DEV Community: Alex

The Shop App: Room for Improvement

Alex — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 07:00:00 +0000

I have been in the Shopify ecosystem for over 5 years as a merchant, designer, and app owner. This month I was designing my latest client’s Shop App storefront. In the past I have only had clients that sell digital products, which are not accepted in the Shop App. I got excited to design a storefront for the Shop App. The process of designing The Thot Leader Labs storefront was quick and easy. But I noticed some issues with the Shop App.

Turn On Shop App

In the catalog of products they list two options for the selling method of a product. One is “Link to Online Store” and the other is “Sell Directly in Shop App.” The first option takes users to the link to buy the product. The second option lets users buy the product in the app.

The first option adds an extra step to purchase. To simplify the purchase process, make every product available to purchase directly. Go to the “Products” tab. Then, select every product. After, click the “...” button. Next, go to “include in sales channels” and select “Shop.” Click, “include products” to “Sell Directly in Shop App.”

Designing the storefront

The Shop App has limited customizations. But there are a few elements to design.

Announcement Bar

At the top of the app, a Merchant can add an automatic discount. I added a discount of 10% off for any customer spending more than $50. The average order value is $35, even after the discount, the average order value increases. On the banner, the discount displays as, “10% off orders over $50”

The discount shows up on products because it applies to every purchase on the Shop App.

Header

There are several options for the header. A Shopify Merchant can have a picture, video, or a color fill. Then, the logo can get added to the header. A Shopify Merchant can choose to display a logo or the store’s name over the media.

Collections

Collections get displayed with two methods. The navigation bar with the collection image and a Shop All tab. Then, collections can get displayed as a box, with the collection image. The navigation bar is sticky, meaning it stays at the top as users scroll.

Issues

Default Content

The has a few elements that get displayed by default. The first element is the “Shop All” collection” in the navigation. There is no option to remove Shop All and the collection shows up first. Every storefront I’ve searched has this collection. I am not a fan of “Shop All” in general. I would like the option to remove it.

The other element is the displayed products. A Shopify Merchant does not get to choose the products displayed on the storefront. This is a problem for Shopify Merchant with many collections. The storefront looks unorganized and can confuse visitors. I would like to have the ability to control the products visitors see. Exactly like every other page of a Shopify store.

Slow

When making updates or changes they took a while to display on the storefront. Slow updating makes it hard to keep track of changes.

Promoting Shop App Storefront

Since the Shop App is its own platform, there are other methods to promote storefronts.

Advertising

A Shopify Merchant can pay for different ads to promote their storefront. Three types of ads for promoting. In- app ads to show users deals. Social ads to promote a storefront on different platforms. Then, ads within Shopify’s product network.

Marketing Tools

Users can follow storefronts. A Shopify Merchant can send their followers updates. The updates can let users know about new discounts or products. As well as, create offers to send to existing customers.

Conclusion

The Shop has value. But there are many issues, some I didn’t mention, that need addressing.

How to Improve Product Discovery on a Shopify Store

Alex — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Many Shopify Merchants struggle to make their store user-friendly. One element of making a store user-friendly is making the products easier to find. The good news is that making products easier to find is as simple as installing one app, Search & Discovery. The app allows merchants to add a search bar, filters, and recommendations. The other elements of improving search can get done in a few minutes.

Search Bar

A search bar needs to get added to a Shopify store. It is not an out-of-the-box feature. Shopify stores need a search bar for the visitors who know what they want. The visitors can type it in and find it. They won’t need to search and scroll.

Collection Pages

Collection pages improve the organization of products. Shopify Merchants can organize products by category, allowing visitors to search by category. As opposed to having to scroll through every product.

For example, let’s say a Shopify Merchant sells different shoes. The store can have collection pages in the navigation bar for every type of shoe. If a visitor wants dress shoes or running shoes, they can find the collections in the navigation bar.

Visitors will only tolerate a messy navigation for a limited time. There are other stores with better navigation, where they can buy shoes. They know this. Don’t make it hard for them to find products.

No collection pages is the equivalent of not having labelled aisles in stores. Imagine how successful Costco would be if they sold shoes and meat in the same aisle.

Filters

Once visitors reach a collection page, they will want to sort through the products. Filters help visitors sort through products. There are different filter options.

