Monadops
Русская версия
Store audit
Prepared for Max · 5 October 2026
Mike Navitsky, Monadops
Store audit · gtcaviar.com

Great caviar, strong reputation. The website is holding it back.

You sent me 14 things to fix. I went through every one, and through the whole store: speed, reviews, prices, cart, pop-ups, policies and design. Everything below was checked on the live site on October 5, 2026. One change is already live: free shipping now starts at $350, as you asked (item 3). Nothing else has been changed yet. Each item says what I found, what I recommend, and what I need from you.

26/100
Home page speed score on a phone (Google Lighthouse). The main picture takes 13 seconds to show.
106
Real reviews off the site: Google 69 (5.0 stars) and Facebook 37 (100% recommend). The website shows none of them.
4 offers
Different discounts a new visitor sees: 15% sale, $20 off, 20% off, 10% off.
$350
Your new free shipping level. Live now everywhere: checkout, top bar, cart, product pages and the shipping policy.

Your 14 items at a glance

#ItemStatusShort answer
01Speed, and can we edit the themeIn the new designSlow on phones (26/100). Yes, the theme can be edited safely.
02Real reviews, and many more of themNeeds your answerYou already have 106 real ones off the site. Bring them in, then ask every past buyer.
03Free shipping: $500 to $350DoneDone on October 5. Checkout and every page now say $350.
04Kaluga copyReady to goNew text written with your lines on top. Needs 4 facts from you.
05Remove the 15% discountNeeds your answerRecommended: remove the crossed-out prices, keep today's prices.
06Shipping, refund and privacy policiesReady to goAll three rewritten in plain English. Same rules, fixed wording.
07Atlanta same-dayNeeds your answerYour block goes right under Add to cart. Needs cutoff time, fee, pickup hours.
08Cluttered first screenIn the new designNo product visible on a phone. One picture, product name, one button.
09Professional opinionSee belowSee "My professional opinion" below the items.
10Mother-of-pearl spoonNeeds your answerGood add-on for every caviar. Needs price, photos, stock.
11Minimal add-ons, and what's wrong in the cartNeeds your answerOne small "Serve it right" row. Route not pre-ticked. Timer off.
12Email/SMS sign-up bannerNeeds your answer4 different offers today. Pick one, show it later and smaller.
13New page design, and the red-haired manIn the new designRemove the health section (with him in it). Own photos, 17 home sections down to about 9.
14Bring back the subscriptionNeeds your answerYou already pay for Appstle ($30/month) and the plans are still there. The button is just switched off.

Item by item

01

Speed, and can we edit the theme

In the new design
What I found
  • Phone speed score (Google Lighthouse lab test): home 26/100, Black Caviar page 34, Kaluga page 29. Above 50 is OK, above 90 is great.
  • The home page weighs 14.5 MB. The main picture shows after 13 seconds.
  • Biggest causes: the 4-slide carousel at the top, Google Tag Manager (1.2 MB of tracking code), Route (742 KB), and the reviews app, which loads about 80 separate files on each product page.
  • Theme: Shrine PRO 1.3.3. Yes, it can be edited. I checked the license: it is active for gtcaviar.com today.
  • Risk: the license is probably on your old developer's account. If it ever stops, Shrine's code can replace the whole store with a warning page.
  • Accessibility check: 7 types of problems on the home page, 10 on Kaluga. The worst one: screen readers announce the old price as the sale price.
What I recommend
  • One still picture instead of the carousel. Remove stock banners. Remove tracking tags nobody uses. Load reviews only when the shopper scrolls to them.
  • All work happens in a copy of the theme. You get a preview link. Nothing goes live until you say so.
  • Goal: 50+ on a phone for the home page.
What I need from you
  • Write to Shrine (shrine.io) and ask them to move the license and theme updates to GT's own account. I can write the message for you.
02

