Blog

Gather knowledge about the latest insights, updates, tips, and tricks in the Ecommerce industry.

How Anua Unlocked 5X AOV Growth with iCart’s Smart Cart Features

delivery customization Challenges Solutions drive results Scale business delivery customization Challenges Solutions drive results Scale business delivery customization Challenges Solutions drive results Scale business delivery customization Challenges Solutions drive results Scale business Anua is a globally recognized Korean skincare brand known for its minimalist philosophy and focus on gentle yet effective formulations. Built on the idea of simplifying skincare routines, Anua develops products that deliver visible results while avoiding harsh or irritating components, making them suitable for sensitive skin types. Initially using a traditional full cart experience, Anua transitioned to iCart’s side cart solution in August 2025, to create a more seamless and engaging shopping journey. This shift allowed customers to easily explore complementary skincare products without disrupting their browsing flow, making it more intuitive to discover items that fit into a complete routine. By surfacing relevant recommendations directly within the cart, the brand enhanced product visibility across its range. Challenges Before implementing iCart’s side cart solution, Anua faced limitations with their existing full cart experience, which created friction in the customer journey. The traditional cart setup redirected users away from product pages, interrupting their browsing flow and reducing opportunities to explore additional products. As a skincare brand built around routines rather than single-item purchases, this made it difficult to effectively showcase complementary products and encourage customers to build complete regimens. Additionally, the lack of in-cart personalization and strategic upsell opportunities meant that customers were often unaware of related products that could enhance their skincare results. This limited the brand’s ability to increase average order value (AOV) and fully leverage its diverse product range. Anua needed a more dynamic and intuitive cart experience that could seamlessly introduce relevant recommendations while maintaining a smooth and engaging shopping journey. ❌ Cart Value Barriers Low average order value (AOV) due to single-item focus Most customers completed purchases with one primary product instead of building multi-step routines. Cart abandonment near shipping thresholds Customers were not clearly informed or motivated to reach free shipping or discount thresholds. Missed savings opportunities Customers were unaware of potential value in purchasing bundled routines or multiple complementary products. ❌ Absence of Progress-Based Incentives No free shipping or discount progress bar Customers were not motivated to increase their cart value due to lack of visible incentives. Missing tiered rewards system There were no structured milestones (e.g., “Spend more to unlock offers”), reducing upsell opportunities. ❌ Ineffective Cart UI/UX (Pre-Side Cart) Full-page cart disrupted shopping flowCustomers had to leave their browsing journey, increasing friction and drop-offs. No quick add/remove functionality Users couldn’t easily modify their cart or add suggested products without navigating away. Solution To overcome these challenges, Anua implemented iCart’s side cart solution to transform their traditional cart into a high-converting, interactive experience. By replacing the full-page cart with a seamless side cart, the brand ensured that customers could continue browsing while viewing their cart, significantly reducing friction in the shopping journey. Additionally, features like product recommendations & progress bars for free shipping and discounts motivated customers to increase their cart value. By combining personalization, incentive-driven messaging, and a user-friendly interface, Anua successfully turned their cart into a powerful revenue-driving touchpoint rather than just a checkout step. To maximize their cart effectiveness, they implemented two powerful features: ✅ Progress Bar with Multi-Reward Incentives Implemented a tiered progress bar to encourage higher cart value Customers are guided with a clear message like “Add $3.10 to unlock secret offer,” motivating them to continue adding products. Generated over $5M+ in revenue through incentive-driven cart progression Used product-based rewards to align with customer intent Instead of generic discounts, Anua incentivized purchases with relevant skincare items like Dark Spot Pads and mini serums. Built visual motivation for routine expansion As customers add products, they can clearly track progress toward unlocking multiple rewards, encouraging them to build a complete skincare routine. ✅ Product Recommendations Implemented “Frequently Bought Together” recommendations Customers adding a single product (e.g., toner) are shown complementary items like serums, moisturizers, or pads to complete their routine. Generated over 275K revenue through in-cart recommendations Encouraged full skincare regimen building Instead of isolated purchases, the cart suggests step-by-step product combinations aligned with common skincare routines. Increased product discovery at the final stage By surfacing relevant items directly in the cart, Anua ensured customers explore more of their catalog without leaving the checkout flow. Results Achieved in Last 180 Days 22932 Total Store Orders 45101 Total iCart Orders 5X iCart Generated AOV 65.70% Upsell Affected Conversion Rate These improvements reflect a clear shift in customer behavior on Anua’s store. Cart abandonment reduced as shoppers discovered complementary skincare products and felt encouraged to build complete routines. Engagement also increased, with customers interacting more with in-cart recommendations and exploring relevant product pairings. Results & Impact And...Results is Our Main Clarification By implementing iCart’s cart drawer, product recommendations, and progress bar, Anua transformed its cart into a high-performing conversion touchpoint. Shopping Experience Enhancement The improved cart experience encouraged customers to discover complementary products and understand the value of sustainable beauty routines. For instance, the clear presentation of subscription savings alongside one-time purchase options helped customers make more informed decisions about their long-term hair care needs. As Anua continues to optimize its cart experience, the brand is closely monitoring: Routine-based purchasing behavior - tracking how customers move from single items to multi-step regimens Engagement with in-cart recommendations - measuring interaction with suggested products Cart value progression - analyzing how incentives influence higher spending [related_cases_slider] Ready to Write Your Success Story? Try icart App Join successful businesses like Anua and Master your delivery scheduling Delight customers with precise timing Grow your special occasion orders Expand your delivery reach

