Feedback on our store, please! :)

[themysterybookshop]

Hey everyone,

We recently launched The Mystery Bookshop, a monthly mystery book subscription box and we’re working hard to build a real brand, not a dropshipping project. Here’s our website:

https://mysbookshop.com

The concept is simple and inspired by subscription models like BarkBox, but made for book lovers. Each month, our subscribers receive:

• 2 hand-picked books 1 new bestseller book + 1 regular book.

• 1 surprise gift could be a candle, bookmarks, sticky notes, markers, etc.

One thing we do is after subscribing, customers fill out a short Google Form with their reading preferences so we can personalize their box. We think this adds value and makes each box feel custom, but we’re unsure if it’s hurting conversions by adding friction to the buying process. Thoughts?

We’re currently priced at $39.99/month, but we’ve been considering raising the price to $49.99–$69.99 to better reflect the value. Many of our competitors are charging $70–$80/month for similar book boxes, so we want to stay affordable while still running a sustainable business. Would love your take on that pricing strategy.

We’re using a simple kraft box with our logo sticker. We’re debating whether to invest in a fully branded custom box, do you think that’s worth it early on for branding and unboxing experience?

We’re not dropshipping. We handle all the books, packing, and shipping ourselves. We’ve only been live for 1.5 months and have just 1 subscriber so far but we’re fully committed to growing this brand over the long term. Our plan is to keep pushing for at least a year and improving every week.

So far, we’ve only done organic content across social platforms. We’re planning to start running ads in Q4, likely with AI generated UGC. We’d really appreciate:

• Honest feedback on the website

• Thoughts on the concept and offer

• Suggestions from anyone with experience in branding or eCommerce

Thanks so much in advance we truly appreciate any advice or feedback you’re willing to share.

[Millidigitals]

Hey there, I will be very quick about it … I observed that your have a very slow speed optimization and you store is very simple thou you have a nice products but not a good setting and I see you use free shopify theme but if you want to stand out then you need to do something very different to get your audience attentions and Your store doesnt sell worldwide . May I ask why?

[Philiptech]

@themysterybookshop Quick feedback:

• Website looks clean and professional. Maybe add a short explainer video or a visual step-by-step to make the offer clearer fast.
• The Google Form adds value but could slow people down. Consider moving it after purchase or integrating it into your site.
• Pricing: $39.99 is solid for now. Raise only once you have more traction and reviews. Competitive pricing could help early growth.
• Custom box: Not urgent yet. Focus on acquiring customers and storytelling. Branded packaging can come once you’re scaling.
• Ads in Q4 = smart move. Start testing with low budgets and clear hooks like “Books you didn’t know you needed.”

You’re doing a great job—keep pushing and refining. You’re on the right path!

[WilliamNie]

Just did a quick SEO check on the home page. Not all images have alt attribute. You can add book name as alt attribute to image, which might bring organic traffic (e.g. from Google Images search) to your store when people are searching the book name.

On site performance, I just did a lighthouse check on store home page. In mobile mode, FCP (First Contentful Paint) and LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) is not so good, which might bring a poor user experience when customers land on the page.

The report says the main reason for poor FCP and LCP is the image weight. You might need to consider optimizing the image sizes.

[Ellie-BOGOS]

Hi themysterybookshop

I think your idea is good!

Have you thought about setting up a bundle page so non-subscribers can also join in and buy their own favorite books? You could even let customers build their own bundle from your book list instead of just getting the fixed 2-book set.

That way, you open up more opportunities for one-time buyers and give people more control over what they get, while still keeping your subscription model as the core offer.

[themysterybookshop]

@Philiptech

Quick feedback:

• Website looks clean and professional. Maybe add a short explainer video or a visual step-by-step to make the offer clearer fast.
• The Google Form adds value but could slow people down. Consider moving it after purchase or integrating it into your site.
• Pricing: $39.99 is solid for now. Raise only once you have more traction and reviews. Competitive pricing could help early growth.
• Custom box: Not urgent yet. Focus on acquiring customers and storytelling. Branded packaging can come once you’re scaling.
• Ads in Q4 = smart move. Start testing with low budgets and clear hooks like “Books you didn’t know you needed.”

