Just because the “customer is always right”, doesn’t inherently mean that the store owner is wrong - but it happens. Over 350 million businesses worldwide, and over 4 million of them use Shopify. With that many individuals and owners, there’s a good chance a few mistakes slip through the cracks.
When I started my own Shopify store, I quickly realized there's a lot that goes into it that people just don't know about. I learned about the basic things but also the more complicated aspects like after-purchase flows and calculating shipping costs. There are many different pitfalls and mistakes that new Shopify owners make every day, but with just a little know-how, that can completely change.
Shopify is one of the easiest ways to start a business. To put it simply, all it takes is an idea and a few hours in front of a computer to create your very own shop. It’s that easy, but it doesn’t mean it’s that simple. Simple mistakes are forgivable. No one’s perfect, including people trying to start their online businesses. So instead of waiting for the problems to pile up, hit the ground running and prepare yourself for the troubles you’ll face down the road.
Here’s a list of the biggest and most common Shopify mistakes made by business owners.
Common Shopify Mistakes Made By Business Owners
No matter how prepared you are, mistakes are going to happen. That includes those made by Shopify store owners both new and old. Just because it’s one of the most sophisticated e-commerce software systems doesn’t mean it provides an answer for everything.
These are the kinds of mistakes Shopify store owners should be looking out for.
Lack of Research
Being overprepared is the best way a new business owner can equip themselves with knowledge and expertise. You don’t know everything, especially about running a business on Shopify, so watch tutorials and read articles by those who do. There are dozens of content creators on YouTube who specialize in lengthy and detailed tutorials. They’ll walk you through everything from opening your store on Spotify to fulfilling your first orders.
Instead of assuming you have all the necessary knowledge, do the research to guarantee that you do.
Confusing Navigation Systems
Any experienced web developer is already familiar with this point, but simple navigation systems are key to keeping customers happy. Users spend an average of 6 seconds looking through the navigation menu on any given website. If it’s complicated, they won’t spend time figuring it out, they’ll just click away to the next site.
That means a basic, simple, and easily understood navigation system is the best way to keep users on your Shopify store. Not only will they lead to longer visits - which can also translate to an increase in sales - but they will lower bounce rates, increase page views, and generate a positive first impression about your page.
Not Shipping the Item Until Money Hits Your Bank
This point may seem a bit obvious, but it’s still a fairly common mistake that Shopify store owners make. That first purchase is always exciting, but many Shopify store owners think they don’t have to ship the product until they’ve received their payment from Shopify. Unfortunately, that’s completely wrong. The customer isn’t the one withholding the payment, it’s Shopify, and they’re waiting for you to ship first before they release that payment.
That’s how it works on eBay and that’s also how it works with many online markets. Don’t wait for the payout to hit your account before shipping your product, because that will only lead to unhappy customers. When the consumer pays, that’s when the shipping process should start.
Just because the money hasn’t hit your account doesn’t mean that it hasn’t left your user’s account.
Time Management
The biggest expense for a business isn’t packaging or shipping, it’s labor. The more time you spend fixing problems on your Shopify store, the more value you’re putting into it. Time management is arguably the most difficult part of owning your own business. The more time you spend on various tasks the less you’re paying yourself in the long run.
If there are issues that are clearly beyond your reach when it comes to your Shopify store, find someone who can easily solve them. The same goes for simple tasks. Being a perfectionist is great, but not when it turns 10-minute tasks into those that could take hours.
Contact support if you need to, contact a web developer if you need to, but utilize time management techniques and strategies that benefit your business instead of just diluting your work.
Not Doing Even Basic Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
I’ve written numerous pieces on how SEO can benefit a business, especially those on Shopify. In its most basic form, SEO increases the amount of keywords and content relevant to your website/product to ensure that your website appears on searches for those keywords and content. It’s a simple benefit but the execution can be a bit complicated. That’s why there are several plugins on Shopify that can be used to do most of the SEO work for you. For those who want to go a step further, hire SEO experts (like The 215 Guys) who can optimize your page for you.
SEO can increase your market size, and page views, and can even lead to higher conversion rates.
Overreliance on Shopify
Just because Shopify is your host doesn’t mean it should be your consultant. While they do have extensive information on how to improve your Shopify store, overreliance on their expertise can do more damage than good. Very few businesses succeed when their owners aren’t willing to learn. That doesn’t mean you have to get a degree in web development, but it does mean that you should know why certain styles or function choices impact website UX.
Don’t always assume that Shopify has the answer just because they provide the software.
General Information, Upkeep, and Updates
Your business isn’t your website but your website is effectively a structural pillar of your business. It’s an extension of you, your storefront, and whatever else your business represents. That means it would be helpful if it had the basic information users expect from a website or page, like operating services, hours, employee or brand information, and maybe even a blog post or two.
Not only that, company stories and blog posts can increase brand awareness and showcase your brand’s identity to the consumer. Consistent blog posting costs roughly 60% less than conventional marketing strategies but is also incredibly effective for customer acquisition.
Show off your expertise, and your business information, so that customers know more about your brand and your story.
Policies On All Business Information
Last, but arguably most important, are your business policies. A user shouldn’t be emailing you to find out whether you ship with USPS or UPS. Whether it’s about returns, exchanges, shipping, pricing plans, or other details policies need to be easily found and understood.
Not only is this a customer service issue it’s a legal issue. Customers want to know when they’re going to get their product and they want to know what you’re going to do about it if it arrives broken, gets lost, or is shipped to an incorrect address.
Avoid expensive chargebacks, and avoid impacting your credibility, by having every relevant policy available to customers on a page they can easily navigate to.
