10 Real Problems Shopify Store Owners Face (And How to Fix Them)

Shopify is now one of the most trusted ecommerce platforms with more than 5.23 million active online stores from a wide range of businesses (a 5% growth rate from 2024). Last year in 2024 Shopify generated approximately $10.5 billion in revenue, and this year 2025 projections indicate that it will surpass $15 billion.

Many businesses from various industries, including small, major and large enterprises are now shifting their offline shops online with the help of Shopify. The platform allows you to easily set up your store, but recently we have seen that many store owners frequently face challenges such as preferring the wrong niche, choosing the wrong theme, failing to optimize for mobile, installing multiple apps, lacking a marketing strategy, and more. These are the most common Shopify mistakes that store owners make and the issues might not look big right now but can create a huge impact on your business.

In this blog we will share 10 challenges that many store owners face during the Shopify store creation and after the store launch. We will provide you with the proper solution and guide you on how to fix Shopify store issues. Read on to learn more about Shopify.

10 Common Challenges Store Owners Face and How You Can Fix It!

Not every theme and strategy works the same for all stores. You might have seen your competitor doing something and thought of implementing it in your store, but it brings no good results. And that is also one of the reasons many people face challenges on Shopify. But don’t worry we have created this guide to provide you with a solution for some of the most common challenges that many of you might be dealing with.

1. Lack of Design Expertise

Does your brand or store look unprofessional? Is the design generic and cluttered? It’s simple, when it comes to the user-first approach in the ecommerce world, website design plays an important role and if your store is lacking in that we are definitely sure that you are losing potential sales.

How to Fix It:

• Work with a Shopify web development agency to get a professionally designed store. This way you will have a clean, uncluttered website, which will give your customers a great experience.
  
  
• We know budget could be a concern for many, and for that, you can get a premium theme and get it customized with the help of Shopify experts.
  
  
• Do not forget mobile/responsive optimization. Store owners usually create great stores, but due to non-mobile-friendly versions, they lose potential buyers.
  
  
• If you are still thinking about how to set up a Shopify store correctly, then take help from Shopify web development agency.

2. Difficulty with Theme Customization

One common mistake store owner make is choosing a wrong theme. And then try to customize it according to their business needs without understanding the code. This leads to broken links, unresponsive pages, and non-user friendly website.

How to Fix It:

• Choose theme that is relevant to your business, and aligns well with your products or services.
  
  
• Avoid editing the code files unless you are an experienced person. It can block some functionalities and disrupt the layout.
  
  
• If you have customization work, take help from Shopify web development company to avoid bugs and performance issues in the future.

3. App Overload or Wrong App Choices

We know apps can bring a lot of new possibilities to your store as you get new features and widgets to showcase your products. But but,… did you know installing or integrating too many apps leads to slow website speed and also creates feature conflicts? Even installing wrong apps can harm the website load speed.

How to Fix It:

• Perform an app audit, remove anything that is not required, and take up space. The apps which are not bringing conversions or value are not the ones to keep.
  
  
• Before installing any app check the reviews and authenticity. Always integrate apps which are highly rated and trusted.
  
  
• And the store who usually asks us how to improve Shopify speed? One of the key steps is removing unnecessary apps.

4. Unclear Brand Messaging

Brand messaging can make or break your Shopify brand presence. When customers land on your website and can’t identify what you are actually selling, everything seems confusing to them, in that case, how they will trust you. When you show clear brand messaging and highlight your unique selling points (USPs) on your website, your customers have a reason to trust you.

How to Fix It:

• The most important factor to define is the Unique Selling Proportion (USP) on your website and communicate it properly across the homepage and product pages.
  
  
• Set a brand tone, language, and visual pattern, which helps customers to recognize your brand easily.
  
  
• You can always get help from Shopify experts or experienced writer to create brand messaging that connects your brand with your audience and shapes your business.

5. Poor Product Page Setup

Imagine visiting a store to buy trekking shoes, but being unable to see proper pictures of the shoes due to low quality, a lack of proper description, generic wordings, and no customer reviews. Will you be able to make a decision? Will you make a purchase? No.. right! Then, how will your customer be able to do it? If your website has a low-quality product image, generic descriptions and no customer reviews, then you are likely experiencing abandoned carts, losing sales and trust.

