Shopify Success Checklist for NZ Stores (Updated 2025)

Jul 6, 2025

Do you want to grow your Shopify store and increase sales? This free checklist covers everything we have learnt over 10 years of helping Shopify stores ranging from $0 to $50M+ in sales improve their shopping experience and grow their conversions. Whether you are just getting started or looking at next steps for improving your store, take a look at our recommendations below.

The Basics
Website Optimisations
Marketing & Automations
Ecommerce Strategy
Administration

The Basics

These are the most critical and fundamental tasks that every store should do before considering other strategies and optimisations to grow their sales.

Get set up properly
Skipping crucial steps while setting up your Shopify store can lead to a number of problems that inhibit growth. Review our Shopify Launch Checklist to make sure you have not missed any important tasks.
Source the best products
All of the recommendations on this page are no replacement for having a good product. If your products are not up to standard, you will have a very difficult time retaining customers and building a good reputation. Do your market research, test the quality yourself, and avoid sourcing from cheap high-volume dropshipping websites.
Check your grammar and replace placeholder content
Poor spelling or grammar can make your site look less trustworthy. Placeholder images or text make your website look unfinished, which discourages customers from purchasing.
Use high quality photos
High quality photos are one of the most important factors in conversion rate. Invest in a professional product photographer or a lightbox for good quality product photos.
Check your website links
Click every link on every page of your website to ensure they all work, or use an online tool to scan for broken links.

Website Optimisations

These tasks focus on improving your customer’s shopping experience. Some may require a developer or installing Shopify apps.

Create a loyalty program
A loyalty program increases customer retention. Recommended app: Smile.
Set up analytics
Connect Google Analytics using the Google app and set up Google Search Console. Consider HotJar for heatmaps and surveys.
Referral program
Encourages existing customers to refer new ones. The Smile app also facilitates referrals.
Add a product reviews app
Product reviews build social proof. Use apps like JudgeMe or Loox and feature reviews prominently.
Optimise with Google PageSpeed
Use Google PageSpeed to evaluate your site’s loading speed. Aim for a performance score of at least 75/100 on desktop and mobile.
Make your key selling points obvious
Ensure things like your returns policy, free shipping, customer service, and payment methods are visible on every page.
Show social proof
Feature product reviews, testimonials, awards, or good press. Every page should have some social proof, plus a standalone reviews page.
Add an app for post-purchase feedback
Use Zigpoll to collect valuable feedback from customers.
Refine your navigation
Include links to collections, support pages, informational pages, reviews, and contact. Use mega-menus and check competitor menus for inspiration.
Offer your products in bundles
Use Shopify’s free bundle app to offer discounted bundles, increasing average order value. For inspiration, see The Oodie.
Offer your products as a subscription
Use a subscription app to increase customer retention and repeat sales.
Review your competitors
Find your top 10 competitors and learn from their websites. Use Storetrends to see what Shopify apps they use.
Test that your website is mobile responsive
Use Google’s mobile-friendly test for each page.
Crosslink your website and social media profiles
Make sure all your social profiles link back to your website, and vice versa.
Add 3-7 images to each product
Multiple images help customers understand the product. Use a variety of angles and contexts.
Add a video of your product
Videos can increase conversion. Use product demos, unboxings, or runway videos for clothing.
Add more product information
More information increases trust and helps SEO. Use tabs, modals, or sections for shipping info, care instructions, size guides, specs, or testimonials.
Use autocomplete with fuzzy-searching for your search bar
Use an app like Product Filter & Search for improved search functionality.
Show your categories and brands on the homepage
Feature 8-20 collections in a grid or carousel format.
Show savings on discounted products
Display how much customers save on discounted products, either as a percentage or fixed value.
Sticky add to cart button
Show a fixed buy button on mobile for pages with lots of content.
Turn popular filters into subcategories
Make new collections for your most-used filters and add them to the main menu.
Avoid empty pages
Show suggested products on 404 pages and empty search results to keep visitors on your site.
Use product badges
Badges like “Sale”, “Pre Order”, “Popular”, “Low Stock” convey key information to customers.
Make your featured product images consistent
Use a consistent background, color, and aspect ratio for product images.
Show a second image on hover for product cards
Make your site more interactive by showing a second product image on hover.
Show available sizes or colours on product cards
Display product options and show which are out of stock.
Order your filters by what is most used
Prioritise filters based on usage rather than alphabetically.
Show model size and fit
For clothing stores, help customers choose the right size and reduce returns.
Suggest similar or alternative products
Make it easy for customers to find what they want by suggesting alternatives.
Show recently viewed products
Display recently viewed products at the bottom of product, collection, and cart pages.
Support mobile gestures
Ensure carousels and image galleries are swipeable and tap elements are large enough for mobile users.
Merchandise your collection pages
Organise collections to feature your best or most anticipated products first.
Use easily understood terminology
Use clear, descriptive labels for categories and menus.

