Does this sound like you?
â Your Shopify store has traffic but no sales
Yes?
Well, brace yourselfââcause by the end of this, youâll be well on to transforming your Shopify store into a sales machine.
Letâs go!
23 Specific Reasons Why People Are Dropping Off Your Shopify Store
1. Your pop-ups could be intrusive
2. Your Homepage could have too many conflicting elementsÂ
3. Your page doesnât load fast enough (or elements break as they load)
4. Your Shopify store looks odd on mobile devices
5. You could be showing zero search results
6. Your product filters are not user-friendly
7. Your categories in your collections - are all over the place
8. Your collections pages do not display enough information
9. You could be showing very few products on your collections page
10. The CTA buttons could be confusing users
11. Your reviews donât seem too trustworthy
13. Your product page looks sketchy
14. You just maybe too âsalesyâ
15. Your pricing sets off alarms
16. You're probably making false promises
17. You donât show a specific delivery date
18. You have way too many form fields on checkout
19. You donât let shoppers remove items from the order
20. You are surprising people with added costs
21. You arenât set up for a long purchase spanÂ
22. What kind of ads are you running â Is your traffic quality traffic? Bad traffic = Zero Sales
23. Is your messaging on landing pages connected with the ads you are running
1. Your pop-ups could be intrusive
Picture this: You have just landed on a Shopify store that you just discovered, and you see this pop-up:
Now, ask yourself this: would you want to stay?Â
Getting 10% off on your next purchase doesnât matter as muchâyou havenât made the first one yet. đ¤
How do you show a better welcome and reduce drop-offs?
- Show the pop-up as a sticky widget (which users can interact with)
- Trigger the popup on exit-intent behavior (or after the user has made some engagement on the page)
- Consider using non-intrusive pop-ups, like this one:
đĄ Quick Tip: Promote your welcome offer in the notification bar â use contrasting colors to draw attention:
2. Your Homepage could have too many conflicting elementsÂ
When you offer one too many offers or actionsâusers wonât know what to do nextâtake a look at this example:
How to ensure that users donât drop off due to conflicting elements?
- Donât offer more than two promotions per fold
- Use clear CTA buttons to guide users deeper into your Shopify store
- Avoid using too many (or too few) words for every section on the homepage â if needed, use visuals (like iconography)
- Make sure your logoâs not too big or missingâdo explain âwho you areâ
- Check if your images are too large or too small â or have some form of consistency (branding-wise)
- Donât offer way too many items within your navigation â make sure it isnât too large
- Check if the products display titles and pricing â or discounts everywhere
- Offer clear shipping availability/return policy/money-back guarantee
- Check if your page contains your socials, domain email, phone number, and address
đĄ Quick Tip: Avoid using a âmyshopifyâ domain â it raises red flags. đŠ
3. Your page doesnât load fast enough (or elements break as they load)
32% of users will give you about 3 seconds for your store to load (8 seconds if thereâs some evidence of you being trustworthy).
Now, imagine your Shopify store looks like this, as it loads:
How to ensure your pages/images arenât breaking/looking odd/low-quality?
- Consider serving all images in WebPâthis will help with the load time
- Lessen the use of third-party JavaScript as much as possible (think external analytics tools)
- Regularly check your Google Search Console for better reports on page quality (think Core Web Vitals)
đĄ Quick Tip: Check for dead links (links that lead to 404 errors) â they are great at causing drop-offs.
Also Read: How to Speed Up Shopify Website - 17 Practical Ideas
4. Your Shopify store looks odd on mobile devices
Nothing kills sales faster than low-quality pagesâtake a look at this example:
How do you check for mobile UX issues?
- Open your store on mobileâcheck how long it takes for you to scroll and see every image and element
- Do you have a sticky header or do you have to scroll up to find a menu
- Are there sticky widgets on mobile that interrupt the UX
- Is there a text-to-image ratio of 60:40 (60% images and 40% text)
đĄ Quick Tip: Look at your Google Search Consoleâspecifically the Page Experience and Core Web Vitalsâthese metrics will help you understand how your users are experiencing the pages.