For standard filters, a Shopify Merchant can filter by availability, price, product type, tags, and vendor. Availability is whether the product is in stock. If filtered by price, a visitor can sort products by high and low. Product type is a subset of the product category. Where a merchant can be more descriptive about the product. Our Shopify Shoe Merchant might add the shoe’s material here. Product tags help filter and categorize products by details. The Shopify Merchant might use tags such as “red, leather, casual, or men.” The vendor is the manufacturer of the product.

There are custom filters. Custom filters use product options, meta fields, and meta objects. Product options include size or purchase options. Metafields and metaobjects are detailed characteristics of the product. They include age, gender, shoe features, and activity.

The final type of filter is product options.

Boost and Synonyms

Boosts improve on-site search. Synonyms improve external discoverability.

Product Boosts

A Shopify Merchant can use boosts for products that might have a different name. Our Shopify Merchant might sell athletic shoes. Half the US calls them “sneakers.” The other half calls them “tennis shoes.” If visitors were to use either of these keywords, the athletic shoes will not show in the results. By boosting the keywords, the athletic shoes will show up in the search results.

Synonyms

Synonyms are for search engines. Adding synonyms signals to search engines the product is relevant for those keywords. Our Merchant’s athletic shoes would show up if someone searched for “tennis shoes” in a search engine.

Recommendations

Recommendations show up on the product page. Merchants can choose either complementary or related products.

Complementary

Complementary products are products that visitors could buy in addition to the current product. Our Merchant might have laces or shoe cleaner as complementary products.

Related products are alternative products. Our Shopify Merchant might put the same type of shoe in a different style or different brands.

Why?

Why improve product discoverability? Making products more discoverable can increase conversion rates and identify demand.

Conversion Rates

The easier a visitor can find your products, the more likely they are to buy.

Identify Demand

When someone searches for a product in the search bar, a Shopify Merchant can see what the visitor typed. If the visitor is looking for a product that you don’t offer but can, start offering the product. The search bar allows visitors to give feedback without having to send a message.

At the same time, if people are using a certain word to look for a product, you can add the word to the boost list.

Conclusion

Customers having issues finding products is a common problem. This makes having better product discovery a competitive advantage. Nothing listed takes more than a few extra minutes to complete, per product. Any Shopify Merchant can gain a competitive advantage over others in a few minutes.

How to Create a Digital Product in Shopify

Alex — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 08:00:00 +0000

In 2023, I started my own Shopify store selling digital products. I learned that creating digital products on Shopify was a bit more complex than I expected. It is not as simple as “upload file to product page and done.” But pretty close to it, just a few extra steps.

App Store

Start by going to the Shopify App Store and typing "Digital Downloads” into the search bar. Shopify has its own app called Digital Downloads. Install it.

Product Page

Now, it’s time to create a product. For the most part, creating a physical and digital product is a similar process. The difference is in handling inventory and shipping. In the “Inventory” section of the product page, uncheck “Inventory Tracked.” Then, for Shipping, uncheck “Physical Product.”

You are ready to create a digital product.

Creating a Digital Product

On the right-hand corner of the product page, there’s a button, “more actions.” When you click the button, a drop-down menu will appear with “add digital files.” Click it.

You will get taken to the settings for the digital product. Upload your digital product. I recommend putting the files in a zip folder. Click the “Fulfillment” button once the folders get uploaded. Select “How to Send Files to Customers.” Then, select “automatically.” Now, once the customer pays for the product, they will get sent a link immediately.

After, click the “Create Download Link.” The link to the product gets created by clicking the button. The digital product is ready to get purchased.

Conclusion

The process is straightforward. Someone can upload a digital product in under 2 minutes.

Originally published at https://convertifyapps.com on January 3, 2026.

How to Optimize a Collection Page in Shopify for 2026

Alex — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 08:00:00 +0000

When searching for a product online, users are typically directed to a product page or a collection page. This means the first introduction to a store is not their home page. But some stores will only optimize their home page for new visitors. Collection pages can get optimized in a few simple steps.

