The average Shopify store converts at around 1.4%. That means for every 100 people who visit your store, 98 or 99 leave without buying. Some of that is expected — not everyone who visits is ready to buy. But a significant chunk of those lost conversions are fixable, and the fixes are usually not complicated.
We audit Shopify stores regularly. The same five problems come up almost every time. Here's what they are and how to fix them.
Set up Google Analytics 4 and Shopify's built-in analytics before making any changes. You need a baseline so you can actually measure whether the changes you make are working.
The average cart abandonment rate is 70%. That means 7 out of 10 people who add something to your cart don't complete the purchase. Abandoned cart emails recover a meaningful percentage of these — typically 5–15% of abandoned carts become orders when followed up properly.
Shopify has abandoned cart recovery built in. Go to Settings → Notifications and set up an automated email to send 1 hour, 24 hours, and 72 hours after abandonment. Each email should have a different angle — the first is a simple reminder, the second addresses potential objections, the third might include a small incentive.
Most Shopify product descriptions do one of two things: they're either too short ("Blue shirt. 100% cotton. Available in S, M, L") or they're stuffed with specification copy that reads like a manufacturer's datasheet. Neither converts well.
A converting product description answers the question your buyer is actually asking: "Is this right for me?" It describes who the product is for, what problem it solves, and what the experience of using it is like — before getting into specs. Write for the customer, not for the search engine. The SEO will follow naturally.
Also: structure matters. Use short paragraphs and bullet points. Break up walls of text. Add a "Who this is for" section. Make it scannable — most customers are reading on mobile.
Reviews and testimonials increase conversion rate — this is one of the most well-documented findings in e-commerce. But where you put them matters as much as having them at all.
Most stores put reviews at the bottom of the product page, below the fold, where most customers never scroll. The highest-impact place for social proof is directly below the product title and price — the part of the page that almost everyone sees. A rating, the number of reviews, and a brief pull quote from your best review should all be visible without scrolling.
If you're using a review app like Judge.me or Okendo, make sure the widget is positioned correctly and loading fast. A slow review widget can hurt page speed and actually reduce conversions.
Checkout friction is anything that slows down or complicates the process of paying. Every extra click, every required field, every unexpected cost is a potential dropout point.
- Enable Shop Pay, Apple Pay, and Google Pay — one-click checkout options reduce checkout time significantly
- Remove required account creation. Let customers check out as guests and offer account creation after purchase
- Show shipping costs early. Unexpected shipping costs at checkout are the number one reason for cart abandonment
- Reduce the number of form fields to the absolute minimum required
- Show trust signals at checkout — SSL badge, return policy, secure payment icons
This is the change that store owners resist most because it costs money and effort. But poor product photography is one of the most consistent conversion killers we see.
Online shoppers can't touch your products. Photography is the only way they can assess quality, scale, and whether it's right for them. A single flat-lay image against a white background is not enough — especially for fashion, home goods, or anything where texture, scale, or fit matters.
The minimum standard: multiple angles, at least one lifestyle image showing the product in use, and a size reference where relevant. For fashion, this means on-model photography — it's not optional if you want competitive conversion rates.
The right order to implement these changes
If you can only do one thing today: set up abandoned cart emails. It's built into Shopify, it takes 20 minutes, and it recovers revenue that you're currently losing every day.
After that: fix your product descriptions for your three best-selling products, move your reviews above the fold, enable one-click payment options, and then invest in photography when budget allows.
Each of these changes moves conversion rate incrementally. A 0.5% improvement in conversion rate on a store doing £20,000/month in revenue is an extra £10,000/year. Small changes compound into significant results.