Shopify Project Risk Checklist

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What to Review Before Your Shopify Build Goes Off Track. 

Launching your new Shopify website, whether you’re doing a rebuild or migrating from your old platform, is a big step forward for your business, and you want to make sure everything goes smoothly, without delays, budget overruns, or disappointing results.

When projects encounter trouble, it’s rarely due to platform limitations. Instead, issues arise because risks weren’t identified early enough, decisions were made based on assumptions, and the full scope of technical or operational requirements wasn’t fully understood.

Having a Shopify project risk checklist to consult is a way to spot problems before they happen. It helps you pressure-test your plan, your team, and your assumptions so you don’t discover issues halfway through development or after launch.

Below are the most common Shopify project risks we see, and a corresponding checklist to go over before you start. 

Not sure where your Shopify project might be at risk? Ecommerce Pro helps businesses identify issues, plan and execute builds that stay on track. Get in touch.

1. Unclear Project Scope

Project scope is established at the beginning of your project, and it involves coming up with a clear definition of what your Shopify project includes, and just as importantly, what it does not include. This covers the features being built, the apps and integrations involved, how the store should function, and what the final result is supposed to look like when the project is officially done.

Problems arise when the scope is established on assumptions. Teams move forward with a general idea of the project, but without fully defining requirements upfront. As development begins, new needs surface mid-project, expectations shift, and what seemed small starts adding up. In this scenario, decisions get pushed into the middle of the build. That’s when timelines stretch, budgets increase, and teams start revisiting work that was already approved. All of which sounds like the least ideal scenario.

This leads to additional development that wasn’t planned, delays caused by rework and new decisions, and unexpected costs and scope creep, to name but a few issues.

Project Scope Checklist:

☐ The project goals are clearly defined
☐ We know exactly what is included in the build
☐ We know exactly what is not included
☐ Must-have features are separated from nice-to-haves
☐ Apps, integrations, and custom functionality are agreed on
☐ Everyone agrees on what “finished” means

If the scope isn’t clear, timelines and budgets are impossible to establish realistically.

2. Underestimating Complexity

Shopify makes it easy to get started; in fact, their marketing hinges on just how easy it is to build an online business on Shopify, but not every project is the same, and not all of them are simple. Things like Shopify migration from another platform, building custom themes, connecting third-party apps, handling subscriptions, supporting international sales, or managing complex product setups may not be complex on their own, but they certainly add layers of complexity when you stack up all your build requirements.

A common risk is underestimating these complexities early on. When a project is treated as “straightforward,” teams are often surprised by technical challenges, unexpected dependencies, or additional work that wasn’t accounted for originally. Again, this leads to delays, budget overruns, and frustration.

Complexity Checklist:

☐ We’ve identified whether this is a rebuild, migration, or brand-new store
☐ Data migration requirements are fully documented (products, customers, orders)
☐ Custom themes or custom features are accounted for
☐ App dependencies and third-party integrations are known
☐ Shipping, tax, discount, or checkout rules have been reviewed
☐ International requirements (currency, language, shipping) are confirmed

3. App Overload or Poor App Choices

Shopify’s App Store and ecosystem are rich with apps that add desired functions to your store. The problem lies in the fact that it can be tempting to install everything that seems useful. However, adding too many apps or choosing ones that don’t fully fit your needs can create hidden risks. Each app adds complexity, potential conflicts, and extra maintenance. Pages may slow down, features may break, and troubleshooting becomes more difficult. Moreover, when app choices are poorly planned, it can lead to duplicate functionality and unnecessary costs.

The solution is to carefully evaluate each app before adding it to your store. Make sure it truly solves a need, works well with your theme and with other apps, and won’t create future headaches. Thoughtful planning here keeps your Shopify store lean, reliable, and easier to maintain.

Apps & Integrations Checklist:

☐ Every app has a clear purpose
☐ No apps overlap in functionality
☐ Apps are actively maintained and well-reviewed
☐ Apps are compatible with the theme and Shopify version
☐ Critical functionality isn’t relying on unstable apps
☐ Custom development has been considered where appropriate

Apps should support your store, not hold it together with duct tape.

4. Design That Ignores Conversion

Design plays a major role in a store build, and brands tend to zero in on just how they want their stores to look; however, design needs to be built around conversion—on the shopper's journey from landing page to completing an action, like checkout.

When conversion isn’t considered early in the design process, usability issues often surface after development has already begun, or worse, when the store goes live, and you realize conversions are poor.