You’re doing a great job—keep pushing and refining. You’re on the right path!

Thanks so much for the thoughtful feedback!
I’m glad the site design comes across as clean and professional. The explainer video is a great ideas. I’ll start sketching something out to make the offer clearer at a glance.

I hear you on the Google Form. It would be ideal to move it to the end of the purchase process, so I’ll look into integrating it directly into the site to streamline the flow.

I’m excited to test ads in Q4. We’re also actively pushing organic content across TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and Threads to build awareness and community.

Really appreciate the encouragement. I’ll keep refining and pushing forward! If you have any other advice, I’d be more than happy to hear it.

[WizzCommerce_Co]

Hi @themysterybookshop!

I’ve taken a look at your store and think you’re on a great path. With a few tweaks, you can better connect with customers, increase conversions, and build a loyal following.

I – Website Feedback

1. The “Mystery” is in the name, but not on the website

• The problem: The name “The Mystery Bookshop” sounds intriguing, but the current colors and messaging feel too “safe” and don’t create a sense of mystery. Within the first 5 seconds, visitors don’t have a compelling reason to stay.

• The solution:

  • Design: Try using a deeper, darker color palette (e.g., navy, charcoal, burgundy, gold) to create more depth and intrigue.

  • Messaging: Right at the top of the page, place a clear tagline so customers immediately know what you sell. For example: “Your Monthly Mystery Book Box: 1 Bestseller + 1 Curated Pick + 1 Surprise Gift”

  • Next, add a Call-to-Action (CTA) to encourage users to take the quiz. You can look into quiz apps like Quiz Kit, Octane AI, etc., on the Shopify App Store.

2. The buying process is killing the excitement

• The problem: Customers have to pay first and are then sent a Google Form to fill out their preferences. This feels disconnected and is a major reason for abandoned carts.

• The solution:

  • Ditch the Google Form and replace it with a fun reading preference quiz directly on your website.

  • This turns personalization into a fun experience instead of a chore.

3. Your “Golden” differentiator is hidden

• The problem: The story of using pre-loved books, carefully sanitizing them and donating to the community is a powerful one, but it isn’t being highlighted.

• The solution:

  • Bring this story to the homepage, complete with photos of your team selecting and packing the books.

  • This builds trust, creates an emotional connection, and gives customers a reason to choose you.

In short: Make your website more mysterious, streamline the buying process, and tell your brand story clearly to stand out.

II – Feedback on Concept & Offer

1. The concept

You’ve done a great job combining “mystery” and “personalization,” but you can turn it into a complete experience:

• Before the box arrives: Send emails or post a few “clues” on social media about the month’s theme.

• In the box: Include a postcard or QR code that leads to a “reveal” page. You could even add a mini-game or a riddle.

• After receiving: Invite customers to a community group (like on Facebook) for discussions and to share their unboxing photos. This builds engagement and generates User-Generated Content (UGC).

Regarding packaging: At this stage, you don’t need to invest in fully custom boxes due to high costs and Minimum Order Quantities (MOQs). Continue using the kraft box but add thoughtful details to elevate the unboxing experience:

• A handwritten thank-you note.

• Branded tissue paper.

• A small dried flower or a piece of candy.

2. The offer

Right now, you only have one plan at $39.99/month. This is accessible, butyou may be missing customers willing to pay more. I suggest creating 3 tiers:

• Classic – $39.99: 2 curated books + 1 mystery gift

• Collector – ~$54.99: The Classic box + premium gifts (e.g., a scented candle, a hand-signed bookmark) + an in-theme postcard

• Signature – ~$69.99: The Collector box + exclusive author content + priority theme selection

Benefits of tier pricing:

• Keeps an accessible entry price for new customers.

• Encourages upselling to customers who want the full experience.

• The highest tier acts as a “price anchor” to increase the perceived value of the middle tier.

Additionally, you should clearly display the box’s retail value (e.g., “A $75+ value, for only $39.99”) to show customers the incredible value they’re getting.

