Why is my Shopify store so slow?

If your Shopify store loads slowly, this could cause some trouble for your conversion rate… Trouble that you definitely don’t want! A slow Shopify load time means that you’re less likely to keep prospects and customers on your site for browsing or to complete their purchase.

It probably goes without saying (but we can’t resist) - slow loading times have a negative effect on user experience, directly impacting your Shopify conversion rate as users could lose interest waiting for pages and images to load, as well as search engine rankings.

Why Shopify sites load slowly

There are likely several reasons why your Shopify store is loading slowly. Load time comprises different factors, so your Shopify store’s loading time and associated improvement activities should form a large part of your overall store optimization efforts. You might need to experiment a little with your site to find the root cause of slow loading, but here are a few of the usual suspects.

Large media files

Rich media is essential to any ecommerce store - how are people going to buy your product if they don’t know what it looks like or how it works?! Having lots of images and videos on your Shopify store can increase your site’s loading time, as well as having too much media on one page. Large, high-resolution images consume more bandwidth, especially on mobile devices.

Heavy or excessive apps

Part of the attraction to Shopify is the large number of available apps. Whilst using apps can save you time in the long run, each app comes with its own set of code that must be loaded every time a user visits your site. If you have too many apps running, or if your apps haven’t been optimized, your Shopify store will load slowly.

Unoptimized theme

Shopify themes come loaded with various features and functionality that support you in running a successful ecommerce store. When you first download and install a theme, it won’t have been optimized to your performance requirements. Common causes for a Shopify theme loading slowly include unnecessary code, CSS, or JavaScript. Read more about how to choose the best Shopify theme

HTTP requests

Whenever a visitor loads a Shopify page, multiple HTTP requests are made to load scripts, apps, theme elements, styling options, and images. Each request adds time to the loading process. If there are too many requests simultaneously, this will reduce site performance.

Redirects

Redirects are used to guide site visitors to different pages, or if you’ve changed a page’s original URL. If you have too many redirects on your site, this will significantly slow down page load times; how will the server know where to take your visitors if there’s multiple redirects?! Every redirect requires an additional HTTP request and a server response, adding to overall load time.

Understanding your Shopify loading speed

Before you begin making changes to your Shopify store, take a moment to understand your store’s current load speed. You can do this within the Shopify web performance dashboard. Head to your online store and then themes. At the top of your screen you should see options to look at your store’s loading speed, interactivity, or visual stability.

Running regular speed tests on your site gives you insight into how users experience your store. It also helps you to understand which optimization and maintenance efforts need to be done and when - all of which contribute to increasing your Shopify conversion rate.

How to Improve Shopify Site Loading Time

Image files

As we’ve said before, ecommerce stores are generally media heavy which can impact your store’s loading time. Firstly, ensure that you’re using the correct file formats for images and videos. WebP files are the best solution but, if you aren’t able to create files in this format, JPEG, PNG, and SVG are all fine to use. JPEGs are better suited to photos, PNG for graphics, and SVG for icons and logos. Before you upload images, compress them to reduce their size but retain their quality.

Lazy loading is another option. Lazy loading means that images only load when they need to such as when the user scrolls to them. You can implement lazy loading through Shopify plugins or custom code.

Limit and optimize

We’ve actually touched on this in another article, but in case you missed it, here’s how to optimize your apps and external scripts to improve your store’s loading speed.

Start by removing any unnecessary apps - if you aren’t using it, get rid of it! Do a regular spring clean of apps and uninstall any that aren’t fundamental to your store’s functionality. Some apps offer dual functionality which reduces the need for additional apps, and might be less clunky than the app you were originally using.

In terms of scripts, it’s best not to use lots of third party resources as they add extra weight. If all the script you’re running is essential to your store, or for your analytics, consider using Google Tag Manager to consolidate them into one singular script.

Theme code

Shopify themes come loaded with various features and functionality that support you in running a successful ecommerce store. When you first download and install a theme, it won’t have been optimized to your performance requirements. Common causes for a Shopify theme loading slowly include unnecessary code, CSS, or JavaScript. As we mentioned earlier, when you first install a theme it won’t be optimized to your store’s exact requirements. To make these changes, you’ll need to look into the code. When you optimize your code, remove anything unnecessary such as whitespace, line breaks, or comments just to make it that bit lighter. Whilst you’re there, remove any code that isn’t being used too. No worries if code isn’t your thing - there’s plenty of people out there who would be more than willing to give you a hand.

HTTP requests & redirects

The more HTTP requests and redirects you have built into your Shopify store, the more pressure you put on the server. A really simple way of reducing HTTP requests is only using a small variety of fonts and weights on your store. On the more technical side, look at combining your CSS and JavaScript into one single file.

Regarding redirects, use them sparingly. Try and avoid creating a chain of redirects and use direct links where possible. Audit your redirects as part of your optimization schedule to make sure they’re not multiplying and getting out of hand - especially if you’ve recently made changes to URLs or your product catalog.

Test performance regularly

Last but not least, regularly test your performance. Every time you make changes to your Shopify store, test to ensure they won’t have an undesirable effect on your performance. Do this through the Shopify web performance dashboard or use an alternative like Google PageSpeed Insights.

Conclusion

Improving the loading speed of your Shopify site can seem challenging, but a bit of planning and an organized approach will go a long way. The key to being successful in making sure your store isn’t loading slowly, and your general optimization efforts, is doing it regularly. Following the steps outlined in this article will support you in building an efficient and faster store, and creating an excellent user experience that will bring your customers back time and time again.