Shopify client discovery call questions

The purpose of the call is to find the facts that change the work. You do not need a long questionnaire. You need the right questions in the right order.

Short answer

Ask why the change is needed, what is happening now, who approves it, what systems and apps are involved, what access is available, how the work will be tested, and which date matters. End by repeating the proposed next step and what is not included yet.

Start with the reason for the project

Shopify's partner blog has a 2016 article with five questions for web design clients. It begins with "Why are we doing this project?" The author's point is that clients often arrive with a solution already in mind, and your job is to find the business problem behind it. The article's next questions are about who will use the site, what success looks like, and how to avoid failure.

Ask:

• What happened that made you look for help now?
• Who is affected by the problem?
• What would be different after the work is done?

If a client asks for a new product filter, the reason may be that shoppers cannot find products. The answer could involve collections, search settings, theme code, or product data. Do not choose the fix before you hear the problem.

Ask what is live today

Get the current state before discussing a build. Ask which theme is live, whether a duplicate theme exists, and whether the issue appears on mobile, desktop, or both. Ask for the store URL and a short screen recording if the behavior is hard to reproduce.

For app work, ask which apps touch the same page or process. An app can add storefront code, change checkout behavior, or send data to another system. You do not need a perfect inventory on the first call. You do need to know whether the request sits inside a crowded part of the store.

If the request concerns an account setting, ask which Shopify plan the store uses. Do not promise a checkout or organization feature until you have checked that the plan supports it.

Ask about people and approvals

Ask who will give access and answer technical questions. Ask who approves the change before it goes live, who supplies product data, copy, images or design files, and whether feedback will come from one person or several.

A project can wait for approval longer than it takes to write the code. Put approval responsibility in the scope.

Ask about access safely

Do not ask for a store owner's password. Shopify provides collaborator accounts for partner work. According to Shopify's help page, the owner shares a request code, the partner submits a collaborator request, and the owner manages the request and can remove access later from the Shopify admin. The page also says the partner must have two-step authentication turned on, and that collaborator access expires automatically if the collaborator has not logged in for 90 days. The freelancer-side steps are in Shopify collaborator access for freelancers.

Ask which access is needed for the first step, not every permission you might ever want. If you need theme access for an audit, request that first. If the job expands, explain the new need before asking for more.

Also ask who owns the third-party accounts. The store should keep ownership of its domain, apps, analytics, email, and payment accounts. Your handover should not leave the owner dependent on a personal login.

Ask how success will be checked

A useful success test is visible. For a theme bug, it may be that the menu opens at two stated widths and does not cover the cart button. For a migration, it may be that a sample set of products, orders, redirects, and emails passes review on a test store.

Do not accept "make it better" as the only acceptance rule. Ask the client to name the page, device, action, or data set they will use to check the result.

The Shopify Agency Directory's guide to briefing an agency also asks about timeline and budget. You can borrow the idea of a brief without copying a longer agency process.

Ask what the deadline means

There is a difference between a preferred launch date and a date tied to an event. Ask:

• What happens on the date?
• Which parts must be live by then?
• Can the work launch in phases?
• Who must approve before the date?

A fixed date with missing content or access is a dependency, not a development estimate. Write that down.

Decide whether the project fits

Listen for signs that a small fix is actually a rebuild. The store may need a theme migration, app replacement, product cleanup, or checkout investigation. You can propose a short paid audit before a fixed build. That protects the client from a guessed quote and protects you from open-ended work.

For a smaller, repeatable first step, compare the format with Shopify store audits for freelancers. For ongoing work after a project, see Shopify store care retainers.

Close the call with a written recap

Within the same day, send a short recap:

• the problem as you understand it
• what you will inspect or change first
• what the client will provide
• what is outside the current scope
• the next approval or payment step

If any of those are unknown, mark them as open. Do not turn an assumption into a promise.

A call is not a commitment to take the job. It is a way to decide whether the problem, access, deadline, and working arrangement fit your service.

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