All guides

SESSION RECORDINGS

Find your next check with Shopify session recordings.

Choose a visit, inspect the action in context, write down what is visible, then test one possible improvement. A replay helps you investigate; it cannot read the shopper’s mind.

Copy the review note
In this guide

1. Start with a question you can inspect

“Why are sales low?” is too broad for one replay. Ask something you can inspect: does the mobile pop-up cover the size selector? Does an email open the product it promised? Can a shopper find the refill beside the bottle? Choose one question before watching.

A session recording reconstructs captured storefront activity. It can show page changes, scrolling, clicks and visible states when they were recorded. It does not show the shopper’s thoughts, everything in their browser or what they did elsewhere. A replay ending after a click does not establish the reason for leaving.

Write observations in plain terms. “The form opened over the product options” describes a visible state. “The shopper hated the form” adds an explanation you have not established. A Checkout activity moment can mark a button click; check the actual checkout or order record before calling it a successful next step.

Paper storefront with a navy tote, cursor and replay timeline.
An editorial illustration of reviewing a storefront visit.

2. Turn on recording and check what is available

In myuser.ai, find Session replays on the dashboard. If recording is off, use the switch or Turn on session replays action and read the confirmation. Return after a store visit with an interaction. Recording starts prospectively; switching it on does not recreate earlier visits.

Check the visits and coverage information available in your plan. Daily recording limits and viewing windows affect what you can inspect. The Free plan has a shorter viewing window than the paid plans. Follow the current pricing page for the allowance that applies to your store.

A quiet look-and-leave visit may not produce an uploaded recording. Visits without a qualifying interaction, incomplete capture and plan limits can leave gaps. Coverage describes the visits the recorder could account for; it is not proof that every person counted by your analytics tool has a replay. Investigate one known test visit before interpreting an empty list as a tracking or sales problem.

Sources: myuser.ai product workflow · myuser.ai plans and recording allowances

3. Find a visit that matches the question

Start with All visits and the visit time. The list groups available recordings by day and shows useful details such as device and pages. For a mobile form issue, open a mobile visit with the relevant page. Do not select only the longest or most dramatic session.

Use Viewed a product or Added to cart to find shopping visits. Signed up can help locate a visit associated with a signup or known identity. Clicked an email and Clicked a text help find recorded returns attributed to supported tracked message links. Known visitor helps find sessions linked to someone in your store’s records.

These are finding tools, not a complete funnel report. A known visitor is not necessarily a buyer, and Signed up is not proof of a new subscription. If an expected visit does not appear in a filter, check All visits. Open the relevant customer or order record to verify the event you need before changing a message rule.

4. Watch the moment and the context around it

Play the visit once to understand its path. Then use the progress bar or activity list to revisit the moment that answers your question. In the web dashboard, the page list helps you follow navigation. Pause to inspect the visible product, selected option, form or error instead of trying to remember it from playback.

Use the back and forward controls to move ten seconds at a time. Change playback speed or turn on Skip idle for long gaps. Turn idle skipping off when the time around a form or action matters. A pause alone does not tell you whether the visitor was reading, distracted or away.

When the web dashboard includes an email or text origin scene, that scene is reconstructed from tracked message information. It provides context for the storefront visit; it is not a recording of the shopper’s inbox.

5. Check three useful shopping paths

For a pop-up, inspect what was visible before it appeared, what it covered and the next action. On a phone, check whether the close control and product choices remained usable. Note a displayed error or thank-you state. Confirm the actual subscription record separately before deciding that the form created a valid new signup.

For an email or text return, compare the promise with the first storefront page. “See the travel bottle” should open a useful route to that bottle. Look for the wrong variant, a difficult-to-find guide or another form covering the next step. Open your own test message and repeat the path directly to verify a suspected problem.

For a returning visitor, inspect which products or options they viewed. Comparing a bottle and a refill gives you a useful question about how clearly those choices are explained. It does not prove the shopper needs a refill now. Check purchase history and marketing permission before using the observation in a follow-up.

