Key Factors Why You Need Monthly Support for Your Shopify Store

Setting up an online store is challenging. When a business is past that stage, it may seem that the most time-consuming and technically complex tasks are over. Yet proper Shopify maintenance is as critical and equally big a chunk of work. It is as significant as inventory management or marketing.

You probably have people responsible for store selection and promotion. Just like that, it’s better to have someone experienced to manage the technical side of the digital store. With a Shopify professional in charge of your website’s ongoing support and maintenance, running an e-commerce business becomes much more manageable.

How’s that? Instead of spending hours researching and resolving what often appears to be a simple glitch, you delegate it to a professional. This person saves you hours on resolution and minimizes reputation risks and expenses. Staying competitive, going through, and optimizing performance are other benefits of ongoing support.

In this article, we’ll explain more about store maintenance. Let’s find out what it entails, why it can be challenging, and the benefits of a Shopify support and maintenance plan.

Keeping competitive edge

40% of people are willing to pay more to view a product in AR before buying it. Other research shows that using 3D content lets businesses increase conversions by up to 94%. These numbers prove once more that staying competitive requires adaptation to trends. Adaptation entails changes. And changes always concern the store’s tech stack and further maintenance.

At DigitalSuits, we take a flexible approach to maintenance. We offer two retainer plans with fixed prices and a custom plan tailored to your needs. Each of them includes, among other things:

• dedicated Shopify developer, Project Manager, and Tech Lead
• real-time chat in a messenger you choose
• on-request strategy meetings and website audits
• a 48-hour initial response for non-urgent issues
• immediate attention to critical issues
• most tasks completed within 24 hours, and more.

With the support encompassing the mentioned, you get a zero-downtime guarantee. The Shopify support team shares regular updates and reports on your store’s performance and progress. With this information, you can take a proactive approach to store management and development, adapting it easily to the changing customer needs.

This adaptive Shopify site maintenance lets it stay efficient. It is essential amid evolving technologies, user expectations, and the competitive landscape. Making software versatile and adaptable requires the corresponding expertise. Here are a few practical examples that fall under this category.

Refreshing and redesigning themes

As we write this article, there are 185 Shopify themes. Dawn, introduced as part of the Shopify 2.0 upgrade, is the most popular. Given the platform's simplicity, merchants can set up many things without help. Still, to create a unique and engaging store, you need to customize and maintain the theme by reacting to platform changes.

A theme redesign or refresh will eventually be necessary. Shopify experts, with their constant monitoring, will ensure that you do it at the right time. They’ll also take care of navigation, usability, and responsiveness.

Designing and setting up pages

Sometimes, it’s enough to customize or update only selected pages. Specific page designs for checkout, seasonal offers, success pages, etc., can increase conversions. With a Shopify Support Package, you can regularly roll out new templates and visual designs. Staying relevant and experimenting through A/B tests facilitates withstanding competition.

Connecting apps and integrations

Shopify App Store and integrations with external tools also help merchants stay competitive. Analytical tools provide actionable insights into user behavior. Apps for loyalty program management, gift cards, price customization, and similar tools let you use these insights properly. A maintenance expert will select and connect the solution that suits you best.

Preventing issues caused by poor maintenance

Some believe monthly Shopify support & maintenance is not mandatory if they don’t intend to innovate. A pretty basic setup can indeed work well for a business. However, some issues come as collateral damage of missing regular maintenance. For example:

• outdated themes, integrations, and plugins
• accumulated data and multimedia
• broken links and accumulating redirects
• outdated product listings and inventory data
• out-of-date product descriptions and content
• difficulty managing security and performance.

These issues pose a severe risk for a store. Using outdated software leaves businesses vulnerable to cyberattacks, data breaches, and unauthorized access. Irrelevant content makes users question a merchant’s credibility. Lack of regular monitoring and analysis results in poor SEO performance and difficulty identifying areas for improvement.

In other words, Shopify website maintenance often works as a preventive measure. It secures your business from common problems. Even with a minimum number of support hours monthly, merchants can keep a competitive edge. It’s enough to keep everything working.

Enhancing customer experience

There are many ways to improve the e-commerce customer experience. Monthly maintenance and support services are the basic strategy. Shopify development experts keep an eye on vulnerabilities and look for new opportunities to improve UX. They are available and ready to address problems, perfect customer experience, and develop new features.

Addressing problems and working with objections

Let’s start with some numbers. Over half of consumers shop online for free delivery. Around 38 percent are motivated by coupons and discounts. Many more never complete a purchase they start. The average shopping cart abandonment rate is over 70 percent these days.

How does this help merchants? It provides ideas on where to start your analysis and review. Customers expect businesses to know them. They want brands to address their problems or help find solutions. Learn what motivates your audience to buy from you and what prevents it from completing purchases. The support team will offer relevant store enhancements.

