How performing a holiday freeze on your Shopify store can prevent stress

Today I'm going to share a tip with you that could prevent some fire drills this holiday season.

In software development there's a concept of a code freeze where after a certain date or event, the code shouldn't be changed.

This was typical in physical software that had to be printed and shipped like early versions of Windows.

The point of the freeze was to give the team time to test and check that the code was working without introducing new code.

During a freeze, only a few select people could change things and it was done with great care and usually only to fix things found during the freeze. Things that would block the release or impact many customers.

With my clients I'd do the same thing around the holidays or a major release.

For example, around early November no more changes are allowed except for minor ones meant to fix bugs and stabilize the systems. Everything else had to wait until the code thaw in January.

Even though run a Shopify store and not a software company, you can apply this concept to your store.

You could freeze your actual store code. Backup your theme, make sure not to install any new apps, and don't mess with your theme files.

Or you could freeze your marketing. Develop it all ahead of time and get it ready to release now. That will prevent second-guessing yourself.

Or your processes. Update your documentation and make sure it's done that way every time. Then revise it later on when there's slack time post-thaw.

The idea is to put off any changes that might cause problems, risk downtime, or otherwise disrupt the business.

While you aren't changing things during a freeze, you can still research and plan what to change later on. One improvement that always pays off is to learn more about your customers.

The better you understand them, the better you'll be able to help them through your products and services.

If you haven't installed Repeat Customer Insights yet, it can help.

Its analysis will help you find groups of customers so you can begin to understand their actual behavior.

Eric Davis