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Shopify conversion checklist: 25 checks a buyer notices on a phone

Checked against the live sources below on 27 October 2026.

Open your store on a phone, on mobile data, and walk through these 25 checks in order. Anything you have to squint, wait or guess at is a place a buyer leaves. This is our own checklist from the buyer’s side, not research, so treat it as a prompt to look, not a score.

Homepage and navigation (1 to 6)

You can tell what the store sells within a few seconds.
The menu opens with one tap.
Search finds a product you name.
The homepage loads without layout jumps.
No popup covers the page on arrival.
A product is reachable in three taps or fewer.

How to run this list: use your own phone, not your laptop in a narrow window, and be a stranger. Do not look for what is there; look for what you would need and cannot find.

Product page (7 to 15)

The price is visible without scrolling.
The main photo loads fast and zooms.
Size and colour pickers are easy to tap.
Sold-out options are marked, not hidden.
Shipping cost or a clear estimate is shown.
The description answers the first question a buyer has.
Returns are explained in plain words.
Reviews or other proof, if you have them, are visible.
The add to cart button is large and stays on screen.

This is where most of the sale is decided. If you only have time for one section, do this one, and fix anything that makes you scroll to find the button.

Cart and checkout (16 to 21)

Adding to cart confirms itself.
The cart shows photos, options and totals.
No new fee appears for the first time at checkout.
Guest checkout is possible.
The keyboard type matches the field (numbers for phone).
Payment options are the ones your buyers expect.

Baymard Institute’s average of 50 studies puts documented cart abandonment at 70.22 percent. That is context, not a target for your store.

Trust and basics (22 to 25)

Contact details and a policy page are easy to find.
Prices and stock agree between pages.
An AI assistant or search engine can read the product facts. The store audit guide and a free scan cover this.
Back-in-stock options exist for sold-out items.

Tick what passes, note what fails, and fix the failures nearest to payment first. Run the list again after any theme or app change, since both can move buttons without telling you.

Check the part you cannot see by eye: can an AI shopper find and read your store?

Free store scan Aivis for Shopify

Frequently asked questions

How should I test on a phone?

Use your own phone, on mobile data rather than home wifi, in a private browser tab. Time it, and note every place you hesitate.

Which checks matter most?

The ones in the path to payment: product page, cart and checkout. Fix what blocks the sale before polishing the homepage.

Is this checklist backed by data?

No. It is our judgement from the buyer’s side. The only statistic on this page is Baymard’s cart abandonment average.

How this page was researched

Read on 27 October 2026. The 25 checks are our own judgement; the one statistic comes from Baymard’s page; the AI-shopper facts come from aistoreshopper.com.

Baymard Institute: Cart abandonment rate statistics — an average documented cart abandonment rate of 70.22 percent, calculated from 50 different studies
AI Store Shopper — a free scan takes about 60 seconds with no signup or email; the report is $149 today and "The Watch continues at $29.99/month after 30 days — cancel anytime" (the page’s own words); the report is a real-browser walk by an AI buying agent (find, read, add to cart, reach checkout) that never places an order; grades four areas; up to three free rechecks in 45 days; available to US merchants only; described as one dated snapshot, not a certification

Disclosure. Aivis and AI Store Shopper are ours (Stelar Digital LLC). This page was written with AI tooling and checked against the sources listed above.