{"skill":{"slug":"cm-shopify-store-optimizer","displayName":"Shopify Store Optimizer","summary":"Audit Shopify stores end-to-end and produce a prioritized fix list to lift conversion rate, AOV, and SEO traffic. Diagnoses theme speed, product page anatomy...","description":"---\nname: shopify-store-optimizer\ndescription: Audit Shopify stores end-to-end and produce a prioritized fix list to lift conversion rate, AOV, and SEO traffic. Diagnoses theme speed, product page anatomy, collection structure, cart/checkout friction, app bloat, mobile UX, and pricing/discount strategy. Knows the Shopify-specific levers (sections, metafields, app stack, Shop Pay, Markets, Checkout Extensibility) and the 2026 Online Store 2.0 patterns. Use when asked to audit a Shopify store, improve conversion, increase AOV, fix slow theme, optimize product pages, restructure collections, reduce cart abandonment, plan a redesign, evaluate apps, or prepare for BFCM. Triggers on \"shopify audit\", \"shopify conversion\", \"shopify speed\", \"product page\", \"collection page\", \"abandoned cart\", \"AOV\", \"shopify theme\", \"shopify apps\", \"checkout optimization\", \"BFCM prep\".\nmetadata:\n  tags: [\"shopify\", \"ecommerce\", \"conversion-rate\", \"cro\", \"dtc\", \"store-design\", \"online-store\", \"checkout\"]\n---\n\n# Shopify Store Optimizer\n\nAudit a Shopify store the way a senior CRO consultant would — site-wide pass first to find the biggest leak, then focused product-page surgery, then long-tail SEO and AOV plays. Outputs a ranked fix list with effort estimates, not a vague \"improve UX\" deck.\n\n## Usage\n\nUse when revenue per visitor is below benchmark, when a store has plateaued, or before a high-stakes period (BFCM, holiday, new product launch).\n\n**Basic invocation:**\n> Audit my Shopify store: example-store.myshopify.com\n> Why is my conversion rate stuck at 1.2%?\n> My product page bounce rate is 70% — diagnose\n> Plan my BFCM prep — store is on Dawn theme\n\n**With context:**\n> Stack: Dawn 11.0, Klaviyo, Shogun, Loox, Bold Bundles. CR 1.4%, AOV $58, mobile share 78%.\n> 6-month-old DTC skincare brand, $8k/mo revenue, plateaued. Want to hit $25k.\n> Switching from Plus to Basic to cut cost — what loses functionality?\n> Migrating from Magento to Shopify — what to keep, what to redesign.\n\nThe agent runs a five-layer audit (storefront speed → IA → PDP → cart/checkout → retention) and produces ranked fixes with expected lift, effort, and Shopify-specific implementation notes.\n\n## How It Works\n\n### Layer 1: Storefront speed and core web vitals\n\nLCP > 2.5s = ranking + conversion penalty. Order of attack:\n\n1. **Theme baseline** — Dawn / Sense / Trade / Pipeline / Symmetry are fast out of the box. Vintage 1.0 themes (Brooklyn, Debut, Boundless) are slow and unmaintained — replatform recommendation.\n2. **App audit** — every embedded app injects JS. Run `?debug=true` and Theme Inspector. Common offenders: review apps loading on every page, pop-ups firing on `DOMContentLoaded`, heatmap trackers, Tidio chat. Rule: if an app costs >100ms LCP, the use case has to be revenue-generating, not \"nice to have.\"\n3. **Image weight** — hero images >300KB, product images >150KB, lazy-loading missing on below-fold. Tool: Shopify Image Optimizer or Tinify (avoid full third-party CDNs — Shopify CDN is fine).\n4. **Liquid loops** — `{% for product in collection.products %}` with deep metafield access at scale = slow. Move to section settings or `{% paginate %}`.\n5. **Custom fonts** — limit to 2 weights, use `font-display: swap`, prefer Shopify's font picker (preloaded).\n\nOutput: speed-fix list with PageSpeed before/after estimates and effort (XS/S/M/L).\n\n### Layer 2: Information architecture and navigation\n\nA store with 500 SKUs and 4 collections in the menu is leaking traffic. Audit:\n\n- **Collection depth** — every product should be reachable in ≤3 clicks. Use mega menu for stores with >20 collections.\n- **Filtering** — Shopify Search & Discovery filters drive AOV; tag products with material, color, size, occasion, price band. Avoid filters with <3 products (causes empty states).\n- **Search** — install Shopify Search & Discovery (free) before paying for Boost AI / Searchanise. Synonyms (e.g., \"tee\" → \"t-shirt\"), redirects on no-results, and trending queries are table stakes.