# Why your new Shopify store has no sales: 10 checks

> No sales on your new Shopify store? Run 10 checks in order, from store access and traffic to product pages, shipping costs and checkout, to find the cause.

Published 2026-11-04, updated 2026-11-04. Source: https://forgefont.com/blog/shopify-store-no-sales

A new Shopify store usually has no sales for one of three reasons: nobody can see it, too few of the right people are visiting, or visitors leave before paying. Work through the ten checks below in order. Each one narrows the cause, so you fix the real problem instead of guessing.

## First, is anyone able to reach the store?

### 1. Is your store public?

Open your store in a private browser window. If you see a password page, shoppers see it too. Follow our steps to [remove the store password](https://forgefont.com/blog/remove-shopify-password).

### 2. Do you have real visitors?

Open Analytics in your admin and look at sessions. Remember that your own visits can inflate a small number. If you have almost no sessions, your store has a traffic problem. No change to a page will fix that, so skip to check 3.

### 3. Are you on Google yet?

Search `site:yourdomain.com` on Google. Google’s [SEO starter guide](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/seo-starter-guide) says results pointing to your site mean you are in the index. Being indexed is not the same as ranking, and Google says it [can take a few weeks](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/get-on-google) to notice a new site. A new store rarely gets traffic by waiting. Tell your existing contacts, post where your customers already are, and read our [Shopify SEO guide](https://forgefont.com/blog/shopify-seo-guide) for the longer game.

## Next, where do visitors stop?

### 4. What does your funnel show?

Go to Analytics > Reports, filter the category to Behavior and open [Conversion rate breakdown](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/reports-and-analytics/shopify-reports/report-types/default-reports/behaviour-reports). It shows sessions, then sessions with cart additions, sessions that reached checkout and sessions that completed checkout. Available reports depend on your plan. The biggest drop tells you where to look.

| Where the drop happens | Go to |
| --- | --- |
| Few sessions at all | Checks 2 and 3 |
| Sessions, but no cart additions | Checks 5 to 8 |
| Carts, but no checkout | Check 9 |
| Checkout started, not completed | Checks 9 and 10 |

### 5. Are the visitors the right people?

Look at where your sessions come from and at the report on sessions by landing page. Traffic from friends or a broad social post may look good without leading to orders. Ask whether each source reaches people who already want what you sell.

## Then, does the store answer their questions?

### 6. Does the product page make the decision easy?

Read a product page as a stranger. Do you know what it is, who it is for, what it is made of, what it costs and when it could arrive? Our guide to [writing a Shopify product page](https://forgefont.com/blog/shopify-product-page-guide) lists what to include.

### 7. Do the photos show enough?

Shoppers cannot hold your product. Check that photos show the whole product, its details and its size. Blurry or generic images raise doubts about the store itself.

### 8. Would you trust this store?

A first-time buyer has no history with you. Check that your Contact page works, that your [essential pages](https://forgefont.com/blog/shopify-pages-you-need) are in place, and that the domain, name and contact details all match. Remove demo text, fake urgency and invented reviews.

## Finally, does buying work?

### 9. Is the final price a surprise?

Add a product to your cart and go to checkout on your phone. Compare the total with what the product page led you to expect. Shipping or taxes that appear late can make a shopper leave. If you can, state your shipping costs on your product pages and on a Shipping page.

### 10. Does checkout really work?

Place an order yourself. [Shopify’s test order options](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/checkout-settings/test-orders) include a test gateway and Shopify Payments test mode, or you can run a real order and then cancel and refund it, which may incur processor fees. Check the payment, the confirmation email and the order in your admin.

## What if you find several problems?

Fix one at a time, starting highest in the list, and give each change enough time to show in your reports. If checks 6 to 8 are your weak point, the store itself is what needs work. Forgefont rebuilds it from your products and photos in an unpublished theme, with product pages, collections and essential pages, for a one-time payment. It does not bring traffic or promise sales, and your current theme stays online until you choose to switch. [Compare the plans](https://forgefont.com/#forfaits) to see which fits your catalog.

## Frequently asked questions

### How many visitors do I need before judging my store?

There is no official number. With a few dozen visits, a lack of sales tells you very little. Wait until enough visitors have reached your product pages for the pattern in your reports to mean something, and focus on traffic until then.

### Should I change my theme if nothing sells?

Only if your checks point to the design. If nobody is visiting, a new theme will not fix it. If visitors leave on your product pages, the content of those pages is often the first thing to change.

### Should I buy ads right away?

Not before you run the checks on your product page and checkout. Ads send paying traffic to whatever is broken. Start with a small budget once a test order works.