10 Common Shopify Mistakes

Are these Shopify mistakes costing your business money?

Mistakes are an inevitable part of the learning process, but mistakes cost money in business. This is particularly true for eCommerce, where design oversights and functionality glitches can profoundly affect the success of an online store.

Fortunately, if you’re building a Shopify store for the first time, you’re not journeying into uncharted territory – countless entrepreneurs have navigated this path already and encountered their fair share of obstacles.

That’s why we’ve collated this list of 10 common Shopify mistakes. Our aim? To equip you with the insights you need to avoid making any business-harming blunders.

10 common mistakes that Shopify store owners should avoid

1. Non-responsive design

Non-responsive web design is at the top of our list of common Shopify mistakes because it’s perhaps the biggest UX mistake an online business could ever make. 

Gone are the days when everyone browsed the internet whilst sitting at a desk; the majority of customers now use their smartphones or tablets to make purchases. Since responsive websites adapt to different screen sizes, they function correctly and completely no matter the size of the device being used to view them. And that’s exactly why responsive web design is so important!

Non-responsive design makes for a poor user experience, which could tarnish your business’s reputation and lead to loss of customers and revenue. Beyond user experience, non-responsive design can also be detrimental to your Google ranking, as mobile friendliness is a major ranking factor. Responsive design actually improves your store’s visibility in search results!

So, when selecting a theme for your Shopify store, ensure it’s responsive. Test it on multiple devices to confirm everything looks and works as it should. Alternatively, if you have very specific requirements, you can get a custom responsive design built by a Shopify web design agency.

Not sure if your eCommerce store is mobile-friendly? Try Google’s mobile-friendly test. This tool can give you clear insight into how well your website performs on mobile devices.  

2. Ineffective branding

Another common mistake Shopify store owners make is underestimating the power of effective branding in their store’s design. 

Your business’s brand identity should feature at the forefront of your eCommerce store’s design and layout. Branding is more than just a logo or a tagline; your brand identity sets your business apart from its competitors. Effective branding helps your business to stand out, attracts and engages customers, and boosts brand awareness, trust, and customer loyalty.

Failing to communicate your brand identity effectively makes building awareness and trust difficult, ultimately slowing down business growth and sales.

If you need help with your brand identity, why not partner with a branding design agency to create something unique and robust that will set you apart from competitors and resonate with your target audience?

Once your identity has been developed, make sure it is consistently communicated throughout your Shopify store, to engage and build connections with customers.

If your store’s branding is lacking, our team at Create8 can help. We’ve helped hundreds of businesses to establish a unique identity, helping them to connect more deeply with their audience and foster growth. Contact us to learn more about our branding services and how we can help elevate your Shopify store!

3. Poor-quality product photography

The next issue on our list is neglecting the importance of high-quality photography. Your product photography plays a key part in persuading customers to press that ‘buy’ button. The photographs should be clear and showcase each product from multiple angles. They should be visually appealing and resonate with your target audience to foster trust and boost sales appeal.

If possible, we recommend that you hire the expertise of a professional product photographer. A skilled photographer will take the time to get to know your brand, and will style your product imagery to reflect your brand’s identity so that the images will resonate with your target audience. If a professional photographer is out of your budget, you could invest in a lightbox instead. This tool can improve your photographs by enhancing the lighting, clarity and consistency of your images – for a professional appearance at a more affordable price!

4. Poorly written text content

The text content on your Shopify store provides your audience with important information about your business and products. Therefore, it’s essential that it’s engaging, compelling, persuasive, and resonates with your audience. The objective? To motivate potential buyers towards specific actions, such as purchasing from you or reaching out for more information.

Substandard website content can project an unprofessional image, damage your business’s reputation, and lose visitors’ trust. High-quality text content, on the other hand, appears more trustworthy and also ranks better with search engines like Google, improving your eCommerce store’s visibility in search results!

Effective website content should be free from spelling and grammatical errors and embody your brand voice. The language should be clear, concise, persuasive, and easily digestible – broken into manageable sections that users can readily scan to find the necessary information.

Enlisting a professional content writing service or freelance copywriter can significantly enhance your website content. An expert can optimise your text content to engage visitors, cultivate trust, and encourage purchases.

Several useful tools are available to help improve the quality of your eCommerce store’s text content. These include Grammarly for grammar and spelling checks, Hemingway Editor for readability and sentence structure, and Readability Test Tool for assessing the overall readability of your content.

5. Default checkout process

Did you know that Shopify allows businesses to tailor their store checkout to unique business requirements? In fact, failure to do so can result in a checkout process that lacks consistency with the rest of your website, which can harm your store’s credibility, undermine customer trust, increase cart abandonment rates, and reduce conversion!