\n- **Breadcrumbs** — must be enabled, structured-data marked, and clickable at every level.\n- **Footer** — should hold trust badges, shipping/returns, contact, and a discount-capture (10% off) for first-purchase intent.\n\n### Layer 3: Product page (PDP) anatomy\n\nThis is where 60% of conversion lift lives. Audit each section:\n\n| Element | Best practice 2026 |\n|---|---|\n| Image gallery | 5–8 images, model + flat-lay + scale + detail + lifestyle + UGC. Mobile carousel with thumbnails. |\n| Title | Under 60 chars, includes searchable attribute (size, color, use). |\n| Price | Include compare-at if discount real, never fake. Bundle/subscription pricing visible. |\n| Reviews | Star average + count above the fold. Loox / Judge.me / Yotpo all OK. |\n| Variants | Swatches for color, size selector, low-stock urgency only when real. |\n| ATC | Sticky on mobile after scroll. Buy Now if Shop Pay enabled (express checkout = +9% CR). |\n| Trust badges | Shipping ETA, returns policy, secure checkout. Money-back if applicable. |\n| Description | Scannable: bullets for spec, prose for story. Tabs for size guide / care / FAQ. |\n| Bundle / cross-sell | Use Shopify Bundles (free) or Bold Bundles. \"Frequently bought together\" lifts AOV 8–15%. |\n| Shipping | Show free-shipping threshold and estimated delivery date dynamically by zip. |\n\n### Layer 4: Cart and checkout\n\nCart-to-checkout drop is the silent killer. Audit:\n\n- **Cart drawer vs page** — drawer wins for impulse, page for high-consideration. Hybrid (drawer with \"view cart\" link) is safe.\n- **Free shipping bar** — progress indicator from cart subtotal toward threshold ($X away from free shipping). Tools: Free Shipping Bar (free) or built into theme.\n- **Discount field placement** — collapsed by default. Expanded fields lift abandonment (people leave to search for codes).\n- **Checkout extensibility** — on Plus, use checkout.liquid → Checkout Extensibility migration (deadline expired Aug 2024 — anyone still on legacy is at risk). Build apps, not custom Liquid.\n- **Shop Pay** — must be on; one-click checkout converts at 1.91x baseline per Shopify data.\n- **Local payment methods** — Klarna / Afterpay / Affirm for AOV >$80; iDEAL / Bancontact for EU; Konbini / PayPay for JP.\n- **Address auto-complete** — Shopify ships this; if disabled, re-enable.\n\n### Layer 5: Retention and lifecycle\n\nAcquisition without retention = treadmill. Audit:\n\n- **Email/SMS capture** — entry pop-up (Privy / Klaviyo) with discount; exit-intent on PDP.\n- **Klaviyo flows** — Welcome (3-email), Abandoned Cart (3-email + SMS), Browse Abandonment, Post-Purchase, Win-back at 60/90/180 days, Replenishment for consumables.\n- **Subscriptions** — for consumables, Recharge / Skio / Shopify Subscriptions. 15–25% discount on subscribe is standard.\n- **Loyalty** — Smile.io / Loyalty Lion only justified at >$30k/mo. Below that, simpler discount on second order works.\n- **Reviews/UGC loops** — automated request 10–14 days post-delivery; offer points or discount for photo review.\n\n## Audit Outputs\n\nAlways returns a ranked fix list:\n\n```markdown\n## Audit: example-store.myshopify.com (run 2026-05-02)\n\n### Top 5 fixes (do these this week)\n1. **PDP: add review widget above fold** — Effort: S | Lift: +8–12% CR\n   - Loox is installed but rendering below description tab. Move to top of PDP, show count + stars.\n2. **Cart: enable free-shipping bar** — Effort: XS | Lift: +5–7% AOV\n3. **Speed: remove unused Tidio chat on PDP** — Effort: XS | Lift: +0.4s LCP, +2% CR mobile\n4. **Checkout: enable Shop Pay** — Effort: XS | Lift: +9% on Shop Pay click-through\n5. **Klaviyo: launch 3-email Welcome flow** — Effort: M | Lift: +12% list-attributable revenue\n\n### Medium-term (this month)\n6. Add Shopify Bundles for SKU-A → SKU-B FBT — Effort: M | Lift: +10% AOV\n7. Restructure collections from 4 → 12 with filterable tags — Effort: M | Lift: SEO + filter conversion\n8. Migrate from Vintage Brooklyn theme to Dawn — Effort: L | Lift: speed + maintenance\n\n### Strategic (this quarter)\n9. Subscription program for hero SKU — Effort: L | Lift: +18% LTV\n10. Move from Basic to Shopify (or back) based on app cost analysis — Effort: M | Lift: cost\n```\n\n## Plan-Stage Diagnosis\n\nMatch the store stage to the right work:\n\n- **Pre-launch / first 90 days** — Don't optimize; ship paid ads to PDP. Track CR by traffic source. Optimization without traffic = vanity work.