Read Blog

8 Min • 11 July 2026

How to Enable Shopify Lazy Load (2026 Step-by-Step Guide)

Images are always the heaviest thing on a Shopify page. Loading every one of them the moment a page opens is what affects the store’s speed. Shopify lazy load is the fix. It tells the browser to download images only as a shopper scrolls toward them. The first screen loads fast, and your visitors stop staring at a blank layout. I have helped design enough Shopify stores to know the mistakes owners make during optimization. I will walk you through the whole thing the way I actually do it. You will learn what lazy loading is, how to check what your theme already does, and how to enable lazy loading in your store. What is lazy loading? Lazy loading is a technique that delays loading images, videos, and other heavy files until they are about to appear on screen. Instead of fetching every image the instant a page opens, the browser downloads only what a visitor can see, then pulls in the rest as they scroll. Less to download up front means a faster store speed and lower data usage, which matters most on mobile. When a page loads, the browser reads the HTML and queues every <img> tag for download. Grabbing all of them at once slows everything down. Lazy loading tells the browser to hold off on the images below the fold, the ones a shopper cannot see yet. One thing worth knowing is that you no longer need to be technical to enable lazy loading. But there are a few things I do before I add lazy loading in the store. First, check if your Shopify theme already lazy loads Most themes built on Online Store 2.0, including Dawn, Craft, Sense, and Refresh, ship with lazy loading on below-the-fold images by default. Adding it again on top duplicates the attribute. Here is the 20-second check I do: Open a collection or product page that has images below the fold. Right-click any image you have to scroll to reach, then click Inspect. Look at the <img> tag in the panel that opens. If you see lazyload and you did not add it yourself, your theme already handles it. Here's how I checked if lazy loading is enabled in the Shopify store, Houseplant. So if your theme is modern and you have already added lazy load, leave it alone. If you are on an older theme or building custom sections, here’s how you can set it up. How to set up Shopify lazy load in your theme? If your theme does not lazy load, or you are editing custom sections, you add the loading="lazy" attribute to the image tags in your Liquid files. The best method in 2026 is to render images with Shopify's image_tag filter, which handles lazy loading, responsive sizing, and dimensions for you. Whatever route you take, duplicate your theme first, so you have a safe rollback if something breaks. Go to Online Store > Themes, click Actions next to your live theme, and choose Duplicate. Work on this copy. To enable lazy loading in Shopify across the whole store, you edit the theme's section and snippet files. Go to Online Store > Themes > Actions > Edit code, then search your files for <img. Common places to look: snippets/card-product.liquid for the product cards used across collections and recommendations sections/featured-collection.liquid for homepage product rows sections/main-collection-product-grid.liquid for collection page grids Add loading="lazy" to the image tags that render below-the-fold content, then save and preview. For example: <img src="{{ section.settings.image | image_url: width: 800 }}" loading="lazy" alt="Product Image"> Pair lazy loading with correctly sized files too. My Shopify image size guide covers the dimensions that keep files light. Which images should you lazy load? The one rule that matters most: do not lazy load anything a shopper sees the instant the page opens. Below are the images you should definitely add the lazy load attribute. Product gallery images Recommended and recently viewed products Blog body images Footer images and badges Lazy loading and Core Web Vitals in 2026 Core Web Vitals are Google’s way of measuring how fast, stable, and responsive your Shopify store feels to visitors. Google currently measures three main Core Web Vitals: 1. Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) LCP measures how quickly the main content at the top of the page appears. This is often your hero banner, product image, or large heading. A good LCP score is under 2.5 seconds. Your main hero image should not be lazy-loaded because customers need to see it immediately. Instead, load the hero image normally and lazy-load images farther down the page. 2. Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) CLS measures whether content unexpectedly moves while the page is loading. A good CLS score is under 0.1. For example, a customer may try to tap a product button, but an image suddenly loads above it and pushes the button downward. This creates a frustrating shopping experience. 3. Interaction to Next Paint (INP) INP measures how quickly your store responds after a customer clicks, taps, or interacts with something. A good INP score is under 200 milliseconds. Check your scores by visiting ‘pagespeed.web.dev’ and entering your store URL. What this means for your Shopify store Lazy loading works best when you: Load hero images and other above-the-fold content immediately. Lazy-load product images and content farther down the page. Add width and height values to prevent layout movement. Avoid loading too many large images at the same time. Test important pages after making changes. In my experience, collection pages often benefit the most because they usually contain many product images. Do you need a lazy load Shopify app? For images alone, you usually do not need an app. Native browser lazy loading works everywhere, and Shopify's image_tag filter applies it for you. Where a lazy load Shopify app earns its place is in bundling. The good ones compress files, add video facades, defer non-critical scripts, and fix Core Web Vitals. This is useful if you do not want to touch code. If you are weighing options, my guide on top Shopify tools for growth combines image optimization with speed fixes. My honest take after doing this for a living: reach for native lazy loading first, add a well-reviewed speed app only if you need the extra features. If you do want apps for this. I would recommend 3 that I have worked with. 1. Tiny SEO Speed Image Optimizer Tiny SEO offers lazy loading alongside image compression, resizing, alt-text optimization, broken-link management, and other SEO tools. It is a suitable option for merchants looking for an all-in-one image and store optimization app. 2. Avada AI SEO Suite Optimizer Avada combines lazy loading with image optimization, code minification, SEO audits, structured data, and redirects. It can be useful for merchants who want to improve both store speed and technical SEO from one dashboard. 3. WEBP Image Optimizer+Speed SEO This app compresses images, converts JPG and PNG files to WebP, and provides built-in lazy loading. It is worth considering if large image files are the main reason your product or collection pages load slowly. How to test that lazy loading is working Start with DevTools: Open a page with below-the-fold images, right-click, and choose Inspect. Go to the Network tab and, if you like, filter by Img. Refresh the page and scroll slowly from the top. If image requests fire as you scroll instead of all at once, lazy loading is working. I tested it on Netlfix.shop, which is Netflix’s merch store built on Shopify Get Shopify lazy load right Get lazy load in your Shopify store right by letting your theme and the image_tag filter handle the media. Check what your theme already does before you write a single line of code, test with DevTools and PageSpeed Insights. Reach for an app or a developer when you genuinely need more than images handled. FAQs 1. Does Shopify lazy load images by default? Most modern Online Store 2.0 themes apply loading="lazy" to below-the-fold images automatically. Older themes may not. To confirm, right-click an image you have to scroll to see, choose Inspect, and check the <img> tag for loading="lazy". 2. How to lazy load images in Shopify? Shopify themes usually support lazy loading through the loading="lazy" attribute or the Shopify image_tag Liquid filter. To add lazy loading manually, go to Shopify Admin → Online Store → Themes → … → Edit code, open the relevant section or snippet, and find the image code. Add loading="lazy" to a standard image tag—<img src="image.jpg" loading="lazy" width="800" height="600">—or use Shopify Liquid: {{ image | image_url: width: 800 | image_tag: loading: 'lazy' }} 3. What is lazy loading? Lazy loading is a technique that delays loading images and other media until they are close to appearing on the customer’s screen. It reduces the amount of content loaded initially, helping Shopify pages open faster and use less bandwidth. 4. Which is the best lazy load Shopify app? Tiny SEO Speed Image Optimizer is one of the best lazy-loading apps for Shopify because it combines smart lazy loading with image compression, resizing, alt-text optimization, and other speed features.