Real reviews, and many more of them

Needs your answer
What I found
  • On the site: Kaluga 28 reviews (4.93 stars), Osetra Reserve Classic 26 (4.81). They look real: specific details, a few 4-star ones.
  • Review dates are switched off in the reviews app. Hidden dates make real reviews look fake.
  • The Beluga block on the home page says "(4.7) Loved by 1,000+ Customers". Beluga has 0 reviews. This has to go.
  • "What People Are Saying": 7 quotes with no names, no dates and no source.
  • Google does not show your star rating in search results (the code for it is missing).
WhereRatingReviews
Google (GTCaviar, Smyrna)5.069
Facebook (Great Taste Caviar)100% recommend37
Amazon4.36
Instagram @gtcaviar9,425 followers, 3 "Happy Customers" story highlights-
What I recommend
  • Turn review dates on.
  • Bring the 106 Google and Facebook reviews onto the site, each marked "from Google" or "from Facebook".
  • Email everyone who ever bought from you and ask for an honest review. Even a few percent of a few thousand buyers is 100 to 300+ new real reviews (estimate). The email is written and ready.
  • After that, every order gets an automatic review request 7 days after delivery.
  • Customer photos from your Instagram "Happy Customers" stories, with each person's OK.
  • Add the code that shows your stars in Google search.
  • Do NOT buy reviews or write them. Since October 2024 the US government (FTC) fines businesses for every fake review.
What I need from you
  • OK to email past buyers.
  • OK to show Google and Facebook reviews on the site.
03

Free shipping: $500 to $350

Done
What I found
  • $500 was in 5 places: the shipping rule at checkout, the top bar, the cart progress bar, the shipping text on product pages, and the shipping policy.
  • The cart bar also has a second goal, "Gift", at $700. No gift is explained anywhere.
What I recommend
  • Done on October 5, 2026. All places changed at once, so checkout and the site match.
  • Afterwards I checked every live product page, the home page, the cart and the policy. None of them say $500 anymore.
  • The old settings are saved, so this can be undone in a minute.
What I need from you
  • Is there a real gift at $700? If not, I remove it.
04

Kaluga copy

Ready to go
What I found
  • The description lists 3 sizes. You sell 4 (50g, 125g, 250g, 500g).
  • It says "delivered frozen, keep frozen". Your shipping policy says cooling elements, and your refund policy says dry ice.
  • It says caviar "helps prevent many diseases". The FDA treats that as a medicine claim.
What I recommend
  • New description, with your lines at the top: "Rich • Buttery • Large Pearls • Mild Salinity" and "Best for: First-time buyers, gifts & celebrations".
  • Then: taste, how to serve, all 4 sizes with ounces, storage, shipping. No health claims.
  • The same layout then goes on every caviar.
What I need from you
  • Ice packs or dry ice?
  • Storage temperature and shelf life (unopened and opened).
  • Ingredients.
  • Origin, if you want to show it.
05

Remove the 15% discount

Needs your answer
What I found
  • Every caviar shows "SAVE 15%" and a crossed-out price. Kaluga 50g: $112.99, was $132.99.
  • The top bar says "Site wide Sale up to 15% off!" The cart even shows "Savings -$20.00".
  • On the Kaluga page, the "Buy the set" bundle takes another 18% off. Kaluga 50g ends at $92.49, 30% under its "was" price.
  • A sale that never ends makes the "was" price look made up, and it makes premium caviar look cheap.
What I recommend
  • (a) Recommended: remove the crossed-out prices and the SAVE badge. Keep today's prices. Shoppers pay the same. The store just stops looking like it is always on sale.
  • (b) Or raise prices to the old "was" prices. More money per order, but a real price increase for your customers.
  • Either way: turn off the extra bundle discount.
What I need from you
  • (a) or (b)?
Kaluga on a phone:
Kaluga on a phone: "SAVE 15%" and the sale bar.
06

Shipping, refund and privacy policies

Ready to go
What I found
  • Shipping: "5$", "We working with the companies, as UPS or Fedex", a line in ALL CAPS, unclear delivery days.
  • Refund: tells customers to contact UPS (you also ship FedEx), "dry ice" vs "cooling elements", "done more later than 24hrs".
  • Privacy: no date, no business address, missing Klaviyo, Postscript, Route, TikTok and FedEx, and no section about text messages, even though you send marketing texts.
What I recommend
  • All three rewritten. Your rules stay the same; only the text is fixed.
  • New text-message section: reply STOP to stop, HELP for help, message rates, and "not required to buy".
What I need from you
  • Same answer on ice packs vs dry ice.
  • Confirm: no shipping over the weekend?
  • If you have a lawyer, one quick look at the privacy part.
07