\n- **$5k–$25k/mo plateau** — PDP + cart drawer surgery. Apps audit. First Klaviyo flows.\n- **$25k–$100k/mo** — Bundles + subscriptions. Server-side tracking (GA4 + Meta CAPI). Search & filtering depth.\n- **$100k+/mo** — Plus features (B2B, Markets, Checkout Extensibility). Tax automation. Loyalty. Real CRO testing (Optimizely / VWO).\n\n## App Stack Recommendations (2026)\n\nDefault stack for under $100k/mo (cost-conscious, all proven):\n\n- **Reviews:** Judge.me ($15/mo) or Loox ($9.99–$34.99/mo)\n- **Email/SMS:** Klaviyo (free up to 250 contacts, then $20+/mo)\n- **Bundles:** Shopify Bundles (free, Online Store 2.0 themes only)\n- **Subscriptions:** Shopify Subscriptions (free, in-house) or Recharge for advanced\n- **Search:** Shopify Search & Discovery (free)\n- **Loyalty (>$30k/mo only):** Smile.io ($49+/mo)\n- **Upsell post-purchase:** ReConvert ($4.99–$24.99/mo) — high ROI, low effort\n- **Heatmap:** Microsoft Clarity (free)\n\nAvoid stacking: 3 review apps, 2 popup apps, dueling discount apps. Each app added without revenue justification = LCP cost + monthly fee + complexity.\n\n## Shopify Plus Decision Tree\n\nPlus ($2,300/mo or 0.4% rev) makes sense at:\n\n- Revenue > $1M/yr (cost as % becomes reasonable)\n- Need: Wholesale (B2B), Markets+ (multi-currency PDP control), Checkout Extensibility apps, Launchpad for sales, Flow automations\n- 15+ stores under one org\n- Custom checkout requirements\n\nDon't move to Plus to \"look bigger.\" Move to Plus when you can't ship a deal without it.\n\n## BFCM Prep Playbook\n\n8 weeks out:\n- Lock in promo strategy. Site-wide vs collection-specific.\n- Test load with WebPageTest + traffic simulation.\n- Stage all banners, popups, price changes in a draft theme.\n- Email warm-up (send-volume ramp up to avoid spam folder Nov 27).\n- Stock and shipping cutoff calendar.\n\n2 weeks out:\n- Freeze new features. Bug-fix only.\n- Customer support staffing plan.\n- Backup theme + database.\n\nDay-of:\n- Theme deploy via \"Publish\" (not edit live).\n- Live monitoring: GA4 realtime, Klaviyo deliverability, support inbox SLA.\n\n## Metric Benchmarks (DTC, 2026)\n\n- **Conversion rate:** mobile 1.5–2.5%, desktop 2.5–4%\n- **AOV:** apparel $60–90, beauty $50–75, home $80–150, supplements $40–55\n- **Bounce on PDP:** <55% healthy, >70% diagnose\n- **Add-to-cart rate:** 8–12%\n- **Cart-to-checkout:** 35–45%\n- **Checkout-to-order:** 75–85% (drops below = friction or trust gap)\n- **Returning customer rate:** 25–35% mature brand\n\nIf the store is below benchmark on multiple metrics, the diagnosis order is: speed → PDP → cart → checkout → retention.\n\n## Output Format\n\nThe agent produces:\n\n1. **Snapshot:** revenue range, CR, AOV, mobile share, theme, app count, plan tier\n2. **Top 5 fixes** (week 1) — ranked by ROI, with effort and expected lift\n3. **Medium-term roadmap** (month 1) — 5–8 items\n4. **Strategic moves** (quarter 1) — 2–3 items\n5. **Killed apps / bad spend** — what to remove this week\n6. **Tracking gaps** — analytics, attribution, funnel events missing\n\nNo filler, no \"leverage synergies.\" Concrete fixes with theme files, app names, and configuration steps.\n","topics":["Online Store"],"tags":{"latest":"1.0.0"},"stats":{"comments":0,"downloads":348,"installsAllTime":13,"installsCurrent":0,"stars":0,"versions":1},"createdAt":1777679676245,"updatedAt":1778492826217},"latestVersion":{"version":"1.0.0","createdAt":1777679676245,"changelog":"Shopify Store Optimizer skill, initial release:\n\n- Audits Shopify stores end-to-end and produces a prioritized fix list to optimize conversion rate, AOV, and SEO.\n- Diagnoses theme speed, product page structure, collections, cart/checkout friction, app bloat, mobile UX, and pricing/discount strategy.\n- Provides a five-layer audit covering speed, navigation, PDP, cart/checkout, and retention, with implementation notes specific to Shopify features and 2026 OS 2.0 patterns.\n- Triggered by common Shopify optimization and audit requests.\n- Delivers actionable, ranked recommendations with expected lift and effort estimates.","license":"MIT-0"},"metadata":null,"owner":{"handle":"charlie-morrison","userId":"s17cttbdxry5kkyafjw983mq8s83p4y3","displayName":"charlie-morrison","image":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/271589886?v=4"},"moderation":null}