Your website builds trust, while your concept and offer create the desire to buy and share. You can implement these steps gradually, you don’t have to do everything at once. The goal is to consistently improve the customer experience.

Hope this helps!

[themysterybookshop]

Thank you so much for the reply! I’ll go ahead and follow your advice to improve our SEO and make it much stronger. I really appreciate the detailed breakdown of what to fix it’s incredibly helpful. If you have any other suggestions, I’d be more than happy to hear them.

[themysterybookshop]

@Millidigitals

ey there, I will be very quick about it … I observed that your have a very slow speed optimization and you store is very simple thou you have a nice products but not a good setting and I see you use free shopify theme but if you want to stand out then you need to do something very different to get your audience attentions and Your store doesnt sell worldwide . May I ask why?

Hey, thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. We actually do pay for our theme monthly, but I understand it might look simple because we keep the design clean and focused on the products. As for selling worldwide, we currently handle everything ourselves, so expanding globally would be quite challenging at the moment. It’s something we may consider in the future once we have the right systems in place.

[Website_Speedy]

Hello @themysterybookshop , The idea behind your store is very nice, and the design seems good, as the placement of the navigation bar is right, with the customer reviews section there, and the good thing you have done like not showing the price of subscription. I evaluated your store from a performance perspective as I tested your store by using Google Page Insights Report, and below are the results ( For Mobile View) generated from this -

Performance Score - 55

LCP- 29.8s

FCP - 24.5s

TBT(Total Blocking Time)- 0 ms

Speed Index- 24.5s

Overall performance is below the standards and needs to be fixed immediately. Below are some practices you should adopt to fix this -

Defer custom and third-party scripts

For third-party libraries that don’t depend on each other, use async. Like the below-mentioned example -

<script src="``https://example-cdn.com/lib.js``" async></script>

Additionally, you can delay non-critical CSS via a small loader. See the below coded example -

<script>

(function addStyles(href){

  var l = document.createElement('link');

  l.rel = 'preload';

  l.as = 'style';

  l.href = href;

  l.onload = function(){ this.rel='stylesheet'; };

  document.head.appendChild(l);

})('{{ "slider.css" | asset_url }}');

</script>

<noscript><link rel="stylesheet" href="{{ "slider.css" | asset_url }}"></noscript>

Load app assets conditionally

If you conditionally load app assets, then global app CSS/JS blocks are on pages where they’re not needed. Below is an example of how you can achieve this-

{%- if template.name == 'product' -%}

  <script src="{{ 'reviews-app.js' | asset_url }}" defer></script>

  <link rel="preload" as="style" href="{{ 'reviews-app.css' | asset_url }}" onload="this.rel='stylesheet'">

{%- endif -%}

Font Display

Consider setting font-display to swap or optional to ensure text is consistently visible. Swap can be further optimized to mitigate layout shifts with font metric overrides.

In your theme.liquid head, make sure the Google Fonts URL ends with &display=swap (or &display=optional for ultra-fast paint that rarely swaps). Below is the example -

{%- comment -%} theme.liquid inside <head> {%- endcomment -%}

<link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.gstatic.com" crossorigin>

<link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Inter:wght@400;600&display=swap" rel="stylesheet">

{%- comment -%} snippets/css-fonts.liquid {%- endcomment -%}

<style>

@font-face{

  font-family:"Inter";

  src:url("{{ 'Inter-Variable.woff2' | file_url }}") format("woff2");

  font-weight:100 900;

  font-display: swap; /* or optional */

}

</style>

Alternatively, if you are from a non-coding background and do not want to invest your precious time in optimizing then I recommend giving a try to Website Speedy- a Shopify optimization app which is best in optimizing the store without the need for any manual work to do. It automatically fixes the LCP, FCP, and other core web vitals.

It comes with a 14-day free trial, so try it out for your store.

(Disclaimer: We are the developers of this app and ready to serve you, so reach out to us if you need any kind of assistance.)

