How do I use replays to improve my shop?

Watch real shoppers navigate your store, spot what's stopping them from buying, and fix it.

What Are Replays?

Replays are recordings of real shoppers browsing your store. You see exactly what they see: every scroll, click, hover, and hesitation. Think of it as looking over a shopper's shoulder while they browse.

No personal data is collected. You see their actions, not their identity.

Getting Started (2 Minutes)

1. Open your app and go to Replays
2. Pick any session from the list
3. Hit play

That's it. You're watching a real shopper in your store.

What to Look For

1. Where Do Shoppers Get Stuck?

The sign: A shopper scrolls up and down the same section repeatedly, or moves their cursor in circles over an area.

What it means: They're confused or can't find what they need.

Real example: You watch a replay and see a shopper on your product page scrolling past the "Add to Cart" button three times before finding it. The button blends into the background.

The fix: Make the Add to Cart button bigger, use a contrasting color, or move it higher on the page.

2. Where Do Shoppers Leave?

The sign: A shopper lands on a page, scrolls a little (or not at all), then leaves your store entirely.

What it means: That page isn't giving them what they expected.

Real example: You notice multiple replays where shoppers click a product from your homepage, land on the product page, and immediately leave. When you look closer, the product page has no photos, or the price isn't visible without scrolling.

The fix: Add clear product photos near the top. Make sure the price and Add to Cart button are visible without scrolling on both phone and desktop.

3. Are Shoppers Actually Scrolling Down?

The sign: Shoppers stop scrolling before reaching your key content (reviews, product details, trust badges).

What it means: Important content is too far down the page.

Real example: You placed customer reviews at the very bottom of your product page. Replays show that most shoppers never scroll that far. They leave after seeing just the photo and price.

The fix: Move reviews, trust badges, or shipping info higher on the page, where shoppers actually look.

4. What Do Shoppers Click That Doesn't Work?

The sign: A shopper clicks on something (an image, a banner, text) and nothing happens. They might click it multiple times.

What it means: Shoppers expect that element to be clickable (a link or button), but it isn't.

Real example: You have a promotional banner on your homepage that says "Shop Our New Collection." Replays show shoppers clicking it repeatedly. But the banner is just an image with no link.

The fix: Add a link to the banner so it takes shoppers to the collection page.

A Simple Weekly Routine

Set aside 15 minutes once a week. Here's your checklist:

1. Watch 5 replays from shoppers who left without buying
   • Look for the patterns above

   • Write down the one thing that caused the most friction

     Watch 2 replays from shoppers who placed an order

   • Notice how their experience differed from the shoppers who left

   • What made their path smoother?

     Make one change based on what you found

   • Don't try to fix everything at once
   • Pick the issue that showed up most often and fix that
2. Check back next week to see if the pattern improved

Quick Wins to Look For Right Now

Open your app, go to Replays, and watch a few sessions. Look for these:

Replay Viewing Modes

Your app offers two ways to watch replays:

• Page-by-page mode (default): Each page the shopper visited plays as a separate clip, then automatically moves to the next page. Good for watching how shoppers navigate through specific pages.
• Session-based mode: The entire visit plays as one continuous clip. Good for seeing the full shopper journey from start to finish.

To switch modes, go to Settings and toggle "Page by page playback."

Tips

• Focus on mobile replays. Most Shopify traffic comes from phones. If something looks fine on desktop but broken on mobile, your mobile shoppers are the ones leaving.
• Look at sessions where shoppers visited multiple pages but didn't buy. These are shoppers who were interested but something stopped them.
• Don't just watch one replay. Patterns matter more than individual sessions. If three shoppers get stuck in the same spot, that's a real problem worth fixing.
• Use the filters on the Replays page to narrow down by country, device type, or date range so you can focus on the sessions that matter most to your business.