Why it's important to keep your online store up to date: the "face lifts" of ecommerce.

Just as anyone goes to the hairdresser to cover their gray hair or resorts to botox to erase wrinkles in order to look and feel better, so does your online store: Theme updates always bring improvements , after all, the digital world is an evolving world, every day brings new features designed to improve the user experience.

... So yes, it is very important to keep your website updated. At Teipe Digital we are used to carrying out these updates to Shopify themes, keep reading to find out what you need before, during and after the process.

In this blog we will tell you:

Why it is healthy to keep your online store updated.

What you should take into account before updating the theme of your online store.

What will happen after updating your e-commerce + case study.

Why is it healthy to keep your online store updated?

It is a task that you should take as a regular occurrence, we recommend doing updates at least twice a year, it is the perfect time to:

• Conduct a complete review of your store: what works and what doesn't? What should I improve to ensure the user experience is optimal?
• It is also the ideal time to carry out an inventory inspection, to find out which products sell best and how they perform.
• Also for technological inventory review: apps. Which ones work well, which ones are essential, and which ones could be improved?
• Refresh the look & feel of your store, first impressions count!
• Ecommerce theme updates often bring improvements in SEO and loading times.
• They also bring improvements in the ability of your e-commerce to react on other mobile devices, the famous "responsiveness"

What do you need to consider before updating your ecommerce theme?

First of all, a list of what you want to improve, what is not working for you, and the checklist of what you should do before proceeding to update the theme:

• Make sure it's a good time to do it in terms of sales - don't do it right before summer sales or Black Friday or Christmas campaigns!
• Plan time for contingencies – just as you don’t want to do an update before sales milestones, don’t do it before launching a new collection for example. You should allow time after the update for any unexpected fixes.
• Save a backup copy before proceeding with the update.
• Check the performance of your apps first. As we mentioned earlier, it is the ideal time to track which ones work best and are essential for your e-commerce.
• Review the logs of any customizations you've made by code, and of course always keep everything documented.
• If your online store has had many customizations by code and ad-hoc configurations, make sure you have a specialized team with experience in these tasks so that you have the necessary support.

What to do after performing a theme update in Shopify?

It is normal for unforeseen events to occur with updates, such as some functions not starting or not performing exactly the same and needing some adjustment. In any case, you have taken your precautions and you have extra time for these unforeseen events, and if you have a digital support team, even better! We recommend some post-update steps:

• First of all, don't publish the new theme without first carrying out the necessary tests.
• Check out your new features or characteristics that the update brings, there is always room for improvements that you can try, such as new drag and drop design sections that can attract more conversions.
• Do the relevant tests again, make a purchase and return, this way you make sure that your customer's customer journey is not affected and is perfect. Add to cart, go through the checkout, test the new apps you have installed (like wishlist app, shop the look, delivery apps and others)...
• Document all the changes you have made, both in design and programming, configurations, codes and apps.
• We recommend that you document any improvements or errors you detect over time, so that if you decide to make changes you can refer to the history and not miss a single detail.

We show you a success story at Teipe Digital for a fashion-focused store, for whom we make at least two theme updates in Shopify annually.

Seeing absolute improvements in conversion: user experience, loading speed, improvements in product sheets, detecting the best apps, improving the customer return rate.

Your updates are already part of business practices, with excellent quality products and high penetration performance campaigns. Counting on our Teipe Digital team to carry out an exhaustive methodology of digital support