5 product page mistakes that cost you sales
Millie Citton · 1 November 2026 · 6 min readThe product page is where a visitor decides whether to buy or leave. People arriving from Google Shopping, an ad or a social post often land straight on it, without ever seeing your homepage.
In more than 15 years of conversion work, for major brands and small shops alike, I’ve seen the same five mistakes come up again and again. The good news: most of them take a few hours to fix, often straight from your theme settings, with no developer needed.
1. The first screen shows the price, but not the value
What I often see: a big image, the product name, the price and little else. The reason the product is worth that price is buried in a long description, three scrolls further down.
Why it costs sales: someone arriving from an ad decides within seconds whether to stay. Seeing the price is fine, but if the value isn’t right next to it, the price becomes the only thing they judge on.
How to fix it: under the product name, add three short points that answer “why this one and not another?”. Materials, results, who it’s for. For Pri Pri, an ethical shop I worked with, we rebuilt the page around the product’s story, so the value lands before the price.
2. Reviews arrive too late
What I often see: the reviews exist, but they sit at the bottom of the page, below the description, the specifications and the related products.
Why it costs sales: doubt kicks in the moment someone looks at the “Add to basket” button, not ten scrolls later. If the reassurance isn’t there, many leave to look for it elsewhere.
How to fix it: show the star rating and the number of reviews right under the product name, linked to the full reviews. If you have a review with a photo, put it near the button: for food, beauty and clothing it does more work than any description.
3. Too many choices before the button
What I often see: sizes, colours, pack sizes, subscription or one-off, gift options, all before the button and with nothing preselected.
Why it costs sales: every extra choice is a moment where the visitor can stall. When no option is preselected, the button feels locked, and anyone who’s hesitating puts it off.
How to fix it: preselect your best-selling option and label it (“most popular”). Move secondary options, like a gift note, to the basket. If a variant needs explaining, put the explanation in one line next to the choice, not in a separate table.
4. Shipping and returns hidden until checkout
What I often see: delivery costs, delivery times and the returns policy only appear at checkout, or on a separate page linked from the footer.
Why it costs sales: an unexpected cost at the last step is one of the most common reasons people abandon their basket. And if they can’t find this information on the product page, many never get as far as the basket at all.
How to fix it: add a short line under the button: “Free delivery over £50 · Arrives in 2–3 days · Easy 30-day returns”, with your real details. Three facts, one line, no surprises.
5. On mobile, the button disappears
What I often see: on desktop the page works, but on mobile the image gallery fills the whole screen. The “Add to basket” button only appears after a scroll or two, then vanishes again as soon as someone starts reading the description.
Why it costs sales: in most shops, the majority of visits come from mobile. If buying means scrolling back up to find the button, many people don’t bother.
How to fix it: open your page on your phone and check whether the button is visible without scrolling. If it isn’t, reduce the height of the gallery and switch on a sticky button at the bottom of the screen, so it stays visible as people scroll. Most Shopify themes offer this in their settings.
Where to start
You don’t need to fix everything at once. Open your best-selling product page on your phone and check these five points, one at a time:
I’ll review it for free and send you a short PDF with the three changes I think would bring in the most sales.