As retailers stare down a new year of evolving consumer demands and stiff competition, the need for online stores to go beyond good design is greater than ever. This year, retailers will want to aim for optimal performance built upon speed, clarity, and ease of use, not just aesthetics.
More than half (52%) of Australians have abandoned a purchase online due to a slow or complicated checkout, according to Shopify’s 2025 Holiday Retail Report. This should give retailers a reason to pause and review their own online stores. Are they designed for looks or functionality? Ideally, it’s both, but the key question should always be: do they convert?
Conversion-driven storefronts are built on the ability to adapt, personalise, and test quickly for optimisation. Increasingly, the brands that are striking the right balance are those that treat design as a living, intelligent layer of the customer journey, and use the best tools to optimise it with speed and precision.
Here are some key approaches for retailers to design their online storefronts for optimal conversion.
Balance the expected with the unexpected
Familiarity can be a good thing for online storefronts. If customers instantly understand the basic design of a site and know how to navigate their way around it, then they’re more likely to stay, browse and buy. Predictable product searches, intuitive checkout flows, and typography go a long way to build trust among consumers and reduce friction for shoppers.
However, too much of the familiar can lead to a site that looks like all the others. Standing out matters in a crowded market, especially for smaller retailers trying to compete with larger players for wallet share by creating cut-through with brand differentiation.
Retailers should aim to strike a balance between making their site feel reliable and injecting a creative spark that makes it stand out, whether through imagery, interactive elements, or colour. AI-powered tools such as Shopify’s Sidekick assistant are also making it easier for brands to adjust themes and styles quickly for a compelling mix sooner.
By striking a careful equilibrium between intuitive patterns and creative distinction, retailers can use design to drive engagement and guide shoppers toward confident, conversion-ready decisions.
Design for the worst-case scenario
Often, the performance of online stores depends a lot on the devices and environments in which they’re accessed. For instance, shoppers browsing brand websites on dodgy networks or older phones and laptops might experience laggy load times, impacting conversion rates.
Websites that are overly complex or designed to make the maximum use of high-bandwidth internet connections with rich animations or graphics can fall short under conditions that are less than ideal. That’s why it’s important to ground storefront design decisions with the idea of the worst-case scenario. How can a site be made for high conversion under imperfect conditions?
One way is to design for the fewest steps to purchase possible. So, high-converting, one-click checkouts are a good idea, as are streamlined product search capabilities. Iterative experimentation is also a surefire way to hit upon optimal performance, using tools such as Shopify’s new Rollouts feature, which enables native experimentation capabilities. Retailers should also look to best practices for optimising site speed, like disabling mobile video autoplay and using asynchronous loading to prioritise important content.
Ultimately, by planning for less-than-ideal environments, retailers create storefronts that remain resilient and high-converting when it matters most.
Test continually without breaking things
Traditionally, redesigning a website for higher conversion has been a big, risky affair, where one mistake may lead to lengthy remediations. Moreover, for smaller retailers, it’s sometimes difficult to get the site traffic volume to A/B test meaningfully. But in a competitive market where frustration can quickly lead to significant lost sales, testing improperly (or not at all) is a costly oversight.
For smaller retailers, the answer is to make testing lighter, faster, and continuous. Rather than waiting for large redesign cycles, operators can trial small adjustments, like shifting homepage hierarchy, refining product copy, or simplifying navigation. These incremental experiments avoid the risk of major disruptions while steadily improving the path to purchase.
AI-based tools can also provide pathways for retailers to test websites while avoiding customer impact. Shopify’s new SimGym app, for instance, uses AI shoppers to compare themes and recommended changes before launch, so merchants can ship big changes regardless of site traffic.
Use content as a design feature
Lastly, core to building a conversion-driven storefront is the content. While a high-performing online store doesn’t need to have the latest and greatest bells and whistles, it does need a compelling story to tell. This is why it’s important to integrate content with design in a way that communicates clear brand values and personality.
With that in mind, it’s good to remember that great ecommerce user experience design should treat content as the core layer, shaping the visual hierarchy around storytelling, not just aesthetics. When content leads design, shoppers are more likely to follow a brand’s narrative lead, engaging more deeply.
With more intentional spending on the rise in Australia, the ability to convert customers online is more important than ever. A focus on performance over aesthetics will position retailers well to capture the opportunities ahead.
Shaun Broughton is managing director for Asia Pacific & Japan at Shopify.