[SEOAnt-Jeffery]

Hi @themysterybookshop

I feel very interested on the idea of your mystery book subscription, so I take a look at your store contents and SEO performance on Google. Then I notice something which may need your attention and after further optimization, I believe they will bring more sales to your store in the future. Here are the details I list below for your reference:

1. Pay attention to the length of meta title and meta description. For some pages displaying in search results, I think the length of meta title is too short and for meta description, it is too long. You can add more competitive keywords in the meta title contents and shorten the length of meta description between 100–200 characters, until it can display completely. This can help with your store ranks and get more traffic accordingly.
   

   

2. There are lots of product images lacking of alt text contents. Alt text is used to be indexed and read by Google. If most of your product images are missing alt text contents, they cannot have a better understanding on Google end, and it will affect your page SEO in some ways. To better help you realize the current alt text missing situation, I have inserted a CSV table here, so that you can check and add them properly.

3. Sold Out product status. When I intend to know more details about your mystery book subscription, I feel surprised to see that all the products listed are under sold out status. This makes me feel hard to further proceed and know the entire purchase routine. It will make customers skip away as well, as they fail to make any progress anymore. Better maintain your product status regularly and daily, so that it can bring better user experience as well. A kind reminder here~
   

   

By the way, I can share you a guideline from Google Search Central which can learn more about what you can do on store SEO. If you think it too hard for you at the first time, you can also seek help from some SEO Apps like SEOAnt and its SEO Check feature can make a full scan of your store contents to generate an SEO report, so that you can know more about the aspects need to be optimized or fixed. May your store boost more sales in a further way. Cheers!

[WilliamNie]

Glad I could help ! Just one more thing to share about the experience — on the homepage, there’s a scrolling book list. When I hover over it, it shows it’s clickable, but clicking doesn’t take me to a book or product; it just refreshes the homepage. I’d suggest linking it to the product you most want to promote, or removing the link altogether.

The first screen customers see is valuable real estate. You could follow a similar approach to make the most of that attention.

BTW, if you want to run a flash sale, holiday sale, or upsell offer, you might like PageUni Countdown Timer. It has cool tools that other apps don’t have, like show targeted timers based on how much a customer has totally spent, and a builder to change every detail of timer to match your store. These can help you sell more.

Feel free to DM me, I’ve prepared a limited-time, exclusive discount code just for you .

[clickfromai]

@themysterybookshop Thanks for sharing. I won’t comment on technical details because I think the core issue may be in your value proposition and positioning. Just a few thoughts, feel free to take or leave them:

1. I find it hard to imagine someone who genuinely enjoys both bestsellers and random used books. It feels like a mix of two opposite preferences. I would suggest letting customers choose their own mix, still two books, but they decide the balance of new and old.

2. Your website doesn’t clearly highlight your unique angle. Random selection, eco-friendly reused books, and the subscription model are all great ideas, but the messaging feels unfocused. If you want to emphasize sustainability, lean into it fully. If the focus is mystery, make it truly mysterious. Right now it feels too generic and doesn’t emotionally connect with me.

[kalyanwaytoapps]

Hello, @themysterybookshop
Your concept—delivering a carefully curated monthly mystery book box—is brilliant, and it’s clear you want to create a genuine brand experience rather than a quick dropshipping project. The website looks professional and inviting. Now, let’s sharpen a few things to help you convert curiosity into subscriptions faster:

1. Make Navigation Simple & the Path Clear
Guide visitors effortlessly through your site. Ensure your menu highlights key sections like “How It Works,” “Box Themes,” “Pricing,” and “FAQ.” Avoid clutter—keep distractions minimal so alternatives don’t steal attention from the “Subscribe” call-to-action.

2. Use Clear, Compelling CTAs
Replace generic buttons like “Learn More” with action-driven prompts like “Subscribe Now” or “Get This Month’s Box.” Test visuals and wording using A/B testing to find what resonates most with your audience.

3. Build Trust with Social Proof and reviews.
Even if you’re new, sprinkling testimonials—even from beta users—can go a long way. Highlight any media shout-outs, subscriber counts, or influencer reviews to signal credibility.