Atlanta same-day

Needs your answer
What I found
  • The shipping policy already says "Same day 5$ delivery in Atlanta area", but shoppers never see it on product pages.
What I recommend
  • Your block, right under Add to cart: "ATLANTA? GET IT TODAY. Same-day local delivery, or same-day pickup in Smyrna."
  • One short line on the home page and in the top bar.
What I need from you
  • Order cutoff time for same day.
  • Delivery fee and area.
  • Pickup address and hours.
  • Are Local Delivery and Local Pickup turned on at checkout?
08

Cluttered first screen

In the new design
What I found
  • On a phone the first screen is: a big logo, a 4-slide carousel, slide dots, the sale bar (on the home page it sits under the picture, not on top), a wavy line, and the "Best Seller" title. No product is visible.
  • The product name ("Georgian Siberian Supreme") is only inside the picture. The text under it says "Brand New Caviar".
  • After 5 seconds, a full-screen text-message pop-up covers everything (US visitors, see #12).
  • Small fix: "Сatering" on one slide is typed with a Russian "С".
What I recommend
  • One still picture with the product name in real text and one button.
  • Top bar at the very top. No dots, no wavy line. Smaller logo.
  • The first Best Seller product visible without scrolling.
  • Pop-up later and smaller (see #12).
Home page, first screen on a phone today.
Home page, first screen on a phone today.
10

Mother-of-pearl spoon

Needs your answer
What I found
  • There is no spoon on the store today. Your own photos already show mother-of-pearl spoons, so customers see them and can't buy them.
What I recommend
  • A simple product page, plus a one-tap add-on on every caviar page (see #11). It also fits inside gift sets.
What I need from you
  • Price, photos, how many you have, and how long a reorder takes.
11

Minimal add-ons, and what's wrong in the cart

Needs your answer
What I found
  • Kaluga page bundle: Salo (pork fatback) + Kaluga + mini blinis at 18% off. Salo is an odd match for caviar, and the extra discount stacks on the 15%.
  • Cart: Route package protection ($3.55 on a $112.99 order) is ON by default. To skip it, the customer has to find the small "Checkout without Coverage" link.
  • The "Cart reserved for X minutes" timer is turned on in settings (it did not show in my test). The cart is not really reserved, so it is fake urgency.
  • Half of the cart is empty space.
What I recommend
  • One small row under Add to cart, "Serve it right": Mini Blinis $15 and, once ready, the spoon. Gift Bag $12.23 on gift sizes. No discounts.
  • The same one line in the cart.
  • Route: the customer ticks it if they want it.
  • Timer off.
What I need from you
  • OK to make Route optional? Route may earn a bit less, but shoppers trust a store more when nothing is pre-ticked.
The cart today: Route $3.55 on by default, a
The cart today: Route $3.55 on by default, a "Gift" goal with no explanation.
12

Email/SMS sign-up banner

Needs your answer
What I found
  • Postscript runs it. After 5 seconds it covers the whole phone screen.
  • Offers inside: "You've got $20 off!", "20$ OFF" (typo), then "EXTRA 20% OFF" for email. The small tab says "GET 20$ OFF" on phones and "GET 10% OFF" on computers. The welcome text says "Spend $50+ or more".
  • Add the 15% sale bar, and that is 4 different offers.
  • Klaviyo has no sign-up form showing on the site.
What I recommend
  • One offer, said the same way everywhere.
  • Show it after 15 seconds or when the visitor scrolls halfway, not at 5 seconds.
  • Fix "20$" to "$20".
What I need from you
  • Which offer? (a) keep "$20 off your first order", or (b) no discount: "First access to limited caviar and Atlanta events". (b) fits your move away from discounts.
US visitor on a phone, 8 seconds after opening the home page.
US visitor on a phone, 8 seconds after opening the home page.
13

New page design, and the red-haired man

In the new design
What I found
  • The red-haired man is card 1 of "The impressive health benefits of caviar". It is not on the home page. It is on the Kaluga, Beluga and Osetra Classic product pages.
  • That whole section makes health promises ("Heart and brain booster", "elevate your health"). Risky for a food store.
  • Stock photos: 3 on the home page tiles (one of them is also the big banner on the Black Caviar page), and 2 stock banners on every product page.
  • The home page has 17 sections. Typo: "BESTSELLERS DOU". "Online Support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week": is that true?
  • Your Dropbox has real photos: the April 13 shoot (67), event photos (52), gift boxes, hot smoked salmon (36).
What I recommend
  • Remove the health section from product pages, or replace it with a simple "What's inside" nutrition table with no health promises.
  • Replace the stock photos with your own.
  • Home page down to about 9 sections: main picture, best sellers, shop by category, Atlanta same-day, real reviews, about GT (since 2018), events and catering, Instagram, footer.
  • Built in a copy of the theme. You see a preview first.
What I need from you
  • OK to use the Dropbox photos. I pick, you approve.
  • Is the 24/7 support line true? If not, I change it.
Kaluga page: the health section, card 1.
Kaluga page: the health section, card 1.
14

