Carl Weische: The CRO Playbook Behind AG1, Huel & Vessi (Fix AOV First)

If your ROAS or MER tanks the moment you push more spend through, this episode is for you.Carl Weische is the founder of Accelerated Agency and runs CRO for brands like AG1, Huel, Vessi, The Oodie, and 200+ more 8, 9, and 10 figure DTC companies. He joins Andrej on Ecom Growth Insider to break down the exact system he uses to turn CRO into a profit lever from the ad click all the way to the thank-you page.If your return on ad spend is dropping every time you try to scale, Carl's decision tree is simple:Fix AOV first.Fix conversion rate second.Add presell pages only when you hit a true glass ceiling.In this episode:- The 3-tier bundle SOP Carl uses to lift AOV 15 to 25%- Why revenue per user is the only CRO metric that matters, and the AOV vs conversion rate trap most founders fall into- When presell and advertorial pages actually pay off (and when they waste ad budget)- The first things Carl audits on any store before he touches a test- The four real reasons customers abandon checkout- How to raise perceived value without killing margin through discounts- Why AI is about to widen the gap between elite and average marketers- Realistic testing cadence at scale: 5 to 30+ tests per month- Carl's sample size rule: 20,000 users and 1,000 orders per variation before you call a winner- The revenue threshold where it makes sense to move CRO in-house (around $50M to $100M a year)- Rapid fire: Carl's most underrated CRO lever, most overrated tactic, and the one mistake he sees smart founders makeChapters:00:00 Why your ROAS dies when you scale00:43 The real job of CRO in 202605:04 Carl's decision tree when ROAS or MER drops06:08 Fix AOV first: the 3-tier bundle SOP07:45 Fix conversion rate: images and copy that resonate08:33 Layering in presell and advertorial pages11:00 When presell pages actually make sense15:51 Revenue per user: the real CRO north star20:19 The first things Carl audits on any store23:00 Why customers abandon the checkout26:07 How to raise perceived value without discounts29:00 Why AI is splitting great marketers from average ones35:00 When a brand is actually ready for serious CRO37:09 Testing cadence at scale: 5 to 30+ tests per month38:12 The sample size rule: 20k users + 1k orders per variant43:11 When to build a CRO team in-house46:15 Rapid fire: underrated, overrated, biggest mistake48:11 Where to find CarlConnect with Carl:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@carlweischeAccelerated Agency: https://acceleratedagency.comLinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/carl-weische-2488a5198Ecom Growth Insider is the podcast for e-commerce founders who want to scale profitably. Subscribe for weekly episodes on paid media, CRO, offer strategy, and operating systems that actually move the needle.More episodes and newsletter: https://ecomgrowthinsider.comWork with HoloGrowth: https://hologrowth.com