A signup and a later return from an email may be separate visits. Review them separately instead of expecting one uninterrupted recording from form submission to purchase.

6. Write an observation, then a next check

Keep a short note while the replay is open. Include the page, device, time within the replay and what is visible. Add a possible explanation in a separate sentence. Finish with a direct check that could confirm or challenge it.

For example: “At 00:18, the form covers the size options. The visitor closes it, then opens the options.” Your hypothesis might be that the form arrives before the shopper can choose a size. Your next check is to reproduce that page on the same screen size and inspect the form’s display setting.

Choose a specific action after that check. You might adjust the form’s position or timing, then retest the product controls. Do not change the offer, layout and message sequence at once if you want to learn which change helped. The review note below keeps each step distinct.

7. Use recordings with outcomes, not as a substitute

Look at several relevant visits to see whether a visible problem recurs. Include visits with different outcomes when available. Record how you chose them so that a few memorable examples do not become a claim about every shopper. Filtered replay counts are not a reliable denominator for signup or purchase rates.

After a fix, repeat the direct test first. Then review comparable available visits and the appropriate result: successful form submissions, completed orders or support reports about the problem. Keep the traffic, period and any other changes in view.

To estimate additional sales caused by a message or design, you need a suitable comparison. An email-attributed replay followed by an order does not establish that the email caused the purchase. Use recordings to find and inspect the change; use order records, costs and a sound comparison to assess its effect.

8. Handle recordings and saved visits carefully

Storefront inputs are masked by default, with exceptions. Details entered into myuser.ai signup forms, fields the merchant allows to appear and submitted store searches can be visible. A replay can also contain customer identity or message context. Review your store’s disclosures and the information on screen before sharing a note or screenshot. A recorded visit is not marketing consent.

The standard storefront recording retention is 30 days, while the Free plan’s viewing window is seven days. Keep or star availability depends on the plan; eligible saved recordings remain beyond ordinary expiry until deleted. Check the controls and current plan before assuming a visit has been preserved. Keep only what you need for a concrete review.

In the web dashboard, Share creates a link back to the dashboard and requires an account with access. It does not turn the recording into a public video. Use an internal review note without customer details when the replay itself is unnecessary.

Sources: myuser.ai plans and recording allowances · myuser.ai privacy policy

9. Build a review habit you can finish

Choose one question for the review, inspect a manageable set of relevant visits and keep one clear note for each useful observation. Assign the next check to someone and give it a date. If nothing in the recording answers the question, say so and choose another source of evidence.

The free Shopify session replay demo follows a simulated Solara store visit from a product page to the cart and delivery details. Jump to an activity moment, scrub the timeline or skip idle time to inspect what happened around it. The review note is ready to edit and save whenever you find something useful. Bring the same approach to the recordings your own store has available.

A recording review note you can copy

Keep the observed event and your explanation in different fields. The filled example is fictional.

My review note

Save sheet

Question: [one thing to inspect]

Visit time and device: [time, time zone, mobile or desktop]

Page and replay moment: [page, timestamp]

Visible observation: [what the recording actually shows]

Possible explanation: [a hypothesis, not a fact]

Other evidence needed: [direct test, subscription record, send log or order]

One proposed change: [what and why]

How I will check it: [test and relevant outcome]

Owner and review date: [person, date]

Use an internal reference when needed. Leave customer names, email addresses and private links out of public notes.

Fictional mobile pop-up review

Save sheet

Question: Can a shopper choose a bottle size when the form appears?

Page and moment: Travel Bottle, 00:18 on a mobile visit.

Observation: The form covers the size options. The visitor closes it and opens the options.

Possible explanation: The form interrupts choosing a size.

Next check: Reproduce the page on the same screen size and inspect display settings.

Proposed change: Adjust the form so the product controls remain usable.

Check afterward: Repeat the direct test, then inspect comparable recorded visits.

This is a teaching example, not a customer session or a measured conversion result.