How to Fix It:

• Use high-quality images with a zoom option, and add multiple-angle photos, this helps buyers to have a good view of the product.
  
  
• Create detailed, quality, and benefit-focused product descriptions to help customers make the decision.
  
  
• Add customer reviews, frequently asked questions, return and shipping policy, privacy policy, and all the needed information to make the buyer journey smooth.

After Store Launch

6. Low Traffic & Visibility

The store is live but no one knows that your store exists. Without visibility even great products fail. We have seen that there are many Shopify stores that are merely present but have no visibility and traffic.

How to Fix It:

• Create a marketing strategy according to your business. Start Shopify search engine optimization, add blogs, product page content, meta titles, and meta descriptions.
  
  
• Plan a social media calendar and start promoting your brand on Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, TikTok, and other apps.
  
  
• You can hire a Shopify marketing agency or Shopify SEO expert to help you get more traffic on the website.

7. No or Low Conversions

Getting traffic is one thing, but that traffic should get converted. It does not make any sense that you get traffic and nobody is buying. This is one of the most frustrating Shopify store issues.

How to Fix It:

• One thing many store owners do is add trust badges, reviews, and product warranties, as this creates trust in the buyers.
  
  
• If you know that the page speed is the reason, fix it; also try to simplify the checkout process.
  
  
• Use tools like Hotjar or Microsoft Clarity to understand user behavior and optimize your Shopify store accordingly.

8. High Cart Abandonment Rates

When visitors add products to cart but do not complete the purchase, this cart abandonment is considered as the major leak in your marketing sales funnel strategy. The reason could be anything like price, quality, checkout process, payment option and more.

How to Fix It:

• Shopify has abandoned the cart email option, enable it so that you can start offering time sensitive discounts.
  
  
• Try to provide multiple payment options and display shipping costs to avoid hidden charges.
  
  
• You can also try exit intent popups with different offers or reminders. All these strategies are conversion opportunities.

9. Lack of Marketing Strategy

We get it, you have launched a store and now you are hoping for the best. You have randomly started posting on social media and sending emails to drive growth. But all these efforts won’t make sense if you have not created a marketing strategy. Blind marketing might give you some sales, but it won’t be long-term. In marketing, even the time of social media posting matters.

How to Fix It:

• Create a complete marketing strategy, including search engine optimization, social media posting, paid ads, email marketing, influencer marketing, and more.
  
  
• Install apps like Wiser AI for automated features like cart abandonment, post purchase upsell, advance search, and more.
  
  
• Hire a Shopify web development and marketing agency to create and execute a marketing strategy.

10. Technical Maintenance Issues

Not giving attention to the backend store maintenance can lead to Shopify store optimization issues, like broken links, slow load times, theme errors and downtime. These technical issues create a negative impact on search engine optimization and hamper the overall growth of the store.

How to Fix It:

• Audit your website on a regular basis by using some tools like Google Pagespeed, GTmetrix, or Shopify analyzer.
  
  
• Some apps and themes require regular updates, so be sure to keep them up to date!
  
  
• You can also schedule periodic maintenance with the help of Shopify experts or agency that offers ongoing support.

Take Help From Experts Because Your Shopify Store Deserve Better!

All the issues we have mentioned are not Shopify’s fault, they arise from how the store is set up, managed, and marketed. If you have been wondering.. how to set up a Shopify store correctly? Why is my Shopify store not getting sales? How to increase sales on my Shopify store? Then it’s time to rethink your strategy, the setup settings and possibly take help from experts.

Work with a leading Shopify web development and marketing agency, like Expert Village Media, which has all the expertise to help your store. We have helped 4000+ brands, and your could be next. Whether it’s design, development, or digital marketing services, our experts will convert your store into a brand. Because a few expert tweaks today can lead to consistent growth tomorrow.

Create an email mentioning that “MY BUSINESS NEED HELP” and email it to info@expertvillagemedia.com, and our experts will get back to you.