10 Min • 28 July 2026

Pinterest for Shopify: How to Connect, Sync, and Sell in 2026

Start by creating a free Pinterest Business Account or converting your existing personal profile. Next, log in to Shopify, find the Pinterest app in the Shopify App Store, and select **Add app**. Follow the prompts to sign in to Pinterest and grant the necessary permissions. Once connected, finish the setup to claim your website, install the Pinterest tag, and automatically sync your Shopify product catalog with Pinterest. Do you know, according to the latest Storeleads data, Pinterest is among the top 5 social media platforms used by Shopify stores. And why not? People arrive on it searching for what they want, and a huge share of that intent is commercial. I went through the current setup end to end and checked every step against Pinterest's own documentation and Shopify's deprecation timeline. Here is what the integration does in 2026, how to link the two accounts properly, and the three or four bits of advice you need to sell. Why is Pinterest worth a Shopify store owner's time? Pinterest behaves like a visual search engine. For a new or small Shopify store, this is huge. Unbranded search is the whole opportunity for new stores. Nobody is searching for your brand yet. They are searching for the problem your product solves. The other thing worth knowing is longevity. A pin keeps surfacing in search and related pins long after you publish it. That behaviour makes Pinterest important for SEO. This is why I treat it as a channel that helps with growth over time. If you are still building your broader plan, my guide on social media marketing for Shopify stores covers how the channels fit together. What does the Pinterest for Shopify app do? The Pinterest for Shopify app is free to install, built and maintained by Pinterest Inc on the Shopify App Store. Here is what happens the moment you install & connect: Your domain gets claimed on Pinterest. No meta tag, no DNS record, no waiting. The Pinterest tag and the Conversions API get installed. You get browser side and server side tracking without customizing theme files. Your Shopify product feed connects to Pinterest. Your catalog becomes a Pinterest data source. Product Pins get generated from that feed. Price and availability stay current instead of going stale. What the Pinterest for Shopify app does not do? The app syncs data and installs tracking. It does not design pins, schedule content, write keyword rich descriptions, or build boards for you. Every store I have seen struggle on Pinterest installed the app, watched Product Pins auto generate, and then stopped. Auto generated Product Pins won’t help you get sales. How do I link my Shopify store to Pinterest? Step 1: Create a Pinterest Business account You need a Pinterest business account before connecting your store. You can either create a new business account or convert your existing personal account. Add your store name, logo, website URL and a short business description so Pinterest can clearly identify your brand. Step 2: Install the official Pinterest app Log in to your Shopify Admin and go to: Settings > Apps and sales channels > Shopify App Store Click Install, review the permissions and approve the installation. Pinterest should then appear in your Shopify Admin as an app or sales channel. Step 3: Connect your Pinterest account Open the Pinterest channel inside Shopify and click Connect Pinterest account. A Pinterest login window will appear. Log in using the account that owns your Pinterest business profile. Select the correct Pinterest business account and advertiser account, then approve the connection. Step 4: Let Pinterest claim your website The Shopify integration should automatically claim your Shopify website on Pinterest. You can check this inside your Pinterest settings under Claimed accounts or Claimed websites. Your Shopify domain should appear there after the connection is completed. Step 5: Allow your products to sync Once the accounts are connected, Pinterest will create a product catalog using the information from your Shopify store. Active Shopify products will automatically become Product Pins on Pinterest. Step 6: Update your inventory Once connected, when you update the pricing, description, images, and other details in the Shopify inventory, it will automatically get updated in the product pins. Shopify Pinterest integration: What to verify after you connect Feed timing Your Shopify product feed updates every 24 hours. Your Shopify collections sync every 48 hours and land in Pinterest as product groups. If you launched a collection yesterday and it is missing, wait another day before troubleshooting. Product groups Open Catalogs and product groups in your Pinterest business account and confirm your collections came through with the right products in them. Broken product groups make catalog sales campaigns useless later. Multiple markets If you use Shopify Markets for different countries and currencies, you can create separate Pinterest feed profiles to match. Each feed profile needs to be active and have a domain associated with it. Out of stock behaviour If a product is part of an active Pinterest campaign, Pinterest will keep promoting it even after it sells out on Shopify. Pausing that spend is on you, so update your campaigns when inventory runs down. Merchant guidelines Your site needs easy to find contact details, a shipping policy, and a refund policy. Catalogs get rejected for missing these more often than for anything to do with the