Perfecting customer experience

Sometimes, problems hide behind the little things. These can be inconvenient banner placement, complicated navigation, or heavy images that take time to load. A missing preferred payment or delivery option is even more demotivating. Luckily, these things are very easy to fix. With a monthly Shopify support retainer service, it’ll take minimum time.

Forging new features

No matter how great a platform is, there’s an edge to what you can set up. Most likely, some coding will be involved. Speaking about an online shop, there’s hardly a limit to innovation. Social commerce, AI, XR, and other emerging tech are changing the e-commerce landscape. They can keep you rolling out new functionalities or at least occasional updates.

If you intend to add new features at any point, it’s best to have a regular Shopify technical support team. Thus, you won’t need to look for experts whenever you need to add something. This person or team will also be familiar with the store’s architecture and particulates. Together, these factors allow for fast updates.

Examples of customer-centric improvements

The list of customer-centric improvements can include very diverse points. If your store is new, the improvements may be very practical and rather basic. If you are all set up and ready to experiment, they get bolder and more challenging to implement. Such improvements include but are not limited to the following:

• responsive design optimization
• enhancing product search functionality
• personalized product recommendations
• image optimization and code cleanup
• integration with customer support systems
• improved product descriptions and imagery
• smooth multi-channel integrations
• personalized post-purchase engagement.

Sending a personalized email and integrating AR tools can work equally well at different store operation stages. The Shopify maintenance team will help you locate bottlenecks and prioritize improvements. Then, they’ll proceed with changes that can put ideas into action.

Technical support and troubleshooting

Over seven million websites globally use Shopify. More than 700 million buyers shop in these stores. Shopify is known for its high performance and good support. This extensive reach surely has a solid technical base and 24/7 support. Yet, it doesn’t mean merchants never face any issues. And that’s especially relevant for stores with custom settings and code.

Shopify support and maintenance services are crucial in technical support and troubleshooting. Having an emergency response team to tackle glitches and defects enables uninterrupted work or at least quick issue resolution. It gives merchants more control over quality management, platform configuration, and daily technical support.

Quality management and bug fixing

A software maintenance team's key task is ensuring an e-commerce platform works correctly. It doesn’t matter how good a business plan and branding are if a website doesn’t function properly. And the latter implies occasionally fixing bugs, errors, and defects.

Website issues occur not only after code changes. Any updates on Shopify’s side can potentially affect your store. With a monthly retainer program, you can be sure to plan for additional QA and testing for each update. Also, the specialists get enough time to address minor bugs, which don’t interfere with usability but can spoil an overall impression.

Assistance with platform configuration

Platform configuration isn’t always a one-time setup. You may need to replace some tools. If a company’s strategy or brand image changes, it’s also necessary to reconfigure some settings. The same goes for technical or regulatory updates Shopify rolls out. Long story short, your online store is dynamic and requires constant monitoring and updates.

Day-to-day technical support

It’s crucial to work with user feedback. This can include reports on defects and suggestions for potential improvements. Moreover, there’s a business side to Shopify. Those working with the Admin panel, inventory, and other tools also face difficulties with the platform. The monthly subscription plan implies quick issue resolution, no matter the functionality.

Addressing technical issues effectively

How can Shopify maintenance and support plans provide peace of mind? There are a number of issues e-commerce businesses typically face. Many of them aren’t tied solely to new feature development. Monthly support services include the following:

• minimizing downtime and maintaining stable store operation
• monitoring performance data to locate bottlenecks
• overviewing customizations and risk-prone areas
• analyzing user feedback and working with tickets
• reviews and audits to define opportunities for improvement
• training and guiding the team for more effective store management.

Delegating these things to a support team can certainly provide peace of mind. Prompt issue resolution results in a happier team and customers.

Strategic guidance and optimization

Over 85 percent of Shopify merchants use apps to improve their store’s performance. We’ve briefly mentioned that maintenance experts can help you optimize performance indicators. This goes beyond the capacity to handle peak loads. It also includes SEO and UX enhancements.

Preventive maintenance

Preventive Shopify site maintenance is one of the best strategies. Monitoring the market and your competitors will help your team be ready for potential issues and avert them. A support team also knows what tools and technologies improve reliability. They know what to observe to keep this reliability at a high level.

Conversion and user flow audits

Testing your store for conversion or usability issues helps increase business performance. The problem often lies in very common UX and conversion issues. It can be checkout, payment processing, or even unclear CTAs. The support team can help you find the root cause quickly using client feedback or special apps and offer solutions.

Technical and SEO optimization

Another important point of store management is staying updated with guidelines. Search engines, social media, and other services occasionally update the terms of use. And it always affects e-commerce businesses. Keeping up with changes may be complicated. There’s a chance to miss something that’s not all over the news. And sometimes, the changes are just puzzling.

