We revisit the method of $a$-contraction with shifts used for long-time behavior of barotropic Navier-Stokes flows perturbed from a Riemann shock. For the usage of the method of $a$-contraction with shifts, we do not employ the effective velocity $h$ variable even for higher order estimates. This approach would be important when handling the barotropic Navier-Stokes system with other effects, for example, such as capillary effect and boundary effect.