MediumNavigationMeasured

Sold-out products at the top of a collection

Half or more of a collection’s first row is sold out while products shoppers can buy sit further down, so the collection opens on things they can’t buy.

Checked on: collection pages · Zolvio’s check: “Sold-out products fill the top of a collection”

Why it costs you sales

Shoppers judge a collection by its first row. When half of it or more says “Sold out”, the collection looks as if there’s little to buy, and fewer shoppers scroll on to the products they could buy.

A collection keeps the order its sort gives it: sorted by best selling, by name or by hand, a product that sells out stays where it was.

How Zolvio detects it

Zolvio opens each collection page it scans at desktop size (1,440 pixels wide) and reads its products in the order a shopper sees them, from the page’s links to products. Products whose cards sit at the same height (within 12 pixels) form a row, and the first row of 3 or more products is the one judged.

It asks your store, from the page, for the collection’s product list (/collections/…/products.json), which says whether each product has a variant that can be bought; a product with none is sold out. The page is flagged when half or more of the first row is sold out and at least one product further down can be bought. The finding lists the first row, the sold-out products in it and up to five products further down that can be bought.

Only a collection’s first page is judged (not ?page=2), and a first row with a product missing from the collection’s product list isn’t judged.

This is a direct measurement, so it’s reported on every plan, including Free and audits with AI turned off. With AI review on, the AI agent also checks it against the audit’s evidence before it reaches your issue list.

How to fix it

  1. In Shopify admin, open Products → Collections and the collection the finding names.
  2. Set its sort order to Manually and drag the sold-out products below the ones shoppers can buy.
  3. Or use an app that moves sold-out products to the end of collections as they sell out.
  4. If a product won’t come back in stock, remove it from the collection or archive it.

This is a change in Shopify admin, not to theme code.

In Zolvio: on paid plans with AI turned on, the guided fix writes these steps for your own store and theme: where to click in Shopify admin or the theme editor, or which file to open, the line to find and the code to add. Each file opens in Shopify’s code editor. Zolvio never edits your theme: you make the change, then Verify fix checks your published theme for code changes (or you mark it fixed), and later audits confirm the problem is gone.

Common questions

Why does “Sold-out products at the top of a collection” cost a Shopify store sales?

Shoppers judge a collection by its first row. When half of it or more says “Sold out”, the collection looks as if there’s little to buy, and fewer shoppers scroll on to the products they could buy. A collection keeps the order its sort gives it: sorted by best selling, by name or by hand, a product that sells out stays where it was.

How does Zolvio detect “Sold-out products at the top of a collection”?

Zolvio opens each collection page it scans at desktop size (1,440 pixels wide) and reads its products in the order a shopper sees them, from the page’s links to products. Products whose cards sit at the same height (within 12 pixels) form a row, and the first row of 3 or more products is the one judged. It asks your store, from the page, for the collection’s product list (/collections/…/products.json), which says whether each product has a variant that can be bought; a product with none is sold out. The page is flagged when half or more of the first row is sold out and at least one product further down can be bought. The finding lists the first row, the sold-out products in it and up to five products further down that can be bought. Only a collection’s first page is judged (not ?page=2), and a first row with a product missing from the collection’s product list isn’t judged.

How do I fix “Sold-out products at the top of a collection” on Shopify?

In Shopify admin, open Products → Collections and the collection the finding names. Set its sort order to Manually and drag the sold-out products below the ones shoppers can buy. Or use an app that moves sold-out products to the end of collections as they sell out. If a product won’t come back in stock, remove it from the collection or archive it.

Related

Documentation

  • How audits work — What an audit scans and how findings become issues.
  • Guided fixes — Step-by-step fixes written for your theme, with links into the code editor.
  • Session recordings — Watch how real shoppers move through your store.