products. How to add a Pinterest HTML tag to Shopify? Step 1 Log in to your Pinterest business account on desktop. Step 2 Click the chevron in the top right and select Settings. Step 3 Click Link to Pinterest in the left navigation. Step 4 Click Claim next to Websites, then copy the code under the Add HTML tag. Step 5 In Shopify, go to Online Store > Themes, click the ellipsis next to Customize, and select Edit code. Step 6 Open theme.liquid, paste the tag just above the closing </head>, and save. Step 7 Return to Pinterest, enter your store URL, and click Verify. How to add Pinterest button to Shopify so visitors pin for you The best way to add a Pinterest button to a Shopify store is to use Pinterest Save Button by RoarTheme. It is free, works with current Shopify themes, and installs without code. Types of pins that matter for Shopify stores There are basically 3 types of pins in Pinterest. Image pins Video pins Rich pins Rich pins pull metadata straight from your site so your pins stay accurate without manual editing. There are three further types of rich pins: Product, Article, and Recipe. Product Rich Pins matter most for Shopify. They keep live pricing and availability on the pin, which is what stops shoppers from clicking through to a sold out item. How does Pinterest SEO work for Shopify stores? If you treat Pinterest like a search engine, your organic reach will increase. Keywords belong in your pin titles, pin descriptions, board names, board descriptions, and your product feed metadata, because Pinterest reads all of them. This is a practical routine that I always follow: Research with Pinterest Trends and the search bar. Type a seed term into Pinterest search and read the suggested tiles that appear underneath. Those are real queries. Name boards after searches. "Small Space Living Room Ideas" is much better than"Cosy Vibes." Write pin descriptions for humans who search. Two or three sentences with the natural phrasing someone would actually type. Fix your feed metadata. Product titles and descriptions in your Shopify catalog become the text Pinterest indexes. If your titles are not strong, they won’t appear in searches. Publish fresh pins consistently. Pinterest favours new content over the same image repeatedly. This is why the old bulk repinning strategy won’t work in 2026. The same method that lifts your Google rankings lifts your Pinterest reach, and my Shopify SEO guide walks through exactly this method. Best Pinterest marketing tools for Shopify stores I just use four tools for marketing when I’m using Pinterest for Shopify stores. Pinterest Trends shows real search volume and seasonality by region, which tells you when to publish rather than what to guess. Pinterest Analytics shows saves, outbound clicks, and top pins. Pinterest Ads Manager handles campaigns and conversion reporting. The Pinterest for Shopify app does your catalog and tracking. That combination costs nothing. Get real results from Pinterest for Shopify this year Pinterest for Shopify is a two part job. The app handles the day-to-day operations. It cannot give you the reason for someone to save your PIN, and that is the half that actually decides whether the channel earns its place. If you do three things this month, make them these. Install the app and confirm the catalog and tag are live. Audit your checkout tracking. Publish ten vertical pins built around real Pinterest searches. FAQs 1. Does Pinterest integrate with Shopify? Yes. The official Pinterest for Shopify app connects your Shopify store to a Pinterest business account. It also automatically claims your website, installs the Pinterest Tag and Conversions API, syncs your product feed, and creates Product Pins. Availability may depend on the country where your business is registered. 2. How do I link my Shopify store to Pinterest? Create a Pinterest business account and advertiser account. Install the Pinterest for Shopify app from the Shopify App Store and follow the on-screen connection steps. You must be the Pinterest account owner, and you should remove any manually installed Pinterest Tag first to avoid duplicate tracking. 3. How to make money on Pinterest with Shopify? Connect your Shopify catalog to Pinterest, create keyword-optimized Pins, tag relevant products, and use organic Product Pins or Shopping Ads to send shoppers to your product pages. You earn money when Pinterest visitors complete purchases through your Shopify store. 4. How to add a Pinterest button to Shopify? The easiest option is to install a Shopify app such as Pin it: Pinterest Save Button, which adds a customizable Pinterest Save button to product and collection images without coding. You can also use Pinterest’s Save Add-On builder and manually add the generated code to your Shopify theme, but duplicate your theme before editing theme.liquid. 5. How to add a Pinterest HTML tag to Shopify? In Pinterest, go to Settings > Link to Pinterest > Claim > Websites and copy the HTML verification tag. In Shopify, open Online Store > Themes > Edit code > theme.liquid, paste the tag inside the <head> section before </head>, save the file, and return to Pinterest to verify your store URL. 6. How to claim the Shopify website on Pinterest? The easiest method is to install the Pinterest for Shopify app, which claims the connected domain automatically. For manual verification, Pinterest lets you add an HTML tag to theme.liquid or add a Pinterest TXT record to your domain’s DNS settings; note that a website can be claimed by only one Pinterest account at a time.