Shopify support and maintenance imply working with a range of specialists with solid Shopify expertise. They can optimize the store’s SEO before the launch, monitor the data, and lead it through changes if needed. The same goes for speed and accessibility, which are also critical for online businesses.

Strategic growth consultations

Some wonder whether they will have enough tasks for a Shopify retainer service provider. Such teams provide support tailored to your business needs. If everything is working well at the moment, they can perform audits or look for growth opportunities. Maintenance also includes more serious planning for the future.

Examples of optimization strategies

Let’s sum up this section with some straightforward examples. Strategic guidance and optimization for a Shopify store can include the following things:

• compressing images, minifying CSS and JavaScript files
• caching setup and using content delivery networks
• increasing mobile responsiveness across a vast range of devices
• optimizing metadata, URL structures, heading tags, and image alt texts
• analyzing user behavior and working with cart abandonment
• conducting A/B testing on conversion strategies
• content optimization based on target audience portraits
• implementing tech solutions for different customer retention strategies
• utilizing social media, email marketing, and other tools.

These are just a few top-of-mid examples of what comes in a Shopify Support Package. The full range of options and solutions is much more diverse. A lot depends on the particularities of your store and business overall.

Cost-effectiveness and time savings

Scrolling through the advantages, you might have already noticed that monthly support is beneficial in terms of time and money. Maintaining a Shopify store can be complex. It can turn into a serious challenge for people without relevant experience. A company providing lifelong assistance working alongside you for a few hours changes the situation completely.

Shopify maintenance is essential to ensure the platform’s stability. It helps keep the store working with minimum interruptions, even when some issues arise. This fact alone proves the cost-effectiveness. You get to prevent or minimize downtime so you don’t miss conversions or lose customers in mass.

Expertise allows for time-saving

As a store owner, manager, etc., you don’t know the ins and outs of Shopify. On the one hand, you can still resolve some issues independently. Online research and communication with customer support may be enough. On the other hand, it takes time. Professionals can resolve any issues faster. You can dedicate valuable time to your immediate responsibilities.

Instead, you get professional Shopify technical support for a set number of hours monthly. You can discuss the support level and included services, choosing what works for your case. This approach saves time by letting everyone stick to their responsibilities. Everyone stays assigned to do what they know best.

Cost-effectiveness in the long run

The Shopify monthly retainer program comes at a fixed price. There are numerous options to adjust your store’s current requirements. In other words, you don’t overpay. It’s possible to stick with the minimum support plan and change it later if needed. And you can be sure there will be enough workload for the minimum engagement model.

Given how much time you can spend fixing issues and updating, having experts is certainly cost-efficient. Adapting to changing trends, regulations, and technologies is cost-efficient in the long run. The Shopify specialists will keep your e-commerce store future-ready. They will also help you avoid potential costly mistakes.

Monthly support cost consideration

The pricing for a monthly subscription plan varies depending on the needs of the business. It’s important to consider the size of the store, its stage of evolution, scaling plans, and other factors. In general, outsourcing support remains a more cost-efficient solution than in-house staff. To be more specific:

• Outsourcing support comes with immediate response and expertise. You have a set price, hours, and services stated in the contract. You get on-demand support within the agreed terms.
• In-house experts come with monthly salaries and management expenses. They tend to have less versatile skills. There’s a chance that maintenance won’t provide a work scope for the full load.
• Reliance on existing in-house resources doesn’t imply direct costs associated with maintenance. However, a person who doesn’t specialize in Shopify is left in charge of platform support and issue resolution. Instead of bringing the value they could, they spend time figuring out Shopify. So, you get a slower issue resolution and a pause in working on this person’s tasks.

To do the Shopify maintenance math, just consider the monthly salaries of in-house staff. You’ll probably won’t need additional calculations to see the benefits. By outsourcing support, you get vast expertise in bug fixing, consulting, strategy meetings, and more. All of that is available at a rate at least three times lower.

Final thoughts

Setting up an online store might seem the most time-consuming and complex task for a business. But it’s just the start of the journey. Every store requires maintenance. Even with little changes in its functionality or design, companies may encounter issues affecting business performance.

The monthly Shopify support & maintenance allows companies to stay proactive. It includes regular updates of the tech stack, monitoring various performance metrics, backing up data, and more. These things help businesses remain competitive and build the background for scalability. Without proper expertise, they are as challenging as the initial setup.

Our retainer program Shopify adopts a flexible approach. You can choose an appropriate amount of monthly allocated hours for various services. Besides, you get on-demand access to Shopify experts, immediate attention to high-priority issues, quick responses, and growth strategy meetings. Does it sound interesting? Contact us, and let’s pick the best maintenance plan for your store.