A 20% off popup is the least interesting thing about Distil.

​Distil builds genuinely well-made EDC gear — MagLock belts, RFID wallets, sunglasses that snap to your shirt — the kind of stuff Gear Patrol and Esquire keep writing about.

But the second someone lands on the site, they get hit with a popup that could belong to any wallet brand on the internet.

That's a shame, because Distil already has the raw material for a popup people actually want to sign up for.

Instead of leading with a number, they could be leading with the thing that makes them different: a system of phone, wallet, keys, and sunglasses that actually work together.

Well, that's exactly what we're getting into today.

• The exact score Distil's popup landed after running it through my 86-point audit
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• The specific categories quietly costing them subscribers
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• The fixed popup copy that leads with what actually makes Distil different

Let's get into it.

After running their popup through my free 15-Minute Popup Audit Kit, it scored 47/86 points across all 7 categories.

That's a 55% — and 4 of those categories account for most of the lost points.

Those are the ones worth fixing first.

OK, let's break down what's broken and how to fix it.

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What Distil gets right

• The close button is impossible to miss. A high-contrast circle on desktop and a clean X on mobile — nobody feels trapped by this popup.
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• "Unlock Offer" pulls its weight. Action-oriented, high-contrast, easy to tap on both devices.
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• The lifestyle photo actually looks like Distil. A guy in a ballcap on a trail, MagLock belt in hand — authentic, not stock.

​Keychron's popup had this same split — a great-looking popup let down by an offer that didn't match the buyer."

These are real strengths. The problems below aren't about starting over — they're about closing the gap.

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Problem 1: The headline discount competes with a bigger one already on the page

Score: 5/15 points

Distil's popup asks for an email in exchange for "up to 20% off," which is a reasonable ask on its own.

The trouble is the sitewide banner sitting right above it already promises up to 70% off Back-to-School favorites.

A visitor reads 70% before they finish reading the popup's 20%, and the smaller number instantly looks like the consolation prize.

I ran into the same tug-of-war on Satechi's popup a few weeks back — a genuinely premium brand undercutting itself with a straight percentage-off headline."

Here's how I'd fix it

Pull the discount number out of the popup entirely and let the sitewide banner own that message on its own.

Free up the popup to sell something the banner can't — expertise, a system, a reason to trust the brand — and use the Out-The-Door System as that hook.

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Problem 2: The popup fires before anyone's earned a reason to trust it

Score: 5/12 points

Five seconds after landing, a visitor hasn't scrolled past the hero image, hasn't seen the MagLock belt snap shut, hasn't noticed the leather.

Distil sells product quality first — its whole "Materials Matter" page exists to make that case — but the popup shows up before any of that gets a chance to land.

It's the same issue I found with OWC's popup — timing that undercuts a trustworthy brand before it gets a chance to prove it.

Here's how I'd fix it

Delay the popup until a visitor has scrolled past at least one full section, clicked onto a specific product page, or hits 60 seconds on the home page.

These signals means they've actually looked at something before being asked for an email address.

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Problem 3: The mobile email field has a visible typo (rough for a brand built on craftsmanship)

Score: 6/15 points

On desktop, this popup does most things right — solid CTA, easy to close. On mobile, the email field placeholder reads "Email Addresss," three s's and all.

Oof.

For a brand that sells itself on stitching quality and material choice, a typo on the one screen most visitors will actually see is a bad look.

If you want the fuller list of mobile-specific fixes, I laid out 3 mobile design rules most popups break a couple weeks back — worth a look while you're in there.

Here's how I'd fix it

Fix the typo — a five-minute change.

While in there, check every other mobile popup field for the same kind of copy-paste error.

One typo rarely travels alone.

Problem 4: The copy hedges instead of committing (vague words do nothing for someone on the fence)

Score: 5/12 points

"Up to 20% off" and "life hacks delivered to your inbox" are both hedges.

"Up to" means most subscribers won't see the full 20%, and "life hacks" never says what kind, on what topic, from whom.

​MOFT had the same gap — a design-forward brand whose popup copy read like it was written for anyone, not their actual buyer.

Here's how I'd fix it

Replace "life hacks" with something concrete tied to the Out-The-Door System, like "a 5-day course on building your own EDC kit."

Specifics do more selling than any adjective could.

Here's my fixed popup

Fixed headline: Build the perfect out-the-door EDC kit

Fixed offer: The Out-The-Door System walks you through picking the right wallet, belt, keys, and sunglasses for your daily carry — no guesswork, no bulk. (Even if you've already tried a slimmer wallet on its own.)

Fixed CTA button: Start the free course

Here's the before and after

A popup that leads with a system instead of a number gives Distil's visitors a reason to remember the brand, not just the discount.

Three things to take from this

Whatever brand you're running, these hold up:

1. Your popup shouldn't compete with your own banner. If a bigger discount already exists somewhere on the page, a second, smaller one just looks weak.
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2. Timing is trust. A popup that fires before a visitor's looked at anything reads as desperate, not helpful.
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3. Vague words do the opposite of selling. "Up to" and "life hacks" tell a visitor nothing — specifics are what get the click.

Distil has the products and the story to earn a subscriber without discounting anything.

Lead with expertise, not 20% off.

Until next time, see ya!

Gannon

P.S. If you want your own popup scored the same way, run it through my free 15-Minute Popup Audit Kit — it takes about 15 minutes and tells you exactly where the points are going.