Improve the store, or rebuild it?

Before commissioning a redesign, name the problem you need to solve.

Open a product page on your phone. Choose a variant, look for delivery costs, add the item to your cart and continue towards checkout. Write down anything you cannot find, understand or complete.

One walkthrough gives you questions to investigate. Check customer enquiries and available store data to see whether other shoppers encounter the same difficulties.

1. Turn the problem into a useful brief

An observation might be: “On mobile, delivery information appears after a long review section. A shopper has to leave the buying area to find it.”

Record the page, the device, the problem and the proposed change. For this example, the first task could be to make delivery information accessible beside the buying controls, then check it with people using the page.

2. Choose the scope the problem needs

Consider focused improvements when the issue is confined to a page or template and the current platform can support the change.

Investigate a wider rebuild when the same limitation affects several journeys, necessary integrations cannot work reliably, or maintaining the current setup repeatedly blocks essential work. Ask your developer to demonstrate the limitation and explain the available options before committing to a migration.

3. Protect what already works

List the pages bringing useful search traffic, product information shoppers rely on and integrations the business needs. Decide what to keep, improve or retire.

For changed URLs with a relevant replacement, map each old address to its new destination and use a permanent redirect. Update internal links and test the redirects before release. Google’s site-move guidance explains these steps.

4. Agree what “ready” means

Give each change an owner and a clear check:

• Can shoppers select the correct variant and understand delivery information?
• Can they complete the intended purchase journey on mobile?
• Do required forms, payments and integrations work in the test environment?
• Are important links and redirects working?
• Is there a usable backup and a clear way to roll back the release?

Start your brief with one page, one problem and one way to judge whether the change helped. Build the wider scope from what you find.

Need help deciding where to start? Bring your store URL and one specific problem to a free 20-minute call with Hamid.