Also Read: Optimize your Shopify Store for Mobile: Proven Ideas + Examples
5. You could be showing zero search results
This is equally serious as having broken/dead links (links that lead to 404 errors).Â
Hereâs why: it leads to a horrible UX (and users have no option but to leave).
How to use site search to reduce drop-offs?
- Offer a pre-filled help text on the search bar as suggestions
- Load up error text such as âUh-oh! We donât have what you may be looking for â but you may like theseâ
- Show your bestsellers or use NLP search analysis to show the best possible suggestions
đĄ Quick Tip: Take stock of all search queries your visitors have made to find patterns â if there are none â consider changing the design of the search bar.
Also Read: eCommerce visual search: 9 smart optimization tips (+ 4 tools to use)
6. Your product filters are not user-friendly
If your product filters donât work, they will cause your traffic to drop offânote this example:
How to ensure your product filters donât cause traffic to drop off?
- Remove filters that donât have products within them
- Test the speed of the filtersâif it takes more than 3 seconds, consider a different app
Highly recommended: How To Drive Traffic To Shopify Stores: 14 Proven Strategies
7. Your categories in your collections - are all over the place
Too broad a category can be a reason why you get no sales from your traffic on your Shopify storeâletâs look at this example:
How do you ensure your collections are categorized for user needs?
- Consider renaming your collections by the intended use caseâfor example, âMerchandiseâ would be a better fit here
- Use a filter instead of a sub-collectionâthis is applicable if there are more than 10 products
Recommended reading: How Do I Boost My Shopify Conversion Rate? (50 Effortless Strategies)
8. Your collections pages do not display enough information
Letâs pit two product displays against each other to understand this betterâwhich of these two displays would you trust?
Option A â˝
Option B â˝
If your answer is Option B, we wouldnât be surprisedâletâs explore why:
How to ensure your collection pages have enough information?
- Label your products clearlyâinclude sizing, reviews, colors, etc
- Use microcopy on your product displays to show updated stock/social proof/promotions
- Offer clear CTAâs to help users go deeperânote the âadd to cartâ CTA on Option B
- Avoid irrelevant text such as âNo questions yetâŚquestion!â on Option A
đĄ Quick Tip: Consider apps like Glo Color Swatch, and Swatch King for better product displays on product and collection pages.
9. You could be showing very few products on your collections page
Not having many products in your collections pages looks suspicious to most usersânote this example:
How to build trustworthy collection pages?
- Use enlarged layouts that help users focus better on the collection
- Use image carousels or a quick view to showcase more details
- Showcase your returns and shipping policies better
Need more inspiration for your collection pages?
We Recommend Reading: Double Your "Shopify Collections Page" Conversion Rate
đĄ Quick Tip: Use subtle triggers like âbest-sellingâ or âselling fastâ to move the sales along.Â
10. The CTA buttons could be confusing users
Take a look at this product page belowâthe sizing options specificallyânote how the lack of interactivity leads to increased frustration:
How to ensure multiple CTAâs donât lead to drop-offs?
- Offer error text or help text, when the intended action isnât made
- Change the colors of the button when it is selected
- Tune your copy to help users select the right option firstââStep 1: Choose your fitâ and âStep 2: Choose your sizeâ would have helped deliver better UX
11. Your reviews donât seem too trustworthy
Believe us when we say, users can smell fake reviews a mile awayâtake a look at this example:
How to ensure your social proof helps get a sale?
- Embed your social media feed to help with building trust
- If you donât have reviews just yetâconsider using some UGC from your employees
- If required, provide a free sample (and remember to ask them to review it)
- Reply to all kinds of reviews â especially if they are negative ones
đĄ Quick Tip: Create a product video from your UGC â show the product in use â this can help convert your traffic into customers.
You must also read: Getting Traffic But No Sales? 21 Reasons Why (+ How To Solve)
12. Your product description doesnât answer the âWhy,â âWhat,â âHow,â and âWhenâ of the product
Even if they doâall your workâs of no use if your product descriptions arenât readableâletâs take a look at an example of this:
How to ensure your product descriptions donât cause you to lose sales?
