Redesign, or a new e-shop?
For company websites and e-shops alike, a redesign should address concrete visitor needs. In a store, examine the product page, cart, delivery and payment. An unnecessary or confusing field can complicate buying; verify its actual effect. So the question isn't "does it look dated?" but "where are we actually losing orders?".
A redesign of an existing e-shop makes sense when the platform fits your needs functionally but conversion is lagging. A new e-shop makes sense when the platform can no longer do what you need, or when you have technical debt that a redesign would only paper over with cosmetics.
4 places to examine in an audit
An audit examines these four parts of the purchase journey, among others.
Four parts of the purchase journey
- Checkout flow pointless registration, too many fields, missing express payments
- Product page small photos, confusing variants, unclear availability, missing reviews
- Speed slow loading can make buying harder; verify the effect separately for mobile and desktop
- Search and categories category structure, filters and full-text search; verify with specific tasks
1. Checkout flow
An important step before completing an order. Pointless "register before you can buy" requirements, too many fields, missing express payments (Apple Pay, Google Pay). Check where people interrupt the purchase and why.
2. Product page
Poor or small photos, confusing variants, unclear availability, missing reviews. A customer who doesn't have enough information or trust will leave rather than buy.
3. Speed
Slow loading can make buying harder. Verify the effect on orders for the specific shop, separately for mobile and desktop. Speed alone does not establish lost revenue.
4. Search and categories
If a customer cannot find the product, they may leave; test specific tasks to establish the problem. A logical category structure, working filters, and full-text search are often underestimated.
How a data-driven redesign works
A good redesign doesn't start with a designer, it starts with data. First I find out where you're actually losing money.
How a data-driven redesign works
- Heatmaps and session recordings I inspect the journey with appropriate privacy settings and any necessary consent; sensitive fields are excluded
- Cart drop-off analysis which checkout step they abandon
- Speed audit Core Web Vitals on product and category pages
- Proposed changes with hypotheses I change only what the data suggests can lift conversion
- A/B test for e-shops with enough traffic, I verify the impact before rolling it out site-wide
Worked example: One hypothesis about checkout delivery
illustrative example
| Test part | Specific record |
|---|---|
| Observation to verify | People find delivery price only at checkout |
| Hypothesis | Earlier pricing reduces surprises |
| Change | Show delivery options in the cart |
| Primary metric | Completed purchases / cart entries |
| Guardrail | Margin per order |
Verify the hypothesis with data; this example promises no conversion uplift.
What an e-shop redesign costs
Cost depends on the critical screens, data quality and integrations with payment gateways, carriers and feeds (Heureka, Zboží.cz). My real-world prices:
| Package | What's included | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Quick Fix | Checkout and product card refresh, speed quick wins | from €1,000 |
| Standard | Full redesign of 15+ pages, A/B tests, payment gateway integration, feeds | from €2,400 |
| Premium | Custom features, ERP integration, multilingual, load testing | from €4,800 |
For comparison, a new Shoptet shop with custom design starts from €3,200 with an indicative 6-10 week schedule depending on scope (the price of a new e-shop is broken down in how much an e-shop costs). A redesign may involve less work if the platform, data and integrations fit. Compare both options against the actual brief.
When a new e-shop is the better choice
A redesign doesn't always make sense. The difference is summarised below.
Redesign or new build
- Redesign of an existing e-shop
- the platform fits your needs functionally
- conversion is lagging
- New e-shop
- an old platform can't handle a modern checkout or express payments
- a move to headless (Shoptet/Shopify backend and custom frontend)
- technical debt so large that a redesign would be mere cosmetics
If you're not sure which category you're in, this comparison of e-commerce platforms or the article on when you need a custom e-shop will help.
How to reduce SEO risk during a redesign
The biggest worry with a redesign tends to be losing organic visibility. That is why the work includes an SEO migration plan with a 301 redirect map, canonical checks, internal-link checks and measurement. This reduces risk, but specific rankings cannot be guaranteed. After launch, Search Console needs to be monitored and any errors or drops addressed from the data.
Conclusion
If the shop does not bring expected orders, first investigate the data, offer and purchase journey. A redesign is not automatically cheaper or faster than a new build: integrations, data quality and repair scope matter. Tell me where the problem appears. See e-shop conversion optimisation for the process.
What to take away
- The question is not "does it look dated?" but "where are we actually losing orders?".
- A redesign makes sense when the platform fits and conversion is lagging; a new build when the platform can't do what you need or technical debt would only be covered up by cosmetics.
- A good redesign starts with data: I change only what the data suggests can lift conversion.
- Cost depends on the critical screens, data quality and integrations with payment gateways, carriers and feeds.
- A redesign is not automatically cheaper or faster than a new build.
- An SEO migration plan with a 301 redirect map reduces risk, but specific rankings cannot be guaranteed.
Considering a change? Check out e-shop redesign, what's included and what it costs.