by a full refresh of the listing bullets and A+ content. The CVR moved from 15.4% in January to 20.2% by June, a 31% improvement that directly lowered ACOS across all PPC campaigns.
PPC Optimization
988%
PPC sales increase
1,173%
Overall sales increase
13.1%
TACOS decrease
From May to September, we ran structured tests across sponsored display, product, and brand campaigns to find keywords and ad units where we could scale spend and grow revenue without inflating TACOS.
Our process: test conservatively first to identify what works, then increase spend on winners and cut losers. Two campaigns stand out:
- Broad candle keywords: "candle" (148,152 searches/month) and "candles" (409,824 searches/month) are hypercompetitive, but our tests showed positive signals. We scaled, and from August to September these two keywords alone generated $6,500.49 in additional revenue at a 27.25% ACOS. Total product volume jumped 101% from July to August ($47,415 to $95,585).
- Longtail candle keywords: Terms like "vanilla candle," "vanilla scented candle," and "vanilla soy candle" generated $4,714 in revenue from $1,467 in spend, a 31.13% ACOS.
The listing and PPC account have a compounding relationship. Higher CVR means the same ad spend produces more sales, which improves organic keyword ranking, which grows organic revenue. TACOS dropped from 18.53% in May to 16% in September despite significantly higher ad spend, exactly because organic sales grew alongside paid.
UK Expansion
As part of the scaling strategy, we entered the UK marketplace in June. We registered a local trademark, arranged inventory at a UK FBA warehouse via a 3PL, and opened listings on the UK marketplace. A key structural advantage: Amazon carries US reviews across to the UK marketplace, so 96North launched in the UK with 600+ existing reviews and immediately ranked as one of the leading soy candle brands, before spending a single pound on PPC.
In the first 2 months on the UK marketplace:
- £10,273 in revenue
- PPC running at 32% ACOS
Results
From May to September, revenue scaled from $4,752 to $129,501 per month, a 988% increase. Below is how it played out month by month.
- June (US): sales doubled year over year.
- July: normally one of the harder Amazon months, yet monthly sales beat the prior year's Q4 total. Sales were nearly triple the prior July.
- August and September: the trend continued, with both months coming in at roughly 3x the prior year's equivalent.
TACOS fell from 18.53% to 16% between May and September, even as ad spend grew substantially, because organic positions improved across new and existing keywords as conversion rates and sales volume rose.
Key takeaways
- On Amazon, listing quality is a prerequisite for ad performance. Fixing CVR first (15.4% to 20.2%) meant every subsequent dollar of PPC spend went further. If the page doesn't convert, scaling ad spend just burns budget. This holds whether you are running sponsored products or broader paid search campaigns on other channels.
- Pricing and social proof compound each other. Raising the price to $24.99, adding a coupon mechanic, and growing reviews from 669 to 1,268 all happened in parallel, and each one made the others work harder. Higher prices supported a coupon that created urgency; more reviews reinforced the perceived value of the higher price.
- Geographic expansion can be nearly free when you have review equity. 96North entered the UK with hundreds of existing reviews on day one. Brands that build strong review counts on one marketplace can replicate that credibility into new territories at a fraction of the normal cost, a principle that applies to any channel where off-page authority transfers.
If you want to see results like these for your eCommerce brand, book a call with NUOPTIMA to talk through what is possible.