Speeding Up Your Shopify Store: Best Practices>

Speeding Up Your Shopify Store: Best Practices

Slow store = lost sales. Learn 9 best practices to speed up your Shopify site, from theme selection to app management and image optimization.
Slow store = lost sales. Learn 9 best practices to speed up your Shopify site, from theme selection to app management and image optimization.

Speeding Up Your Shopify Store: Best Practices

In e-commerce, speed is money. A delay of just one second can reduce conversion rates by 7% or more.

Luckily, Shopify gives you a solid foundation — but to compete in 2025, you need to go further.
This guide outlines the best practices to speed up your Shopify store, without compromising design or functionality.

1. Choose a fast, optimized theme

Not all themes are built for performance.

Look for:

  • Shopify 2.0 compatibility (sections everywhere)

  • Lazy loading support

  • Lightweight codebase

  • Regular updates from the developer

2. Compress and format your images

Images are often the #1 reason stores load slowly.

Best practices:

  • Use WebP format

  • Keep file sizes under 300 KB

  • Compress with tools like TinyPNG or ImageOptim

  • Avoid background videos unless absolutely necessary

Shopify also offers built-in image compression – but pre-optimizing makes a big difference.

3. Limit app bloat

Too many apps = too much JavaScript = slower load times.

  • Audit your apps monthly

  • Delete unused apps entirely (not just disable)

  • Consolidate functionality (e.g., use 1 app instead of 3)

  • Test your store speed after installing any new app

💡 Bonus: Some apps continue injecting code even after deletion. Use tools like Shopify Theme Inspector to check.

4. Minimize third-party scripts

Tracking tools, chat widgets, heatmaps and A/B testing tools add weight.

  • Load scripts asynchronously

  • Use Google Tag Manager to manage all tracking

  • Only load scripts on relevant pages

  • Avoid multiple tracking tools doing the same thing

5. Use system fonts and reduce custom scripts

Custom fonts and animations slow things down.

  • Consider using system fonts for body text

  • Host fonts locally instead of loading from Google

  • Avoid heavy animations or video hero sections

Less visual clutter = faster UX and better performance.

6. Optimize for mobile speed

More than 70% of traffic is mobile — and mobile users are less forgiving.

  • Test on real devices

  • Avoid full-screen popups

  • Use sticky “Add to Cart” buttons

  • Keep navigation clean and fast

Check your Mobile Speed Score in Google PageSpeed Insights regularly.

7. Remove unused theme code and blocks

If you’ve used multiple themes, app integrations or custom dev work — chances are you have leftover code.

  • Clean up snippets, scripts, and old sections

  • Use Shopify’s Theme Check tool or a dev partner

  • Minimize liquid loops and inline JS where possible

This has a big impact if you've been running the store for a while.

8. Enable lazy loading and preload key assets

Lazy loading defers images/scripts until they’re needed. Preloading speeds up first paint.

  • Most modern Shopify themes support this

  • Add preload tags for fonts, hero images and main JS files

  • Ask your developer to help if unsure

9. Monitor and optimize regularly

Use:

  • Google PageSpeed Insights

  • Lighthouse audits

  • Shopify’s native speed score

  • Third-party tools like GTmetrix or SpeedBoostr

Speed optimization is ongoing — not a one-time fix.

Final thoughts

Your store’s speed affects everything: SEO, bounce rate, UX, and ultimately, sales.

By combining a lightweight setup with smart performance practices, your Shopify store can load fast — and convert faster.

Need help with Shopify speed optimization?
At coi, we build and tune Shopify stores to load in under 2 seconds — even with advanced design and features.

 

 

- Book a meeting 

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