Bring back the subscription

Needs your answer
What I found
  • Appstle Subscriptions is still installed, and Shopify bills you $30 a month for it.
  • The prepaid plans are still on 12 products: 5 black caviar, 5 red caviar, 2 gift sets. The customer pays once, then gets one delivery a month. No auto-renew. Discounts are in the table.
  • But the Appstle button is switched off in your theme, so shoppers never see it. In the last 60 days (384 orders) nobody bought a plan. You pay every month and get nothing for it.
Plan in Appstle now2 months3 months6 months
Black caviar15% off20% off30% off
Red caviar5% off10% off15% off
Gift sets5% off10% off15% off
What I recommend
  • Turn the Appstle button back on. No new app needed. I set it up and test it in the copy of your theme first, then turn it on in the live store after you OK it.
  • First, Appstle asks for a Shopify permission update (see products, edit store pages, languages and markets). That is normal for app updates. You click Update, or tell me it's OK and I do it.
  • Check the discounts. 30% off black caviar is a lot, and given #5 I would start lower. Changing them takes a few minutes.
  • If you decide you don't want subscriptions, cancel Appstle and save $30 a month.
What I need from you
  • OK to turn Appstle back on, and keep or change the discounts.

My professional opinion

Your strengths are real: a 5.0 rating from 69 Google reviews, owners who answer every review, same-day delivery in Atlanta, events and catering. The website shows almost none of it. On a phone it is slow, it looks like a permanent sale, it uses stock photos, and it greets visitors with a pop-up. People buying premium caviar decide in a few seconds whether a store looks trustworthy.

What to do first, in order of impact

  1. Stop looking like a discount shop. Remove the 15% badges (#5) and keep one sign-up offer (#12).
  2. Make it fast on a phone. One main picture, fewer scripts (#1, #8).
  3. Show the reviews you already have. Then collect many more, the legal way (#2).
  4. Your own photos, no health promises. (#13)
  5. Make Atlanta same-day the headline. For local buyers it beats any discount (#7).

Then subscriptions (#14) and the spoon (#10) bring repeat sales and bigger orders.

The plan

Step 1

This week, after your OK

Small edits on the live store. Each one can be undone.
  • Free shipping $350 everywhere (done)
  • New top bar
  • 3 policies
  • Kaluga text
  • Route optional, cart timer off
  • Remove the "1,000+" badge, fix typos
Step 2

1 to 2 weeks

In a copy of the theme. You get a preview link first.
  • New first screen
  • Home page cleanup
  • Health section out, own photos in
  • Add-ons row, Atlanta block
  • Pop-up fix
  • Speed work
Step 3

After that

Growth.
  • Review email to past buyers
  • Automatic review requests
  • Google and Facebook reviews on the site
  • Subscriptions
  • Spoon product

What I need from you, in one list

Reply with the numbers and your answers. Short answers are fine.

  1. 15% badges: (a) remove, keep prices, or (b) raise prices. (#5)
  2. Gift at $700: real, or remove? (#3)
  3. Route: OK to make it optional? (#11)
  4. Sign-up offer: $20 off, or no discount? (#12)
  5. Subscriptions: OK to turn Appstle back on? Keep or change the discounts? (#14)
  6. Ice packs or dry ice? Any weekend shipping? (#4, #6)
  7. Kaluga: storage temperature, shelf life, ingredients, origin. (#4)
  8. Atlanta: cutoff time, fee, area, pickup address and hours. (#7)
  9. Spoon: price, photos, stock. (#10)
  10. Reviews: OK to email past buyers and show Google and Facebook reviews. (#2)
  11. Dropbox photos: OK to use them. Is the 24/7 support line true? (#13)
  12. Shrine: move the theme license to GT's own account. (#1)
  13. Google Search Console and Google Analytics: add me as a user, so I can see what people search for and where they leave.

How I checked

Prepared by Mike Navitsky, Monadops · mike@monadops.com · Checked live on 5 October 2026. Prices and settings can change after that date.