Starting Collection Pages

When a Shopify store opens, the collection pages only have a few elements. The header contains the collection title and the collection description. The product titles and price are only paragraph text, instead of titles. There is no button to buy the product or add a product to the cart. You have to click on the product and go to the product page to buy it. The footer contains a menu and an email sign-up form.

Optimizing the Product Section of a Shopify Store

The first step to optimizing a product page is reducing the customer’s journey to purchase. A “quick add” button enables a modal to display more information to the visitor. Then, add the product to the cart without leaving the page. The modal shows the different options for products. Ensuring the customer buys the exact product they want before adding it to the cart. Next, change the text of the product title and price. By default, the collection makes them paragraph text. Make the Product Title an H2 and Price an H3. From a visual perspective, they will stand out more. For search engines, the likelihood of the products getting indexed increases. Adding text under the title can give the customers more information. The text can give quick notes about the product, “100% Wool” or “Made in the US.”

What is the difference between Heading and Paragraph text?

Heading text helps categorize content. The paragraph text describes the heading text. Search engines use heading text to determine relevance for results. This means a page can rank for search results based on the heading text. In short, Shopify Merchants should make the heading text a keyword they want to rank for.

A page can only have one H1 heading. The product titles need to be H2 headings or others.

Description

The collection description is important for SEO. But I have a theory that customers don’t read or care for the collection description. I am starting to test putting the collection description at the bottom of the page. If the description is at the bottom, customers will see the products sooner. If they see the products sooner, there is less of a chance of customers clicking away from the products. The description is out of the way. But the collection page still gets the SEO benefits of the description.

How to Move Description to the Bottom

There are a few steps to putting the collection description at the bottom of the page. First duplicate the “Collection Heading” element. Second, delete the “Description” element in the original element. Then, delete the “Title” element in the duplicate. The final step is to move the duplicate element to the bottom of the page.

Email Collection Form

At the bottom of every page is an email collection form. Move the form from the footer to above the collection description. This will make the form more visible. Which will lead to more sign-ups.

Turn off “Auto load products on scroll”

By default, the collection pages get set to infinite scroll. This means more products load once the customers get to the bottom of the page. Shopify calls it “Auto load.” The problem with infinite scroll is anything after the first load does not get indexed. The solution to infinite scroll is pages. Customers reach the bottom of the page and click to the next one. Every page will get indexed by a search engine. To turn off auto scroll, click on the “Collection” in the template section. In the settings section, there will be "Auto load products on scroll.” Turn it off.

Conclusion

These tweaks may not seem significant, but they create a better user experience. A better user experience leads to more sales. At the same time, the tweaks make collection pages more search engine-friendly. Which will bring more traffic.

Originally published at https://convertifyapps.com

3 Steps to Fully Optimized Images for a Shopify Store

Alex — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Images are an important element of any Shopify store. Not every Shopify Merchant optimizes their image to the fullest extent. The 3 elements of a fully optimized image are proper file name, alternative text, and a compressed image.

## File Name

The importance of the file name gets overlooked because most computers autogenerate a name set of numbers of the name. But Google uses the file name to rank images in Google Images. If an image is not properly named it will not rank.

There’s an advantage to naming images files. Most people don’t know the importance of naming image files. A Shopify Merchant might have an easier time ranking on Google Images in their category with proper image names.

A properly optimized image file name needs to have dashes, not get keyword stuffed, and descriptive. For example the image for this section is titled, “naming-image-files.” The file has dashes, no extra keywords, and describes the image perfectly.

## Alternative Text

Alternative text is for screen readers. Screen readers can’t see the images. Alternative text, or alt text, describes the image and the screen uses alt text as a substitute. Google’s goal is for people to find the perfect website from a Google search. If people that use screen readers can’t read the content, they will leave after a few seconds. If people only stay on a site for a few seconds, Google will rank the site lower. Since people are not finding the site to be the perfect solution.

Do many people with screen readers use the internet? Is alt text that important of a ranking factor? No idea. Here is what I do know. Based on Google's goal. If Google is trying to decide how to rank 2 identical websites, same content and similar backlinks. Which website do you think Google will rank higher? The one with alt text or no alt next? The alt text does not need to be fancy either. A picture of red shoes can have the alt text, “red shoes.” That would count more than nothing. A Shopify Merchant does not need to do, “red {brand name} size 9 shoes with midnight black laces.”