7 Min • 14 July 2026

Are Pre-Built Shopify Stores Worth It in 2026? A Straight Answer

Yes. Pre-built Shopify stores are absolutely worth it. A pre-built Shopify store promises the one thing every new entrepreneur wants: a shortcut. Skip the setup and guesswork, and buy something that already looks finished. I have reviewed dozens of these listings over the years, and the honest answer is a bit complicated. This guide covers what these stores actually are and the most important question of all: Are pre built Shopify stores worth it? What are pre-built Shopify stores? A pre-built Shopify store is a store someone else designed, configured, then sells to you as a finished product. These listings fall into three real categories. Turnkey dropshipping stores. A provider builds a store around a niche, loads it with products, and hands you the login. No sales history, no customers, just a ready-to-market store. Custom-built stores. A freelancer or agency builds a store to your spec. You get more input on design and product selection, but you're still starting from zero revenue. Established stores. These come with real sales history, existing customers, and traffic. You're buying an operating business Do pre-built Shopify stores work? Yes, it does. A pre-built store gives you a working storefront on day one. But the traffic and customer base have to be earned after purchase. I have seen turnkey stores generate real revenue within weeks, and I have seen identical templates from the same provider sit at zero sales for months. The difference almost never comes down to the store itself. It comes down to what the buyer does with it afterwards: product testing, ad spend, and consistent marketing. If you buy a one-product turnkey store expecting it to sell itself, read my guide on building a one-product Shopify store first. It explains why focus and offer clarity matter more than the store's design. How to vet a seller before you pay? Ask for read-only access to Google Analytics and Search Console if the listing claims traffic. Screenshots can be faked; live dashboard access is much harder to fake convincingly. Check the domain's history using a WHOIS lookup tool. A domain registered last month can't have "three years of organic traffic." Request an export of order history if you're buying an established store with sales claims. Ask why they're selling. A vague or evasive answer about a declining niche is worth more than any pitch deck. Use a marketplace with built-in escrow whenever the deal size justifies it, rather than paying a stranger directly. Confirm what you're actually inheriting. Products, theme, apps, domain, social accounts, email list. Get it in writing. Once the store is yours, you'll want visibility into what you actually bought. Go through my guide to pulling a Shopify inventory report to do just that. Do not buy a pre-built Shopify store if you see these red flags The seller refuses to give you a live demo link or read-only admin access before purchase. Revenue or proof of traffic comes only as screenshots, with no way to verify them independently. Payment is only accepted via wire transfer or crypto, with no escrow option. The seller pressures you to decide within hours. You can't find any independent reviews of the provider outside their own website. Only the current store owner can transfer ownership, and a store can only have one owner at a time. Here’s my guide on how you can transfer Shopify store ownership in 2026. Best websites to buy pre-built Shopify stores in 2026 1. BeBiggy BeBiggy sells ready-made Shopify dropshipping stores across niches such as fashion, pets, beauty, home products and coffee. Its stores include a completed design, imported products and connections to dropshipping suppliers. This makes it suitable for beginners who do not want to build everything from the beginning. Best for: Beginners looking for an affordable, ready-to-launch dropshipping store. 2. Dropbuild Dropbuild provides custom Shopify dropshipping stores rather than selling the same basic template. Its packages include product research, suppliers, advertising materials and a strategy for launching the store. This may be a better choice when you want more assistance with product selection and store setup. However, carefully check exactly what is included in your package because advertising, content creation and ongoing store management may still require additional work. Best for: Merchants who want a more customized store with launch support. 