The ecommerce conversion checklist: 40 checks for your store

Open your store in a private browser window so you see it without cookies, saved carts or admin bars. Then open it again on your phone. Go section by section and mark each check as pass, fail or not sure. "Not sure" usually means fail: if you can't tell whether something is clear, a stranger can't either.

Don't try to fix everything at once. Sort the failures by how many visitors see them (homepage and top product pages first) and how badly they block a purchase. A missing "Add to cart" button on mobile beats a slightly off-brand font every time.

Visitors decide in seconds whether they're in the right place. Everything they see before scrolling has to answer: what is this, is it for me, and why should I buy here?

1. 1The headline says what you sell, in plain words. "Handmade leather wallets" beats "Crafted for the bold".
2. 2One clear call to action is visible without scrolling, on desktop and mobile.
3. 3The hero image shows the product, not just a mood. Shoppers should recognise what you sell from the image alone.
4. 4Pop-ups wait. A newsletter or discount pop-up that covers the page on arrival stops people before they've seen anything. Delay it or trigger it on exit intent.
5. 5The cookie banner doesn't cover the CTA on a small phone screen.
6. 6Your key promise is visible: free shipping threshold, returns window or delivery time, in a header bar or right under the hero.

A first-time visitor has no reason to trust you yet. Trust signals give them one. See our full guide to ecommerce trust signals for examples.

1. 1Reviews or star ratings appear on product pages, close to the price.
2. 2Real contact details (email, and ideally a phone number or address) are easy to find.
3. 3Shipping and returns policies are linked from the footer and summarised on product pages.
4. 4Payment options are shown before checkout (card logos, PayPal, Shop Pay, Klarna, Apple Pay).
5. 5An About page says who is behind the store.
6. 6No broken images, placeholder text or "Lorem ipsum" anywhere. Nothing kills trust faster.
7. 7Your domain, logo and brand name match across the site, emails and checkout.

1. 1Main categories are visible in the menu without hunting through submenus.
2. 2Menu labels use shoppers' words, not internal names ("Women's running shoes", not "Collection 04").
3. 3Search works and handles typos and plurals. If you have more than a few dozen products, search is essential.
4. 4Collection pages have filters for what people actually choose by (size, colour, price).
5. 5There are no dead ends: every page leads somewhere useful, including empty search results and 404 pages.

This is where the buying decision happens. Our product page best practices guide covers each point in depth.

1. 1"Add to cart" is visible without scrolling on mobile.
2. 2The price is clear, including any sale price and what's included.
3. 3Several photos, including the product in use and close-ups of details and materials.
4. 4The description answers real questions: size, fit, materials, care, what's in the box, who it's for.
5. 5Variant selection is obvious and shows when an option is out of stock.
6. 6Delivery time and cost are stated before the cart.
7. 7Reviews are on the page, not hidden on another tab.
8. 8A size guide is linked right next to the size selector (for clothing and shoes).

Most store traffic comes from phones, and mobile is where things break quietly because owners usually check their store on a laptop. More detail in our mobile conversion guide.

1. 1Text is readable without zooming (16px body text or larger).
2. 2Buttons are big enough to tap and not crammed together.
3. 3No horizontal scrolling on any page.
4. 4Sticky add-to-cart or an easy way back to the buy button on long product pages.
5. 5Forms use the right keyboards (email, number, phone) and support autofill.

Slow pages lose visitors before they see anything. Google's Core Web Vitals give clear targets: Largest Contentful Paint under 2.5 seconds, Interaction to Next Paint under 200 milliseconds and Cumulative Layout Shift under 0.1 (source: web.dev).

1. 1Your homepage loads in under about 3 seconds on mobile data.
2. 2Images are compressed and served in modern formats (WebP or AVIF).
3. 3The layout doesn't jump as fonts, banners and images load.
4. 4Unused apps are removed. Every Shopify app can add scripts, even after you stop using it.

Baymard Institute puts the average cart abandonment rate at around 70% (source), and the single most common reason is extra costs such as shipping, taxes and fees that show up too late.

1. 1Total cost is clear before checkout, shipping included.
2. 2Guest checkout is allowed. Forcing account creation loses buyers.
3. 3Express payment buttons (Apple Pay, Google Pay, Shop Pay, PayPal) are offered.
4. 4Discount code fields don't dominate. A big empty coupon box sends people off searching for codes.
5. 5The cart is easy to edit (quantity, remove, variant) without starting over.
6. 6Trust and returns info is repeated near the checkout button.

Conversion work is never finished. Themes update, apps add banners, seasonal campaigns change your homepage, and each change can bring new friction. Re-run the checklist after any big change, and at least once a month. StorePeek Premium does this for you with a monthly re-check by email.

Measure before and after. Note your conversion rate for the two to four weeks before a change and compare the same period after. Small stores have noisy data, so look for clear shifts rather than reading too much into a few days.