Another reason why a Shopify Merchant should want to add alt text is they can strategically keyword stuff. As long as the keywords describe the image, they will not get dinged by Google. Consider alt text like content for images. If a Shopify Merchant were writing an article about changing the oil of a Camaro, Google would ding them for using “Camaro” or “Change oil” a few extra times in the article. Since that is the content of the article.

For example, let's say I had an image of Kawhi Leonard and Nikola Jokic playing in a game. The alt text I can use is “Kawhi Leonard and Nikola Jokic playing in a game of basketball.” Or I can use “#2 of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers Kawhi Leonard playing in a basketball game against Denver Nugget’s #15 Nikola Jokic at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado.” There is nothing wrong with the second description because none of it is untrue. But since alt text is treated like content, my image and page might rank for “NBA Los Angeles Clippers”, “Denver Nuggets, and “Ball Arena.”

## Compressed Images

Images take more time to load compared to text. The load time is greater because of the images’ file size. By compressing the images, the images will not take as long to load because the files are smaller.

## Conclusion

Alternative text can give Shopify Merchants an advantage. 2 out of 3 of these can get completed with one app. The difficult task is the images names. Each image name needs to get changed one by one.

Want to get your Shopify store ready for BFCM 2026? Fully optimizing your images is an important element of getting traffic. Here’s how any Shopify Merchant can optimize their images.

Originally published at https://convertifyapps.com

Create an FAQ Page in 5 Minutes or Less in Shopify

Alex — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 08:00:00 +0000

An FAQ is one page every Shopify should have. But not every store does. The new Horizon theme lets Shopify Merchants create an FAQ page in a few clicks.

Theme Editor

Creating an FAQ page starts in the Shopify Theme Editor.

Create a Template

The first step to create an FAQ page is to create a new template. Create a template by going to your pages. Go to your pages tab, scroll to the bottom, and click “Create Template.” After clicking, name the template and choose the page you want to base the template on. I would base the page on the Contact page. Most of the content on the page will get deleted. On the contact page, there are fewer elements to delete.

Editing the Template

Start by deleting the contact form on the template. Next, click “Add Section.” A modal will pop up, stay on the “Sections” tab. Scroll down to the dropdown labelled “Text.” The first option available is FAQ; click it.

Editing the FAQ

The default FAQ has placeholder questions and answers. Click the down arrow on the far right to see both the question and answer. To change the text, click on the text you want to change. Then, change the text in the section settings. In the settings, an icon can get added to the text. Edit the text and save it. The FAQ template is now created. The content on the template is what visitors of the page will see. But the page customers will see isn't live yet.

Create the Page

To create the FAQ page, start by creating a regular page. Go to Online Store, then, Pages. Click the “Add Page” button. Then, add a title to the page. After that, go to the bottom-right of the page to the Template section. Change the template to the FAQ template. Then, click the “save” button.

Navigation

The last step is to add the FAQ page to the Nav Bar. Save the pager, and a pop up should have shown. This pop-up has a link to add the page to the nav bar. After adding the page to the nav bar, visitors can see the page.

Benefits of the FAQ Page

What is the value of an FAQ page? Great question. An FAQ can lead to more traffic, reduce workload, and improve the customer journey.

SEO

Many people use Google to solve their problems. They ask Google questions, such as “What is the best product for X problem?” If an FAQ matches someone’s search query, the FAQ page will show up on the Google SERP. The person clicking from the Google SERP is likely to be a more motivated buyer. Which increases the chances of a sale.

Reduces Friction for Sale

If a potential customer has a question about a product, they might email customer support. The potential customer might not wait long for an answer and move on. The question could be simple. If the Shopify store has an FAQ, the potential customer can find the answer there. Then, complete the transaction.

Lighten Workload

Every Shopify has questions that customers ask over and over. Customer support has to answer the questions every time. An FAQ would stop customers from emailing support and get answers faster.

Conclusion

A FAQ page can get made in 5 minutes or fewer. FAQ pages improve customer service, bring organic traffic, and shorten the customer journey. There is no reason not to have an FAQ page.

