Support
Contact us
Write to support@shelfbench.com.
Please put these in your message:
- your store's address, for example your-store.myshopify.com;
- the name of the collection;
- what you saw: the screen, the words of any message, and the time;
- a screenshot, if you can.
Never send a password or an access key. We never ask for one.
Getting started
What does the app do?
It sorts the collections you choose, on a schedule. It builds each collection's order from lanes: Best selling, Newest and Fair Discovery. This sorting method is called "Smart mix". You can also choose one of Shopify's own sort orders for a collection instead.
Does it start sorting as soon as I install it?
No. A new install has no schedule. The app shows three steps: choose the collections to sort, set the default sorting profile, and pick a schedule. The app starts sorting when all three are done.
Why does the app say it is not open to my store yet?
Today the app works only on the stores on its list. Other stores see this message: "The app is not open to every store yet, and this store is not on its list. This is on purpose, and nothing is broken." The app changes nothing in such a store. You can uninstall it from your Shopify admin. To ask about the app, write to support@shelfbench.com.
Which collections can it sort?
Hand-picked collections and rule-based (automated) collections. You choose which ones. The app never sorts a new collection until you choose it.
In a rule-based collection that is set to Manual, a new product goes to the end until the next sort.
Is there a limit on the size of a collection?
The app sets no limit on the number of products. We have tested collections of up to 3,996 products.
Which languages does the app have?
English and Arabic. The Arabic screens read right to left. The app follows your Shopify admin language until you choose a language in Settings.
Sorting
Does it switch my collection to Manual?
Yes, for Smart mix. A sort first sets the collection's sort order to Manual. Then it moves the products.
If you choose one of Shopify's own sort orders, the app sets that order instead. This removes the manual positions, and they cannot be restored. The app tells you this before you confirm.
How often does it sort?
You choose: every 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 hours, or Daily at an hour you pick. Times are in your store's time zone. "Next sort" on the screens is an estimate.
What are Run now and Sort now?
Run now sorts every collection the app manages. Sort now sorts one collection. Both go into one queue for your store, with the automatic sorts. The app starts requests in the order they arrive, so a request can wait behind earlier work.
Both need the three setup steps to be done, and one of the steps is a saved schedule.
What does Pause do?
Pause on the Schedule page stops the automatic sorts of your whole store. Nothing sorts automatically until you resume. Run now still works, and your schedule stays saved.
You can also pause one collection. Its profile stays saved, and its order on the storefront stays as it is. The other collections keep sorting on your store's schedule.
How do I know a sort worked?
After every sort, the app reads the whole collection back from Shopify. It compares that order with the order it built. The Run queue shows "Checking the new order" while it does this. "Sorted" on the Collections page means the check passed.
What does "Did not sort" mean?
The last sort of that collection did not finish. Some products may already have moved. Sort the collection again from the Collections page. If it still does not sort, write to us.
How does Best selling work when many products have no sales?
The app uses Shopify's own Best selling order. It never sees sales numbers. When many products have no sales, Shopify decides their order, by a rule the app cannot see.
Product rotation
What does Product rotation do?
Products that shoppers rarely see get a turn in the top positions. Every few days, Fair Discovery picks products that were rarely in the top positions and moves them up there. You choose how many days: from 2 to 30, and 5 is the default. At the next rotation, other products get their turn.
After its turn, a product's place comes again from its own sales and its publish date.
The Product rotation page shows what the current rotation moved. To keep a product out of the top positions, exclude it on the sorting profile. The Product rotation page has a button that opens it.
Can the app help my dead stock get seen?
Dead stock is stock that sits and does not sell. In a large collection, many products sit far down the page, where shoppers rarely look. Shopify's own sort orders often keep the same products at the top. So the products that shoppers rarely see are often the ones that do not sell.
Product rotation gives products that were rarely in the top positions a turn there, so shoppers see them. After the turn, the product's own sales decide its place.
The app does not know which products are dead stock, because it never sees sales numbers or stock counts. It changes only the order of products. It does not change prices, stock or discounts.
Does rotation move up out of stock products?
No. A product is moved up only when it is active and at least one of its variants is for sale.
You can also move out of stock products to the end of a collection. They go after every product that is in stock. A pinned product keeps its place.
Pinned and excluded products
Can I pin or exclude products?
Pin: you can pin up to 5 products at the top of a collection, in the order you set.
Exclude: an excluded product does not take one of the top positions. It goes below them, at most one in every 4 positions. You can exclude a product in one collection or in every collection. A pinned product keeps its place.
In a small collection, the top positions can hold every product, or too few other products are left to fill them. Then excluded products go to the end instead, before any out of stock products moved there.
Access and data
What access does the app need, and why?
read_products: to read your collections, their products, and each product's status, dates and availability.write_products: to set a collection's sort order and to move its products.
The app has no access to customers or orders.
Does the app change my products or my theme?
No. It changes only a collection's sort order and the positions of the products in it.
Where can I read about my data?
In our privacy policy.
Uninstalling
What happens to the order when I uninstall?
The app writes nothing to your store when you uninstall it. Each collection keeps its last order and the sort order it has in Shopify: Manual for Smart mix, or the Shopify sort order you chose. The app deletes only its own data.
"Stop managing" for one collection works the same way: its products keep the positions they have now, and the collection keeps its sort order.
What data do you keep after I uninstall?
The app deletes your store's data at the next run of its timer after the uninstall. The timer runs every minute, so this normally happens within minutes. The privacy policy explains what can stay after the deletion.