3. Zendrop Zendrop offers AI-built Shopify dropshipping stores that come with a theme and products selected by its product discovery team. Its pre-built store service is connected to the wider Zendrop platform, which helps merchants source and fulfil dropshipping products. This option is useful when you want your store and supplier system in one place. However, being connected to one supplier platform can reduce your flexibility. So review product costs, shipping locations and delivery times before choosing your products. Best for: New dropshippers who want store creation and product fulfilment under one platform. 4. Flippa Flippa is different from basic pre-built store providers. It is a marketplace where you can find stores and other online businesses for sale. Some listings are new starter stores, while others have existing traffic, customers and revenue. The benefit is that you may be able to purchase more than a website design. You could acquire a domain, customer list, supplier relationships, social media accounts and sales history. However, Flippa is an open marketplace, so buyers must independently verify revenue, profit, traffic and ownership before making an offer. Best for: Buyers who want a wider range of starter and established Shopify stores. 5. Empire Flippers Empire Flippers focuses on established and profitable online businesses, including Shopify-based ecommerce stores. Its listings can include information about revenue, net profit, business age and operating model, and the platform follows a more selective vetting process than a general marketplace. Stores listed here usually cost significantly more than newly created turnkey stores because you are purchasing an operating business rather than just a Shopify theme with imported products. It is more suitable for experienced merchants or investors with enough capital to acquire a proven business. Best for: Buyers looking for a vetted Shopify business with real operating history. Are pre-built Shopify stores worth it? My verdict It depends on what you're optimizing for. If you want to skip the setup and you understand you're still doing the marketing work, a budget turnkey store can be a reasonable starting point. If you have a budget and want lower risk with proven numbers, buy an established store bought through a real business marketplace. What doesn't hold up anymore is buying a pre-built Shopify store to avoid technical setup. That specific problem is largely solved by Shopify itself now. Whatever you choose, treat the purchase like buying any small business. Verify everything, use Shopify's official transfer process, and budget for the marketing work that starts the day you take ownership. FAQs 1. Do pre-built Shopify stores work? They can, but they don't run themselves. A pre-built store gives you a working storefront, not traffic or customers. Success still depends on product validation, ad spend, and ongoing marketing after you take ownership. 2. Are pre-built Shopify stores worth it? It depends on your goal. They're worth it if you want to skip technical setup, but understand the marketing still falls on you. They're less worth it if avoiding setup work was your only reason to buy, since Shopify's own AI tools can now build a functional store in a fraction of the time. 3. What are the best websites to buy Shopify pre built stores? Some popular websites for buying pre-built Shopify stores include BeBiggy, Dropbuild, Zendrop, Flippa and Empire Flippers. BeBiggy, Dropbuild and Zendrop are better for new, ready-to-launch stores, while Flippa and Empire Flippers are more suitable for buying established ecommerce businesses. 4. Can I buy a pre-built Shopify store? Yes, you can buy a pre-built Shopify store that already includes a theme, products, supplier connections and basic store setup. However, always verify store ownership, app costs, supplier reliability, sales data and included assets before making the purchase.