Originally published at https://convertifyapps.com

7 Steps to Translating Your Shopify Pages

Alex — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Shopify stores need an edge over big retailers to get sales. Translating pages can be one method to gain an edge. To translate pages opens up Shopify stores to new markets. Some of these markets might not have the option to buy from big retailers in the US. For the amount of time and effort translating pages takes, there is huge potential.

1.Download App

Shopify themselves has an app called Translate and Adapt. Install the app to translate pages.

2 Add Language

Add a different language to the store. Go to Settings, and scroll to the bottom, and click “languages.” Then, click, “add a language.” Find the language for translation and click “next.”

The next step will be to assign the chosen language to the domain. Then, click “done.” The app will give the option to publish the new language. The store is not ready for it. No translation has happened yet. Do not publish.

3. Auto Translate

Go back to the Translate & Adapt app. Next, hit “Auto Translate.” The app will start to translate the title, description, and url handle.

You only have 3 free translations. Every time the Auto-translation gets clicked, that counts as a translation. To make the most of them, do the translations in bulk.

The app uses Google Translate to translate the pages.

4. Verify everything translates properly

The time the app takes to translate the pages depends on the number of pages. The more pages, the more time translating takes.

Once the app finishes translating, verify the translations. Put the translated text in an LLM and reverse translate the text. Make sure the text did not get lost in translation.

Translate A New Page

When a new page gets created, the page will not get translated automatically. To have the page translated, start at the product page. Go to “more actions.” Then, click, “localize.” The “localize” button will go to the Translate & Adapt app to translate the text.

6. Publish Language

Once the pages finish translating, the language can get published on the domain. Go to “settings,” “Languages.” In the languages tab, go to the chosen translated language and click the 3 dots button. Then, click “publish”

The new language is live on Shopify. But, the new language is not assigned anywhere. That will be the next step.

7. Create Market

Now that the pages have gotten translated, the pages need a market to get displayed. Go to the Admin Dashboard. On the left hand menu, click “Markets.” The USA will show as the only market. Click the “Create Market” button. Next, name the market, I would choose the language. After, choose the countries where the language gets spoken.

The next step is to customize the market. Start by choosing the currency of the market(s). After, there is an option to create a market specific catalog. In the catalog, set pricing for the next and adjust the price of the catalog. The last step of catalogs is to choose products for the catalog and their prices.

Create a subfolder for the domain. This helps create a separation for the chosen language and english pages. The separate pages will let Google know that these are not duplicate pages. If Google thought the pages were duplicate, they would penalize the domain. Click, “add languages.” and add the chosen language. Set the chosen language as the default language in the market. There’s an option to delete English. It will still be the default language for the other market. Add to the domain suffix, maybe the region or continent, if you’ve chosen multiple countries.

Why Translate Pages?

SEO

Translating opens a Shopify store up to new keywords. Some of these countries are underserved. The page can rank, and get more clicks. Getting more clicks from smaller markets can help Shopify store rank in bigger markets.

It’s Cheap

As shown throughout my tutorial, I didn’t spend a dollar to translate the pages. Worst case scenario, use an LLM to translate a page. If the right products show up in the right market, the benefits will greatly exceed the cost.

Conclusion

When translating pages, the difficult part is done before you start, creating the first pages. The most important element of translating pages is research. If the right language and markets are not chosen, the Shopify store will not get customers in the new markets.

Originally published at https://convertifyapps.com

How to Create a Product Bundle in Shopify for BFCM

Alex — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Bundles are an important part of BFCM. Shopify updates the bundle creation process every few years. Here's how a bundle gets made in 2025.

Step 1: Install the Bundles App

Starting at the admin dashboard, click “Apps” in the search bar and type “Bundles.” The first option to show up will be the bundles app made by Shopify. Install the app.

Step 2: Create a Bundle

For the most part, creating a bundle is similar to creating a product. But there are some differences.

Select Products

First, select the products you want to bundle together. For stores with a great deal of products, you can filter by category, collection, type, tags, and vendors. Once you find the products you want to bundle, click “Select.”

Media

Nothing is different for the title and description sections. Scroll down to the media section. You can click “select existing.” In this section, you filter by file type, file size, used in, and product.” This feature allows Shopify Merchants to use images from the store’s image library. The feature is new and a few years ago, Merchants had to re-upload every image to make a bundle.