Customers are more likely to purchase when they trust the store. You should add product reviews using a tool like ShopReviews ‑ Product Reviews - ShopReviews - Boost your sales with product reviews | Shopify App Store, which makes collecting and displaying real customer feedback seamless

4. Create Urgency & Scarcity
Offer perks like “Limited spots left this month!” or a countdown for sign-ups to spark that FOMO feeling. That nudge helps people move from thinking to acting quickly.

5. Give Early Subscribers a VIP Feel
Offer an introductory deal, like 10% off the first box, or run a preorder phase to gauge interest and get early feedback. Consider bundle plans or even prepaid subscriptions for discounts and steady revenue.

6. Use Content & Storytelling to Entice & Retain
Start a blog with engaging topics like “5 Best Mystery Novels This Month” or “How We Curate Our Books.” This builds your SEO, keeps visitors around longer, and makes your brand lovable.

7. Partner with Micro-Influencers & Build Community
Send sample boxes to bookstagrammers or bloggers who love mystery novels. Their posts and reviews add excitement to your brand launch—often at a low cost and high impact.

8. Consider Live Chat to Capture Interest in Real Time
A friendly chat pop-up can answer questions like, “Which box theme is right for me?” or “What’s in a typical box?” Quick engagement often turns hesitation into subscriptions.

If you’re also selling on Etsy, consider using an app like Etsy Integration ‑ ShopList - ShopList - seamless integration between Shopify and Etsy | Shopify App Store . It lets you sync your products and orders between Shopify and Etsy automatically, saving time and helping you manage inventory more efficiently—perfect for handmade or customized products like yours.

Best Regards,

Waytoapps

[Bundler-Manuel]

Hey there @themysterybookshop first things first, I absolutely love your store’s concept and the aesthetics and user experience of the store are so simple and great, I honestly love it.
My main suggestion would be for a store such as yours, I think it’s extra important to have a blog section where you write about the books on offer especially the non-best seller ones. It helps boost the authentic outlook of your store as well as drive more traffic towards it.

[Moeed]

Hey @themysterybookshop

Honestly, I love that idea! As a reader myself, I think the idea of a curated mystery box with some surprise goodies is just amazing. It’s a neat touch with the Form personalization, but I totally get your concern about friction. It could be cool for you to A/B-test both flows: one where the form pops up right after checkout and the other where it is sent via email some time later, then compare which produces a better conversion.

As per pricing, I would say just do not sell yourself short-if your competitors are charging $70-$80, you definitely have room for positioning yourself a little higher, especially when you really refine the experience. A branded box could also add to the perceived value and help boost some shares on social, although that may be something to phase in only after hitting a certain amount of subscribers.

Another thought to throw into the mix is that since this is a very community-friendly product, maybe you could try out a small affiliate/referral system to get that first wave of subscribers. Services like UpPromote make it pretty easy to get your fans to promote it in exchange for a small commission-or free books. This could be less risky than paying for ads early on.

Good luck with your store!

Warmly,
Moeed

[GloboApps-Felix]

Hi @themysterybookshop ,

I think introducing an affiliate or referral program could be a great idea for your store, especially since it’s such a community-driven product. Using platforms like UpPromote makes it easy for your fans to promote your product in exchange for a small commission or even free books. This could be a low-risk way to attract your first wave of subscribers before spending on ads.

As for pricing, I definitely wouldn’t sell yourself short. If your competitors are charging $70-$80, you have room to position yourself a bit higher, especially once you fine-tune the customer experience. Adding a branded box could increase the perceived value and drive more social shares, but that could be something to consider after you’ve built a loyal subscriber base.

Now, back to the mystery box idea—it’s a brilliant concept! I love the idea of a curated mystery box with surprise goodies, and as a reader, I can tell that’s something many would appreciate. I understand your concern about friction, so maybe A/B testing two flows could help: one where the form pops up right after checkout, and another where it’s sent via email later. This will give you a better sense of which method drives more conversions.

The form personalization is a nice touch, but making sure the process is as seamless as possible for your customers is key to keeping them engaged.

Best,

Felix

[rutvik_shop]

Hey @themysterybookshop,

This section of your store is redirecting to the homepage only. If you don’t want to link these books to any page, please remove the link or link to a particular page.