Why Most E-Commerce Stores Underperform
Most UK small businesses running WooCommerce or Shopify stores are leaving money on the table — not because their products are wrong, but because the store itself is working against them. Cart abandonment rates in the UK sit around 70–75%, and for many stores I audit, simple fixes to checkout flows, product pages, and site speed can recover 15–30% of those lost sales.
The common problems are almost always the same: a checkout process that asks for too much information, surprise shipping costs appearing at the last step, no guest checkout option, slow page loads on mobile, and product pages that don't answer the questions shoppers actually have. These aren't complex technical challenges — they're foundation problems that compound into significant revenue loss.
What I Actually Do
I work as an embedded consultant — half or one day per week — giving you senior-level e-commerce expertise without the cost of a full-time hire. This means I understand your store, your customers, and your goals deeply enough to make changes that genuinely move revenue.
Store audits: I review your entire purchase journey — from landing page to order confirmation — identifying exactly where customers drop off and why. This covers product pages, navigation, search, checkout flow, payment options, and mobile experience.
Conversion rate optimisation: Data-driven changes to product pages, calls to action, checkout fields, trust signals, and page layout. Not guesswork — I use your analytics to find the real problems and measure the real results.
Checkout optimisation: Simplifying checkout flows, enabling guest checkout, adding payment options (Apple Pay, Google Pay, Klarna), reducing form fields, improving error handling, and fixing mobile checkout breakpoints.
Site speed: Image optimisation, caching configuration, theme and plugin audit, lazy loading, and server-side improvements. A one-second delay in page load reduces conversions by approximately 7%.
Platform-specific expertise: I work across both WooCommerce and Shopify, understanding the strengths and limitations of each. I won't push you towards a platform migration unless it genuinely makes sense for your business.
Who This Is For
This service is designed for UK small businesses that already have an online store — on WooCommerce or Shopify — but know it's not performing as well as it should. Typical clients come to me after seeing traffic but not conversions, or after a previous agency built a store that looks fine but doesn't sell.
I also work with businesses preparing to scale their e-commerce: making sure the foundations are solid before increasing ad spend, launching new product lines, or expanding into new channels like Google Shopping.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a WooCommerce or Shopify audit take?
A full store audit typically takes 1–2 weeks, depending on the size and complexity of your catalogue. Quick wins like checkout simplification and trust signal improvements can often be implemented within the first few days.
Will I need to rebuild my store from scratch?
Almost never. The vast majority of e-commerce problems are fixable within your existing platform. If a platform change genuinely makes sense I'll tell you — but I'll always try to fix what you have first.
Do you work with WooCommerce or Shopify?
Both. I have deep experience with WooCommerce on WordPress and Shopify, and I understand the strengths and trade-offs of each. I advise based on what's right for your business, not platform preference.
What kind of results can I expect?
Most stores I optimise see a measurable improvement in conversion rate within 4–8 weeks. The exact impact depends on your starting point, but recovering 15–30% of abandoned carts is a realistic target for stores with common checkout issues.