Price

The price gets set automatically. When you create a bundle, the app merges the prices of the products together. When making a product, the price is not set. If a merchant doesn’t set the price, an error will pop up. For bundles, there is the possibility of creating an active bundle with the wrong price. Don’t forget to change your bundle’s price to the discounted price. Or the increased price. Up to you. No judgment here.

The Rest

Every other element on the bundled product page is on a normal product page. Make the necessary additions to your pages.

Conclusion

Bundles lead to higher-order values. Bundles are an important part of a successful BFCM strategy. They help customers discover products in your store. Even if they don’t buy a bundle, they see more products in your store.

Originally published at https://convertifyapps.com

3 Quick Tips to Speed Up Your Shopify Store Before BFCM

Alex — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 08:00:00 +0000

According to Amazon, every 100 milliseconds of added load time can decrease sales by 1%. A 100 millisecond decrease can increase sales by 1%. A single blink of an eye can take 100 milliseconds. Meaning, if your website is too slow, you can actually lose money in the blink of an eye. Here are a few things any Shopify Merchant can do to speed up their load time.

Image Optimization

Images add to page load times. Compressing images will decrease the load times. There are apps that Shopify Merchants can install to compress images. The apps will compress every image in a few minutes.

Another option to optimize images is lazy loading. Lazy loading prevents images from loading immediately when a page loads. The images start loading when a visitor scrolls to the image. If a user never scrolls to the image, it never loads.

Image optimization is important because, after apps, images take the most time to load on a page. A Shopify Store can do both image compression and lazy loading.

Apps

Every app installed on a Shopify store adds to the store’s load time. Every store needs to install apps. But there is such a thing as too many apps. The best way to prevent apps from adding to your load time is to audit your apps. Once a month, go through the apps you’ve installed, and verify you use the app.

I have seen stores that install 2 different apps, and they have the same functionality. While auditing your apps, check the features to avoid this error.

Apps get updated regularly. If you do not update your apps, they might become incompatible with your theme. The incompatibility will lead to load time errors and a bad customer experience.

Theme

The Dawn theme is the key to optimizing a Shopify theme for site speed. The Dawn theme, created by Shopify, is the most basic theme.

The other option is a third-party theme. Third-party themes might contain unnecessary lines of code. The third party might have added lines of code related to data collection. These unnecessary lines of code may only slightly slow down your load time. But added with extra apps or unoptimized images, visitors might notice a slow website.

Using the Dawn theme avoids the issue of extra lines of code in your theme. Third-party themes might include theme features you do not want. Those hard-coded in features might get difficult to remove. It is better to start with a basic theme and add features by installing apps through the Shopify App Store. This method avoids having to make big changes to your underlying theme. Shopify Merchants will have more control over their theme and design too.

Conclusion

I don’t care how unique you think your product is. People can always find another place to buy an alternative. Don’t give them a reason to look somewhere else.

Originally published at https://convertifyapps.com

7 Quick Wins to Prepare Your Shopify Store for BFCM

Alex — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 08:00:00 +0000

During the chaos of planning and executing a BFCM strategy, a few important elements might get overlooked. These are a few items that could get overlooked and cost you sales.

Sold Out Products

Start by creating the different templates for each collection of products. Then, map out the templates and collections for other people to understand.

You want to promote products that are similar to the sold out products. For example, if you are selling dog food, you want to have a template of alternative dog food products. If your store sells cat food too, you want to have a different template for cat food.

Discount Codes

Discount codes are the heart and soul of BFCM. Many people will be using your store’s discount code the weekend of BFCM. People are expecting the codes to work, if they don’t they will find a store that has working discount codes.

If a discount code is not working, the customer discovers the issue during checkout. That means your store lost an almost guaranteed sale because of a minor mistake.

Set discount codes to be live a few days before BFCM. Then, make the end date a few days after BFCM, maybe Wednesday. After creating the code, create a test customer to verify the code will get applied to the cart.

Email Automation

A store’s email automations might have an error. To avoid this issue, test the automations before BFCM.

Create a fake customer and send the fake customer a welcome email. Then, create a fake transaction and send them a confirmation and thank you email.