Marketing & Automations

The backbone of any successful Shopify store is a good marketing strategy. Automations help personalise the shopping experience and improve customer retention.

Why we recommend discounts in automations:

Reward existing customers with discounts tied to their involvement, increasing repeat purchases.
Blanket sales attract short-term, less loyal buyers, but discounts in automations build long-term value.
Discount codes in email automations are more cost-effective than retargeting ads.

Key Tasks:

Email & SMS marketing
Share new products and promotions with customers by email and SMS. Avoid over-sending, especially via SMS.
Increase touchpoints
Engage customers across all the platforms they use, both online and offline.
Video content
Use video to engage, inform, and convert customers. Share across your website and social channels.
Optimise your on-page SEO
Ensure titles, descriptions, and content are detailed and accurate. Make your website fast and crawlable. Avoid duplicate or AI-generated content.
Create custom landing pages
Make dedicated pages for competitive topics, brands, or FAQs to boost SEO and run targeted campaigns.
Collect UGC (User Generated Content)
Display UGC as social proof, and consider rewarding customers who create and share content about your brand.
Offer free downloads
Use free tools or resources as lead magnets to grow your email list and brand reach.
Incentivise subscribers with a welcome discount
Offer discounts or giveaways for newsletter sign-ups.
Recover abandoned carts
Set up abandoned cart emails. Consider offering free shipping or a small discount to incentivise purchases.
Customise your order notification email
Personalise post-purchase emails with helpful info and appreciation.
Email customers when they have enough loyalty points
Encourage repeat purchases by notifying customers when they earn a reward.
Automated email for the customer’s first and second order
Send discount codes and other incentives after first and second orders to encourage a third.
Re-engage inactive customers
Email customers who haven’t purchased in a while with new products and incentives.
Marketing & ads plan
Create a detailed plan covering all marketing channels: social, paid, email, blog, etc.
Set up a blogging schedule
You should aim for at least one blog post per week, an app like AI Blog Agent can help automate this if you don’t have the time to do it yourself, just make sure to monitor the quality and customise it to your personal tone and topics.
Be active on socials, communicate frequently
Post at least once a week to keep your brand top of mind.
Send wishlist reminders
Email customers when items on their wishlist go on sale or are restocked.
Send back in stock notifications
Use a Back in Stock app to notify customers when products are available again.
Send purchase reminders for replenishable products
For products customers reorder regularly, send timely reminders and promote subscriptions.

Ecommerce Strategy

These recommendations focus on your business model more than your store. Some will be more relevant depending on your industry.

Free shipping goal
Offer free shipping or free shipping above a spend threshold to increase average order value and conversion rate.
Returns policy
Build confidence with a generous and obvious returns policy.
Fast shipping
Fast shipping boosts satisfaction. Share shipping time estimates on your site.
High touch sales
Offer personal consultations or experiences to close large orders and differentiate from competitors.
Sell your products wholesale
If possible, sell to other businesses to create reliable income streams.
Set up a dropshipping program
Let other stores sell your products while you handle fulfillment. Vet dropshippers carefully.
Design intrinsic virality
Make your products or shopping experience shareable, encouraging word of mouth and referrals.
Always be testing
Test everything: pricing, website design, incentives. Use A/B testing where possible.
Seasonal promotions
Plan for recurring sales events and run coordinated campaigns across all channels.
Find your flywheel
Develop a strategy where customer growth creates more growth, like referral programs or reinvesting sales into marketing.

Administration

Improving your logistics and admin can save time and prevent headaches for established stores.

Back up your store
Use an app like Rewind Backups to protect your data.
Track admin activity
Use Shopify’s built-in logs or Smartlogs to audit changes and prevent unwanted actions.
Configure your rural shipping rates
If you have rural shipping rates on your Shopify store, use an app like KiwiSprout Rural Shipping to ensure customers select the rural rates at checkout to avoid lost shipping fees or adding administration time.
Create SOPs
Document your standard operating procedures in a shared platform like Google Docs or Notion.
Do not use automatic discounts for sales
Use the compare price field or a bulk editor app for sales, rather than automatic discounts.
Track broken links in Search Console
Regularly check for broken links and redirect them to valid pages to avoid hurting SEO.
Limit fraud orders
Use Shopify’s Fraud Filter and Fraud Control. For high fraud risk, set payment capture to manual.
Enable online returns
Read Shopify’s guide on enabling online returns for simpler customer service.

If you have any questions or need help with your Shopify store, feel free to reach out.