The elements of your checkout that can be customised range from adding your store’s logo to changing the colours and fonts. These customisations ensure that your checkout process aligns seamlessly with the overall design of your website. To view the customisation options, navigate to Shopify Settings, select Checkout, and then choose Customise Checkout. 

Additionally, integrating Shopify apps can further customise the checkout process, and encourage higher conversion rates! There are several useful apps to consider, such as Instant Checkout – Buy button (which offers a faster checkout process), and ReConvert Upsell and Cross Sell (which allows you to add one-click upsells and discounted upsells to increase average order value).

6. Limited payment methods

Another common mistake for Shopify store owners is to support a limited number of payment methods. A lack of diversity in payment options can cause potential customers to abandon their cart at the checkout page. It’s best to offer a broad range of payment methods like Stripe, PayPal, and Amazon Pay to encourage more customers to complete their purchases and reduce cart abandonment rates.

Remember, customers of different demographics and from different countries often have distinct preferences when it comes to payment methods. Understanding your target audience and researching their preferred payment methods can help you to cater to their needs.

Adding more payment methods in Shopify is a straightforward process. Navigate to your Shopify admin, go to Settings, and then select Payments. From here, you can search for and activate various payment methods.

By expanding the range of available payment methods, you will cater to a broader audience and simplify the checkout process for your customers, boosting your sales and overall business success.

7. Unclear shipping costs and timelines

Before they commit to buying, customers want to know how long it will take to receive their order and how much it will cost them. If this information isn’t quickly and easily accessible, customers can become frustrated and abandon the purchase. Being transparent and up-front about delivery times and costs can foster trust, encourage potential customers to proceed through the sales funnel, and ultimately boost conversion rates. This transparency can also save you time and hassle in the long run by reducing the number of customer queries, returns and refunds you receive.

To address this mistake, consider creating a comprehensive shipping policy. Ensure that your shipping costs and times are displayed prominently throughout your website, including on the checkout page. Transparency in shipping is not just about good customer service; it’s a strategic business move to enhance the user experience and reduce confusion, which directly impacts conversion rates and customer satisfaction.

8. No Shopify apps

Shopify apps can enhance your store’s features and functionalities to improve the user experience and overall website performance. Neglecting to take advantage of these apps may place your business at a competitive disadvantage, as it can limit your store’s functionality and efficiency. This, in turn, can lead to reduced sales opportunities and a poor customer experience.

Browse the Shopify app store to discover thousands of off-the-shelf Shopify resources that will enhance your eCommerce experience. From marketing tools and inventory management to subscriptions and product bundles, these apps can help enhance various aspects of your operations and help you to run your business more effectively.

If you can’t find what you’re looking for in the app store, don’t worry. Our team of developers can create a custom Shopify app tailored to meet your business’s unique requirements. 

9. Slow page load speeds

According to Google, the probability of bounce increases by 32% when page load time goes from 1 second to 3 seconds. If your pages are slow to load, you risk experiencing higher bounce rates and losing potential customers to quicker, more efficient competitor sites.

Slow page load speeds detract from the user experience and can impact your Shopify store’s visibility in search engine results. In an era where instant gratification is the norm, ensuring your Shopify store loads quickly and seamlessly is essential.

Fortunately, there are tools that can help you assess and improve your page load speeds. Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool can provide insights into how long different pages on your website load on mobile and desktop devices. It also offers actionable recommendations on how to improve your load speeds.

Remember, in the fast-paced world of eCommerce, time is of the essence. Don’t let slow-loading pages be the reason why potential customers leave your store without making a purchase.

10. No Google Analytics

The last mistake on our list is failing to connect Google Analytics with your Shopify store. Incorporating Google Analytics into your strategy is a game-changer! The tool provides invaluable insights and data about your store’s performance, site traffic, user demographics, and user behaviour – plus, it’s free!

Optimising your store for conversions is not a one-off task; it’s an ongoing process of continual refinement. Google Analytics is crucial to this process, allowing you to make informed, data-driven decisions.

If you fail to set up Google Analytics, you miss out on a wealth of information about how your store is performing. Essentially, without Analytics, you’ll be blindly making changes to your store without any evidence to support or justify them.

Google Analytics is easy to install, and Google provides a comprehensive guide on how to connect it with your Shopify store. Remember, the more you know about how your store is functioning, the more control you have over its success. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to boost your Shopify store’s ROI and unlock its full potential!

Elevate your Shopify experience with Create8

Running a successful Shopify store requires more than a basic understanding of the platform. It calls for an expert touch.

At Create8, we are a certified Shopify partner that specialises in Shopify web design. Whether you’re just starting out or are looking to elevate your existing Shopify store, we can help you to build something that looks great and performs exceptionally.

Contact our team today to find out how we can help you steer clear of these Shopify mistakes and set your store up for lasting success!