Quick answer: A CRO audit starts with data quality, then works through the funnel in order of impact: mobile speed and usability, product page clarity, trust and policy signals, search and navigation, cart and checkout friction, and finally testing. Most stores with a conversion rate around 1 to 1.5 per cent have two or three specific, fixable problems — not a general design problem.
A conversion rate of 1.2 per cent is not a verdict. For some categories and traffic mixes it is average; for others it is a sign that something is wrong. What matters is not the headline number but where visitors drop out and why.
This post explains what we look at first in a conversion rate optimisation audit, in the order we look at it. You can use it as a self-check before you pay anyone.
Start with the numbers you can trust
Before looking at the site, check that the data is right. We regularly find stores that are optimising against faulty analytics:
• Duplicate purchase events inflating conversions
• Checkout events missing on one payment method
• Internal and agency traffic included in reports
• Mobile and desktop sessions merged, hiding a gap that matters
• Currency or tax mismatches between analytics and Shopify reports
Compare your analytics orders and revenue against Shopify’s own for a recent month. If they differ by more than a few per cent, fix tracking first. Our post on analytics setup covers how.
Segment before you diagnose
An overall conversion rate averages very different groups. Split it by:
• Device. On most Indian stores, mobile accounts for the majority of sessions and converts at a lower rate. A gap is normal; a large one is a problem.
• Traffic source. Paid social, search, email and direct behave differently. A conversion rate dragged down by top-of-funnel video traffic may not reflect site problems.
• New vs returning visitors.
• Landing page. Some pages convert well and others poorly, and the difference is informative.
A store at 1.2 per cent overall might be at 3 per cent for email, 0.8 per cent for paid social and 0.5 per cent for mobile Instagram traffic. Each of those has a different fix.
The funnel, in priority order
1. Mobile speed and usability
Most of the problems we find on mobile are mundane. Heavy hero images, too many apps loading scripts, layout shifts as the page loads, and buttons that are hard to tap on a small screen.
Test the store on a mid-range Android phone over a typical 4G connection, not on your own flagship device on Wi-Fi. Look at Core Web Vitals in Search Console and PageSpeed Insights, and identify what is slowing the largest contentful paint. Removing unused apps and compressing images often yields more than any design change.
2. Product page clarity
The product page decides most sales. We check:
• Above the fold. Can a visitor see the product, price, a clear call to action and some indication of delivery within the first screen on mobile?
• Images. Enough angles, real-life context, zoom, and a video where relevant.
• Description. Written for decision-making, not for search engines alone. Key facts first, details below.
• Variants. Size and colour selection that is obvious, with unavailable variants clearly marked. For apparel, a usable size guide.
• Delivery and returns. Estimated delivery by pincode, COD availability and return terms visible without scrolling.
• Reviews. Real, specific and recent, with photos where possible.
3. Trust and policy signals
First-time buyers want to know that you are legitimate and that they can get help if something goes wrong. Check for visible contact details, a WhatsApp option, clear shipping and return policies, secure payment indicators, and consistent branding. For newer brands, press mentions, customer photos and a real “about” page do more than badges.
4. Search and navigation
Look at on-site search. What do customers search for, and what share of searches return no results? A search box that returns nothing for common terms is a conversion leak that is easy to measure and cheap to fix.
Check navigation too. Can a visitor reach the best-selling collection in one tap from the home page? Are collection pages filterable by what customers actually care about — size, price, occasion — rather than internal categories?
5. Cart and checkout
This is where intent turns into drop-off, so we examine it closely.
• Is shipping cost shown early, or only at the last step?
• Is guest checkout available?
• How many fields are required, and can autofill and address lookup reduce them?
• Which payment methods appear, and in what order? In India, UPI, cards, wallets, EMI and COD all matter, and the default order affects results.
• Are there errors on specific payment methods or banks?
Our guide to checkout drop-off covers these in detail.
6. Post-purchase and retention
Conversion is not only about the first order. Order confirmation, shipping updates, review requests and replenishment emails all raise lifetime value. This stage often sits outside a first audit but belongs in the roadmap.
Behavioural evidence, not opinions
Opinions about design are plentiful and rarely reliable. We prefer evidence from:
• Session recordings and heatmaps, to see where visitors hesitate, rage-tap or abandon
• Funnel reports, to measure drop-off between stages
• On-site surveys, asking visitors who leave what stopped them
• Customer service logs, for repeated questions that the site should answer
• Order data, to see what customers actually buy
Watch at least a few dozen recordings of mobile sessions before drawing conclusions. Patterns appear quickly.
Prioritise, then test
An audit that returns eighty recommendations is not useful. Score each finding by expected impact, confidence and effort, and start with the ones that rank highest on all three. Fix obvious errors outright — a broken payment method does not need an A/B test.
Use A/B testing for genuine choices where either option is plausible, and only if your traffic can support it. A store with a few thousand visits a month will struggle to reach reliable results on small changes. In that case, focus on larger improvements and sequential before-and-after measurement, with the limits of that method in mind.
What a good audit delivers
A useful CRO audit leaves you with:
1. A verified view of your data and baseline metrics
2. A segment-level diagnosis of where and for whom the funnel leaks
3. A ranked list of fixes, with owners and estimated effort
4. A testing plan for the choices that need evidence
5. A way to measure whether it worked
If an audit gives you a list of generic best practices that could apply to any store, it has not done its job.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good conversion rate for a Shopify store?
It varies widely by category, price point and traffic mix, so no single figure applies. Instead of chasing a benchmark, compare your rate by segment and watch the trend over time.
How long does a CRO audit take?
A focused audit typically takes a couple of weeks, depending on access to data and the size of the store. Implementation and testing run longer.
Do I need A/B testing to improve conversion?
Not always. Clear errors and usability problems can be fixed directly. A/B testing is for choices that need evidence and requires enough traffic to be reliable.
Will redesigning my store fix a low conversion rate?
Sometimes, but often the problems are specific — speed, product page content, checkout friction — and can be fixed without a full redesign.
Next step
If your conversion rate has stopped improving, the quickest way to find the cause is to look at the data and the funnel together. Our CRO audit covers tracking, segments, the key templates and checkout, and ends with a ranked action list. Book a CRO audit and we will start with your analytics.