- Do your product images show the product in use (or inform about what the product has)
- Is there a photo of âwhatâs in the boxââthis shows what customers can expect when they receive the product
- Is there a clear mention of the returns, shipping, and discounts
- Has the âbrandâs USP(s)â like sustainability, minority-owned been mentioned
- Are there visual cues to draw attentionâlike product benefits, warnings, or ingredient information
đĄ Quick Tip: If you canât include everything within your product description, use an FAQ section.
13. Your product page looks sketchy
Letâs say your socials are on fireâand you lead them to a page like this:
It has all kinds of payment optionsâyet something just doesnât look rightâ-hereâs why:
What visual aspects lead to product page drop-offs?
- Your product image isnât a product imageâproof of execution would have worked better
- Uneven formatting within the product description
- There is little to no color contrastâand the branding is inconsistent
- Only one social platform is linkedâwhich raises eyebrows (and sales get lost)
Also Read: Optimize your Shopify Store for Mobile: Proven Ideas + Examples
14. You just maybe too âsalesyâ
Will your customers like it when you offer the same recommendations twice (at the same time)?
If you think, the answerâs yesâwe recommend taking a look at this example:
This example is interrupting enough on Desktopâimagine seeing it on mobile.Â
How can you ensure your upsells/cross-sells donât make you lose sales?
- Ensure you donât have multiple apps for cross-sells and upsells
- Avoid upsells/cross-selling beyond the cart pageâcontinue after the purchase
- Consider smart value upgrades such as âinsuranceâ or âsubscriptionsâ
Also Read: How to Increase AOV on Shopify: 27 Upselling Ideas
15. Your pricing sets off alarms
Most Shopify stores fail to get sales because of this reasonâletâs take a look at these two product pages:
Both brands essentially are selling the same productâhowever, the difference is the pricing (and the appeal).Â
The first example offers a $6 price, but it lacks any description â and seems to have been updated in 2020.Â
Meanwhile, the second example, ensures users read the product description while offering multiple sizes, certifications, and images:
What to consider when pricing your product?
- Does your product justify your price
- Does your product page communicate the value of your product as well
- Does your pricing include shipping
- Do you include taxes and duties
- Is it in the right currency
Also Read: 22 Shopify Product Page Mistakes That Drive Customers Away
16. You're probably making false promises
Letâs say you make an offer on your product pageâbut, you donât follow through on your checkout page.Â
What do you think happens then? You donât get the saleâletâs take a look at an example:
- Carthan Co. offers a free product on the product page and 20% off + free shipping:
- However, on the cart page, the free gift gets applied (not immediately) and the 20% off is nowhere to be found:
- At checkout, the discount shouldâve been auto-appliedâbut it wasnât:
How to ensure your checkout flow is consistent?
- Provide a reminder of your policies (returns, shipping, moneyback)
- Offer options to reach out to you â offer live chat support on checkout
đĄ Quick Tip: Since the coupon code bar doesnât disappear (unless you use Shopify Plus) â try auto-applying the discounts â these articles will help:
- How to apply automatic free shipping discounts on Shopify?
- How to auto-apply discount codes on Shopify?
Also Read: How to Customize your Shopify Checkout Page: 28 Proven Ideas
17. You donât show a specific delivery date
Delivery times are crucial to almost all shoppers, especially last-minute purchasersâletâs dissect this particular example:
The only problem here is that they could have mentioned how long it takes for ground shipping.
Instead, it works as a mild upsellâwhich can lower sales.Â
How do you ensure users don't drop off because of shipping?
- Offer multiple delivery options, such as pick up or collect at drop locations
- Ensure you clearly mention delivery dates to avoid any confusion
- Mention that orders are trackable in your microcopy
- Amp up the urgency with your copy like, âorder now to receive by xx/xxâ
18. You have way too many form fields on checkout
Shopify doesnât allow users to modify the checkout page unless theyâre on Shopify Plus.Â
Hereâs what you can do instead to reduce the work of filling form fields:
- Consider using a progress bar
- Use geolocation to autofill form fields
đĄ Quick Tip: Offer an SSO login (login by Google or Facebook or some platform) â this will help autofill a lot of form fields.
