Beyond the template: the elements that make a difference in conversion, product SEO and cart recovery.
There are over 5 million stores on Shopify. Most sell little or nothing. The problem is almost never the platform — it is what is done (or not done) on top of it.
The product page is where everything is decided
70% of purchase decisions happen on the product page. Not on the homepage, not in the category. There. And most product pages have poor photos, a generic description copied from the supplier, and no reviews. No amount of traffic fixes that.
The minimum to make it work: 4-5 photos from different angles, a description that answers real buyer doubts ("how long does delivery take?", "can I return for free?"), a buy button visible without scrolling, and real reviews even if there are only a few.
Speed: every second has a price
One more second of loading equals 7% fewer conversions. Not a metaphor. With Shopify, the usual culprits are accumulated apps (each adds between 50ms and 300ms), uncompressed images, and heavy themes full of animations nobody asked for.
Shopify's Dawn or Sense themes work well out of the box. Only add apps you genuinely need and compress images before uploading.
The abandoned cart is money left on the floor
70% of carts are abandoned. Shopify has built-in automatic recovery: set up emails at 1h, 24h and 72h after abandonment. In active stores, it recovers between 5% and 15% of those carts. It is the feature with the best ROI and the one most ignored.
The checkout is where the sale dies
Requiring account creation to purchase kills conversions. Shopify allows guest checkout — enable it. Reduce form fields to the minimum. And enable Shopify Payments if you operate in Spain: fewer friction points, fewer steps, fewer abandonments.
Product SEO: appear on Google or not exist
The format that works in titles: [Product name] + [Category] + [Differentiating feature]. "Men's running shoes cushioning lightweight" ranks. "Model X23" does not rank.
Images need descriptive alt text. Meta descriptions need the price and the main benefit. Not advanced optimisation — it is what all the competitors beating you are already doing.
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