When a store isn’t converting, the instinct is to add. But conversion is decided in three places, and they’re almost always the same three — fixing them compounds across every visitor you already have.

When a store isn’t converting, the instinct is usually to add — more products, more features, more marketing channels. But conversion is decided in three places, and they’re almost always the same three.

Before adding anything, it’s worth checking whether these are doing their job. The gains here compound across every visitor you already have.

1. The product page

This is where the decision gets made, and it’s usually where the most information is missing. A product page has one job: answer every question a buyer has, before they have to ask it.

The questions are predictable, and they’re rarely answered well:

• What exactly is this, and what does it come with?
• How big or heavy is it? Sizes, dimensions, capacity — the specifics people need to judge fit.
• What does it cost in total, including shipping? Surprises at checkout are a leading cause of abandonment.
• When will it arrive, and can it be returned?
• What do other people say about it? Reviews near the decision point, not buried below five screens.

If a visitor has to open a new tab to answer any of those, you’ve added friction to the most decision-dense moment in the entire store.

2. The cart

The cart’s job is reassurance, not salesmanship. People arrive here having decided, and the cart either confirms they’ve made a good choice or introduces doubt.

• Show the total clearly, including shipping, as early as possible.
• Keep the path back to browsing obvious — people often add a second item.
• Don’t upsell aggressively at the moment someone is trying to leave. It reads as a delay.
• Make it obvious how to change quantity or remove something without fear of losing the whole cart.

Anxiety is the enemy here. Every unclear total or unexpected step is a reason to reconsider.

3. The checkout

Checkout is a form, and it should be as short as a form can be. Every field is a cost. The honest test for each one is whether you genuinely need the answer to fulfil the order.

1. Remove fields that aren’t needed to ship the order. Phone numbers, company names, and “how did you hear about us” can usually go.
2. Don’t force account creation. Offer it, with guest checkout as the default path.
3. Show progress if it takes more than one screen, so it doesn’t feel endless.
4. Surface errors clearly and next to the field that caused them, not in a summary at the top.
5. Make the final button say what happens — “Place Order”, not “Submit”.

Worth checking monthly

Go through your own checkout on a phone, as a new customer, once a month. It takes ten minutes and it’s the fastest way to catch the friction that accumulates without anyone noticing.

Why fixing beats adding

A store with ten thousand products and a confusing product page converts worse than a store with a hundred products and a clear one. The catalogue doesn’t convince anyone — clarity does, at the three moments where the decision is actually in play.

Fix those first. Then, once they’re doing their job, adding to the catalogue starts to pay off.