Collection Pages

Collection Pages are some visitors' introduction to a Shopify store through SEO. Collections and products aligning allow new visitors to find the products they’re looking for. If a new visitor has an easy time navigating the store, the chances of a sale increase.

Review collections to verify the right products are in each collection.

Mobile Friendliness

It's hard to believe but many stores still do not use a responsive Shopify theme. The simplest solution to this issue is to use the Dawn theme, provided by Shopify.

Although, if you’re reading this your store is most likely mobile friendly.

Mobile friendly does not only mean being able to navigate the website on a phone, but complete the transaction on the phone too.

Once I bought a carry-on bag at 3am, in a haze. The only reason I completed the transaction and didn’t wait is because I was able to use Apple Pay to complete the transaction. I didn’t need to go and grab my wallet. The lesson, mobile friendliness matters.

Update Apps

According to Amazon, every 100 milliseconds of added load time can decrease sales by 1%, while a 100 millisecond decrease in load time can increase sales by 1%.

Shopify Apps can increase load time, the solution? Audit your apps. Uninstall apps that are not being used.

Then, update the apps you do use to the latest versions. An out of date app can cause page time-outs because the app is not compatible with the theme.

Forms

A Shopify Merchant can use forms as a method of interacting with customers and potential customers. Forms can collect emails and give visitors an opportunity to give feedback

Use forms to save a step and use separate forms for different products. The separate forms will make the process of segmenting the email list quicker.

Before you get an uptick in traffic, make sure the forms work. Sometimes the wrong form ID might get used and the email goes to the wrong segment. Or doesn’t work at all.

Check form IDs to verify they’re correct. Then, submit an email address to all the different forms. If the email does not show up in the segment, fix the error. Don’t forget to delete the test emails from the segments when you are done. Sending out emails to test emails could hurt your email list’s quality score.

Conclusion

If you forget one of these “quick wins” it will not hurt your store for BFCM. But, these simple elements, add up and multiple missed “quick wins” can lead to lost sales.

Originally published at https://convertifyapps.com

How to Create Discount Codes in Shopify for Black Friday

Alex — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Discount Codes are an important part of getting customers. Knowing the types of discounts and when to use them can be the difference between an abandoned cart and a sale.

Amount off products

The amount off discount is to get customers to buy a specific product or collection. Stores can use this discount to highlight specific products or collections.

Creating an amount off code

The first step is naming the code. DO NOT generate a random code. The name needs to be memorable. Customers will not be able to remember your code if it is “Z279A0987654321”

Make the code something like, “BFCM2025”

Discount Value

Next, choose whether you want the discount as a percentage or fixed dollar amount. Use a percentage of the sale price. Or a specific dollar amount as the discount.

The discount should reflect whichever number is larger. If the discount is 10% and that is equal to $15, use the fixed number. If the discount code is $10 and that is 15%, use the percentage.

After, there is “Applies to” in this section. You will choose the specific products or collections the discount will apply to. For specific holidays, create a holiday collection. This lets customers see the exact products the discount applies to. The holiday collection is good for SEO, too.

Eligibility

The options are All Customers, Specific customer segments, and specific customers.

All customers means everyone has access to the discount code.

Specific customer segments refers to the lists of customers under the Customers tab. The default segments that everyone has are: Customers who have purchased at least once, Email subscribers, Abandoned checkouts in the last 30 days, Customers who have purchased more than once, and Customers who haven't purchased. You have the ability to make a discount code for these specific customers.

Minimum purchase requirements

This is where you can add a minimum to each purchase. The amount of money that needs to get spent to achieve the discount. Or the number of items that need to get purchased for the discount.

Maximum discount uses

Here is where you can put restrictions on the use of the code. You can limit the amount of times a discount can get used for the store. “First 100 customers get 20% off.” Or limit if a customer can use the discount code again

Combinations

Customers have the ability to combine discounts. Customers can combine a free shipping discount with an amount off discount.

In this section, Shopify Merchants can disable the ability to combine discounts.

Active dates

This section is for choosing when the discount starts and ends. The start date does not make a difference. A merchant can create the code on October 21st. But if they don’t promote the code until November 1st, no one will randomly use the code before. By having the code active from the day you create it, you avoid issues of the code not working during the promotion.

