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How to get feedback on a new Shopify theme before launch
Short answer: pick three to five people who see your store differently, give each of them a specific job, send them the preview when they have time to look, and collect every comment in one place with the page, the device and a screenshot. Then decide what to fix before you publish, and what can wait.
Who to ask
More reviewers doesn't mean better feedback. A small group with different points of view catches more than a big group of people who all look at the home page and say it's nice.
- Your business partner or co-owner. They know the brand and the offer, and will spot when the store says the wrong thing about either.
- Whoever handles orders and customer emails. They know the questions customers ask, so they'll notice when a product page doesn't answer them.
- The designer or developer who built the theme, if you worked with one. Ask them to check the things you changed after they handed it over.
- A friend or family member who's never seen the store. Fresh eyes are useful for first impressions. Tell them you want problems, not compliments, or they'll be polite.
- Two or three trusted customers. They shop the way your real customers do, because they are your real customers. Tell them it's unfinished, and thank them properly.
What to ask them to check
"What do you think?" gets you opinions about colours. A specific task gets you problems you can fix. Give each person one or two jobs:
| Ask them to | What it catches |
|---|---|
| Look at the home page for five seconds, then say what you sell | A hero or headline that doesn't explain the store |
| Find a specific product and add it to the cart | Confusing menus, collections and search |
| Do the same on their phone | Layout problems the desktop view hides |
| Read one product page and list what's missing | Missing sizes, materials, shipping or returns information |
| Click every link in the menu and footer | Dead links and leftover demo pages |
| Read the words, not the design | Typos, placeholder text and the wrong tone |
Also tell them what's not finished yet, so nobody spends their time on product photos you're replacing next week, and give them a date to be done by.
Getting the theme in front of them
Your new theme sits in the theme library unpublished, so reviewers need a way to see it. Shopify gives you two:
- People with a staff account on your store can open it from the admin: Online Store, the ⋯ menu on the theme, then Preview. That merchant preview can reach checkout and lasts 30 days.
- Everyone else needs a visitor preview link, which you copy with the link button in the preview bar. It opens without a login, but it expires 2 days after you create it and it can't reach checkout.
If your store is still behind a password, send the storefront password with the link. It's under Online Store > Preferences. Our guide to previewing a Shopify theme before publishing covers both kinds of preview step by step.
Four ways to collect the feedback
| Method | Good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Screenshots in chat or email | One or two people, a quick check | No page address or device, and notes spread over several threads |
| A shared doc or spreadsheet | Keeping everything in one list | Reviewers switch between the store and the doc, and paste screenshots by hand |
| A call with screen sharing | Your partner, or anyone who explains better out loud | Someone has to take notes, and it's hard to do on a phone |
| Comments pinned to the preview | Several reviewers, more than one round | Needs a tool; check how reviewers get in and whether it touches your live theme |
Screenshots in chat or email
It's where most feedback starts, because nobody has to learn anything. It works if you ask for three things with every note: the page as a link, the device (phone or computer), and a screenshot with the problem circled. Ask for numbered points so you can reply to each one.
A shared doc or spreadsheet
Make one row per issue with columns for the page link, the device, what's wrong, a screenshot, and a status you fill in (to do, fixed, won't fix). It keeps everything in one place, but it's work for reviewers, so expect fewer notes than you'd get by chat.
A call with screen sharing
Ask the reviewer to share their screen and talk through the store while you take notes. You hear their reasoning and can ask follow-up questions. Write the notes up straight after the call, while you still remember which "that bit" they meant.
Comments pinned to the preview
Reviewers click the part of the page they mean and type the comment there, so you see exactly what they were looking at. General website feedback tools can do this, though on Shopify they often need a browser extension or a script pasted into your theme code. Whatever you use, check that it only runs on the unpublished theme, so it never shows to shoppers.
Common mistakes
Sending the link too early
A visitor preview link lasts 2 days. If you send it on Friday and the reviewer looks on Monday, it has expired. Send it when they're ready to look, or say up front that you'll send a fresh one.
Only checking on a computer
You build the theme on a laptop, so that's how you look at it. Ask at least one reviewer to go through the store on their phone.
Asking everyone to review everything
Five people reading the same home page gives you five opinions about the banner and nobody checking the cart. Split the jobs.
Treating every comment as a change
Feedback is information, not instructions. Sort it before you act on it: anything that stops someone buying comes first, taste comes last.
Editing the live theme instead of a copy
You can't share a preview of your published theme. If you're redesigning, duplicate the live theme (⋯ > Duplicate) and make your changes on the copy. Then reviewers see the new version and your shoppers don't.
Not closing the loop
Tell reviewers what you changed and what you decided not to change. They'll give better feedback next time, and customers who helped will feel it was worth their time.
After the feedback comes in
- Put every comment in one list, with duplicates merged.
- Mark each one: fix before launch, fix later, or no.
- Fix the first group on the unpublished theme, then ask the person who raised each one to check it.
- Run through a pre-publish checklist on a computer and a phone.
- Publish. Your old theme moves to Draft themes with its changes kept, so you can switch back if you need to.
Collect it on the theme itself
Proofmark is a Shopify app for getting feedback on an unpublished theme. You invite people by email, and their sign-in link opens the preview: no account, no browser extension and no preview link to resend. It works on password-protected stores. They click any element to leave a comment, a screenshot is captured automatically, and you reply and resolve each one in your Shopify admin.
It's a theme app embed, so nothing is pasted into your theme code and it isn't served on your live theme. Your store staff never count as reviewers, so a team can review for free, and the Free plan includes 2 outside reviewers for a partner, a freelancer or a couple of customers.
Feedback pinned to your new theme
Free for one theme and two outside reviewers. Store staff are always free.
Add Proofmark to Shopify, freeNext: How to preview a Shopify theme before publishing, with a pre-publish checklist.