19. You donât let shoppers remove items from the order
This leads to user frustration, and if you add unsolicited upgradesâyou may as well say goodbye to your order.Â
Remember: You shouldn't spring on value upgrades on checkout without consent
You might also wanna check out: 26 Secrets to Running Successful Facebook Ads (For eCommerce Stores)
20. You are surprising people with added costs
Sure, you want to increase your AOV while keeping taxes and shipping costs separate â but include it at the get-go.
Want to reduce checkout abandonment due to added costs?
- Provide a shipping calculator on the product page, itself
- Use geolocation to show the maximum possible rate for shipping and duties
- Try ensuring that the pricing goes down when the actual address is entered on checkout
Recommended reading: 21 Clever Ways To Reduce Checkout Abandonment Rate
21. You arenât set up for a long purchase spanÂ
This stands especially true for products with high AOV (especially if your products go above the $80 mark).
The discovery phase happens on mobile and ends on desktopâwhich is why users may be dropping off.
Looking for a way out of long purchase spans?Â
- Assess if your product page copy communicates the value in terms of materials, warranty, etc
- Check if youâve highlighted purchase protection like easy returns, money-back guaranteeÂ
- Offer some form of flexibility in terms of payment, like BNPL payment
- Do you provide some sort of push for live support when exit intent behavior occurs
đĄ Quick Tip: Set up micro-conversions that help users towards a sale (think coupon code contests, newsletter signups, live streams, etc.).Â
Also Read: 11 Proven Ways To Reduce Shopify Bounce Rate
22. What kind of ads are you running â Is your traffic quality traffic? Bad traffic = Zero Sales
If youâre advertising on Meta or running display ads for traffic, you may be optimizing yourself for zero sales.Â
Your goal should be to make your ad copy as minimal as possibleâtry using multiple variations of your ad copy to appeal better, as âThe Paciiâ does:
Hereâs what you can do to make your ads perform better for sales:
- Check your Ad platform analytics and check whoâs seeing your adsâFB Ads Manager offers a feature like this:
- Recheck and reconfirm your choicesâalso incorporate your existing follower demographic into your audiences:
- Create at least 4 variations of your ad copy/videos
- Repurpose your best-performing TikTok video (or replicate a viral style)
- Focus on other types of advertising, such as Google Search Ads and Shopping Adsâand use them to retarget users who viewed a product
- Stay away from partner site placementsâsuch as the Audience Network (often a reason for low-quality traffic)
- Use the âSalesâ objective on FB ads for better performanceâyou will need to create a catalog on Facebook Ads Manager
đĄ Quick Tip: It takes any ad algorithm at least a month to optimize your ads for the best resultsâwhich is why itâs a good idea not to use limits on audience targeting at the get-go.Â
You may also like: 20 Shopify Product Recommendation Strategies (With Real-Life Examples)
23. Is your messaging on landing pages connected with the ads you are running
If it isnât, it may as well be the reason for getting zero sales from your traffic.Â
Letâs take an example of how to tie a landing page to an adâit promises a BOGO offer along with a money-back guarantee and a âGastroenterologist endorsedâ microcopy:
Similarly, the first fold of the landing page offers the same along with an expert review from a doctor:
However, what else does this landing page have to tie itself to the ad (and what couldâve been better)?
Pros:
- Interactive product carousel with clear information about the product (and that too in the right size)
- Clear value addition through the free e-book â30-day gut fix guideâ
- Live chat on standbyâshown as a subtle push notification
Cons:
- Promotion on the notification bar could be toned downÂ
- The designation of the expert could have been mentioned to help with the continuity
- No mention of the money-back guarantee in the first fold
Recommended Reading:
How To Get More Sales on Shopify: 31 Proven Hacks
How to Customize your Shopify Checkout Page: 28 Proven Ideas
How to Speed Up Shopify Website - 17 Practical Ideas
We can help you find why your shoppers are dropping off:
98% of visitors who visit an eCommerce siteâdrop off without buying anything.
This is no different for Shopify stores.
Why: user experience issues that cause friction for visitors.
And this is the problem Convertcart solves.
We've helped 500+ eCommerce stores (in the US) improve user experienceâand 2X their conversions.
How we can help you:
Our conversion experts can audit your siteâidentify UX issues, and suggest changes to improve conversions.