Octavian | oContis Studio

London based, creative studio, dedicated to delivering exceptional E-commerce solutions for Shopify Plus merchants and brand owners.

[Octavian | oContis Studio @oContis_Studio]

When a bestseller sells out before Christmas, do you switch it to pre-order with a ship date or hide it until stock lands? In stack audits we keep finding sold-out pages left live with no date. So the question lands in the support inbox.

[Octavian | oContis Studio @oContis_Studio]

https://t.co/XhtQGiazI4

[Octavian | oContis Studio @oContis_Studio]

A 36-pack only looks better value once you see the price per can. On Kloudy Matcha's product page our review component works it out for 12, 24 and 36 packs, where shoppers choose. Subscriptions sit in the same flow, flavour and pack size set in one place. One page, one decision.

[Octavian | oContis Studio @oContis_Studio]

Set the end date on every Black Friday discount the day you create it. Autumn codes still live in spring. In Shopify audits we keep finding them left on because someone meant to switch them off after the rush. Put the end time in the discount and check the store's timezone.

[Octavian | oContis Studio @oContis_Studio]

@brunonevesca Returning customers keeping a bad Meta day profitable is the best case we've seen. Which first product brings people back most?

[Octavian | oContis Studio @oContis_Studio]

A bulky item ships at the wrong rate. In Shopify audits we keep finding bulky products in the general shipping profile. Someone built a custom profile with the right rates, then products added later dropped into the default one. Before peak we check every new product's profile.

[Octavian | oContis Studio @oContis_Studio]

Before: "Returns accepted within 30 days."
After: "Ordered between 1 November and 24 December? You can return it until 31 January."
Early gift buyers need to know the present can still go back after Christmas. A 30-day line leaves them unsure.

[Octavian | oContis Studio @oContis_Studio]

Name every unpublished theme copy with a date and an owner, or delete it. A library of "Copy of Copy of Live" leaves nobody sure which version holds last month's fixes. In a rush someone publishes the wrong one.

[Octavian | oContis Studio @oContis_Studio]

Before a new payment option goes live at checkout, we check four things:
1. Mobile checkout shows it
2. A refund goes back the same way
3. The ERP and order tags recognise it
4. Subscription renewals still charge

[Octavian | oContis Studio @oContis_Studio]

Free delivery threshold for peak: do you raise it, drop it, or leave it alone? Whatever you pick, we still find stores where the cart bar, the top banner and the actual shipping rate each quote a different number. One of them changed and the others did not.

[Octavian | oContis Studio @oContis_Studio]

Shoppers hit an empty grid and leave. In Shopify audits we keep finding menu and footer links that point at collections someone emptied or hid months ago. Before peak we tap every menu link once on mobile and fix or remove anything that lands on nothing.

[Octavian | oContis Studio @oContis_Studio]

We'd freeze new app installs and theme changes from mid November until the week after Cyber Monday. Anything added during peak lands on the busiest checkout of the year. That is when there is the least time to test it and the most to lose rolling it back.

[Octavian | oContis Studio @oContis_Studio]

When a product comes in several colours, do you keep it as one product with a colour option or split each colour into its own product? Separate products show up better in collections and search, while one product keeps reviews and stock history together. We see both in audits.

[Octavian | oContis Studio @oContis_Studio]

@HeeyongCh Congrats on the first 30 days. If inventory is the next squeeze, watch for ads still sending people to a PDP that's sold out. A back-in-stock signup on that page keeps the traffic you paid for.

[Octavian | oContis Studio @oContis_Studio]

Before: "Questions? Contact us."
After: "Tracking an order? Use your order number on the tracking page. Anything else, email us and we'll reply within one working day."
Where's-my-order emails are the ones a page can answer. The contact page should send people there first.

[Octavian | oContis Studio @oContis_Studio]

Before switching a store to the new customer accounts, we check four things:
1. Older orders still show up
2. Subscription links still open
3. Login links in emails go to the new page
4. Loyalty points still appear after sign-in

[Octavian | oContis Studio @oContis_Studio]

@JonKatz96 Cheapest item every time is the card-testing tell. Worth checking whether any of the 52 actually went through too. A couple of passed tests tend to come back as chargebacks later.

[Octavian | oContis Studio @oContis_Studio]

In stack audits we keep finding product metafields left behind by apps the brand removed years ago. Nobody knows which ones the theme still reads. The team then adds a fresh field for the same thing. Before any rebuild we map every field to whatever reads it.

[Octavian | oContis Studio @oContis_Studio]

@ugmonk Sagging when empty always gets me with totes. Is the shape held by a stiffer base panel or just heavier canvas?

[Octavian | oContis Studio @oContis_Studio]

Anything the team changes every week should be editable in the theme editor. We still find sale banners, delivery cut-off dates and size guide text written straight into theme code. Each small update waits on a developer. Peak week becomes a queue of tiny tickets.