Common problems include unclear calls-to-action, confusing navigation, cluttered layouts, and product pages that don’t provide critical information. These issues slow users down, increase friction and frustration with your online store, and create hesitation at key decision points. Over time, this leads to missed revenue. Design that ignores conversion often leads to costly redesigns later. All of this could have been avoided with a conversion-focused approach from the start.

Design & Conversion Checklist

☐ Design decisions are based on user flow, not just aesthetics
☐ Navigation is simple and intuitive
☐ Calls-to-action are clear and consistent
☐ Product pages include all key information upfront
☐ The path from landing page to checkout is friction-free
☐ Conversion was considered before development started

Remember, good Shopify design balances aesthetics with performance.

5. Poor Content Preparation

Content is one of the most underestimated risks in Shopify projects. Much of the time, we see it treated as something to be filled in later, once the design and development is finished, but the reality is that content is deeply tied to how a store functions. Content is tied to SEO, how products are organized, and how customers move about your site. When content isn’t ready early, it creates delays and compromises the overall quality of your website.

Common issues include missing or incomplete product information, placeholder copy lingering on too long, inconsistent product naming, low-quality or mismatched images, and poor SEO choices. Even when a store does launch on time, weak content that was pushed to the last minute can immediately hurt conversions, SEO, and customer trust.

Content Readiness Checklist:

☐ Product data is complete and accurate
☐ Product names, SKUs, variants, and pricing are consistent
☐ Collections, tags, and structure are finalized
☐ Images are high-quality and correctly sized
☐ Policies, banners, emails, and transactional content are ready
☐ Content was prepared early enough to support development

Treating content as a core project component—not an afterthought—removes a major source of risk, because a Shopify store can’t launch properly without solid, well-prepared content.

6. Insufficient Testing

Testing pre-launch is vital. It’s what ensures that everything on your site is working according to the ways that it should, but it is often one of the first things to get sacrificed when timelines get tight, and that makes it one of the most expensive risks in a Shopify project.

Without thorough testing, issues often go unnoticed until real customers encounter them and report them. Broken checkout flows, incorrect shipping rates, missing taxes, or malfunctioning discounts can directly impact revenue and customer trust. These aren’t cosmetic problems; they’re business-critical failures.

Proper testing ensures the store works as expected before customers ever see it, protecting both sales and brand reputation.

Testing Before Launch Checklist:

☐ Checkout works end-to-end
☐ Payment methods function correctly
☐ Shipping rates and tax rules are accurate
☐ Discounts and promotions work as intended
☐ Emails and automations trigger correctly
☐ Site works across devices and browsers

Testing isn’t optional. It’s the final safeguard that ensures your Shopify store is ready to handle real customers and real transactions. Imagine how much you’d avoid losing just by making sure that nothing is broken before you launch a new website or feature.

7. No Post-Launch Plan

A common mistake is treating launch day as the end of the project. In reality, launch is just the beginning, and it’s also one of the most critical moments of your project. Every Shopify store needs monitoring, refinement, and support once it’s live. Without a post-launch plan, small issues can linger and escalate, bugs surface, customers behave in unexpected ways, and data reveals what’s actually working and what isn’t. If no one is responsible for fixes, optimizations, or ongoing improvements, these insights go unused. Having a post-launch plan in place ensures continuity, accountability, and ongoing optimization of your site, rather than abandonment.

Post-Launch Checklist:

☐ Ownership for bug fixes is defined
☐ Performance monitoring is in place
☐ Analytics and tracking are configured
☐ There’s a plan for ongoing optimization
☐ Support is available after launch

Successful Shopify stores evolve after launch. Without a plan to support your Shopify store post-launch, even strong builds can fall short.

Why a Risk Checklist Matters

Most Shopify projects don’t fail in obvious or dramatic ways. They fail gradually, through the seemingly small compromises that we make to “save time or money”, choices that add up over time, turning into problems to fix later.

A Shopify project risk checklist helps prevent issues like reduced performance, increased long-term costs, and creates frustration for everyone involved by establishing clarity early in the process. It prompts the right conversations before development even begins, so that all the pieces can fall into place right when decisions are still flexible and changes are inexpensive. Instead of reacting to problems mid-build, you identify them upfront, set expectations, and plan around them. That’s how projects stay controlled, predictable, and aligned with the brand’s goals.

If you’re preparing for a Shopify build, rebuild, or migration, taking time to assess risks now can save weeks, or even months, of frustration later.

Not sure where your risks might be? Ecommerce Pro helps businesses evaluate Shopify projects before they start. Work with the experts, get in touch.