Set the end date to 3 or 4 days after the end of the official event to allow late buyers to use the code.

Buy X get Y

There is minimal difference between the different discount codes. For the Buy X, Get Y discount, the difference is the “Customer” sections.

A Shopify store would use this discount type for a giveaway. A Shopify Merchant can test demand for a new product. They could offer the new product at a discount to customers that have a high AOV. The new product would get into the hands of your most valuable customers and get reviews

Shopify stores might use Buy X, and Get Y to get rid of old products. An example is a clothing store. They might sell summer clothes with this discount to make room for their next season’s clothing. “Buy $50 worth of fall clothes, get 25% off summer clothes”

Customer Buy

You have the option to choose if the discount is by “Minimum quantity of items” or “Minimum purchase amount”

Minimum quantity of items

After choosing “Minimum Quantity,” pick the number of items you want a customer to buy to get the discount. Then, choose the items, the specific products or collections for the discount.

For “Minimum purchase amount,” pick the dollar amount required for a customer to get a discount.

Customer Gets

In the “At a discounted value” section choose if you want a discount to be based on a percentage or dollar amount.

Amount Off Order

What is the difference between amount off product and amount off order? Amount off product is a discount on specific products. Amount off order is a discount on the entire order, no matter the products.

Why do amount off order discount? Customers will buy more products if they get a discount.

The discount value section is where a merchant would choose how big a discount to offer

Free Shipping

Why offer free shipping? People will abandon their cart if they think shipping costs too much. Add the cost of shipping into your product prices and offer free shipping

Countries

A merchant can choose to restrict this discount in certain countries. Some countries may have complicated shipping. A merchant might not want to ship to those countries

Shipping rates

If you would like to exclude this discount from orders over a certain dollar amount, you can set the limit here.

Conclusion

Discounts are a big part of the holiday season. Hopefully, this information helps you sell more products during this time of year

Originally published at https://convertifyapps.com

How to Handle Sold Out Products in Shopify

Alex — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Some marketers might think that once all the inventory of a product gets sold, the product page has no value. Some marketers might go so far as to turn the page into a draft or delete it altogether. Even after a product page indicates that a product is sold out, search engines can still direct traffic to the page. A marketer can edit a sold-out product page to showcase products that are in stock. Creating an opportunity to get sales from a sold-out product page. Here’s how to optimize a sold-out product’s page to get more sales.

1. Template in Theme Editor

To create a product page for Sold Out Products, create a new template. You can do this by clicking the dropdown menu. Go down to Products and click “Create Template. Name the template “Sold-out-1”. Then, base the template on your Default Product page.

2. Add Product Collection

Add a product collection section to the product page. A collection for the same brand as the sold-out product would work best. For the collection title, put “Products that Might Fit Your Needs.”

A title that acknowledges the product they are looking for is gone but,” one of these products might fill the gap.”

3. Remove Irrelevant Data to Make Collection More Visible

Someone might miss your collection because they didn’t want to scroll too far down the page. To make it easier, remove some elements of the product page that take up space. The Buy Button, the product can't get bought, no one needs to see it. The variant picker can get removed, as no sizes are available. The quantity selector can get removed for the same reason. If you offer a subscription, that widget can get removed.

The name, images, price, and product description. The 4 items left in the product information section. Keep the title, name, and product description for SEO purposes. Without that information, no one will be able to find the product through search engines. Which is the entire point of keeping the page alive. Keep the price, because “sold-out” shows up next to the price.

4. Optional: Add an email collection form

Offer to email the visitor when the product is back in stock. Being on the company email list will increase the chances of them becoming a customer.

5. Create Different Templates

The collection created for your first sold-out product page might not fit every product. The solution is to duplicate the first sold-out template. Then, change the product collection. After, assign the new sold-out template to the out-of-stock product.

6. Change the Theme Template

To change a product page to the new sold-out theme template, edit the product page. On the right-hand side, scroll to the bottom section “Theme Template.” Pick the sold-out theme template and click “save.” Your sold-out product page should now be well-optimized for visitors to find new products.

Conclusion

Selling out of a product is great. What is better? Generating revenue from a sold-out product page.

Originally published at https://convertifyapps.com