Shopify is an incredibly powerful platform utilised by millions of businesses all over the world. It can provide your customers with an optimised online shopping experience and give you the tools to quickly build a basic website. But it's not a magic wand that you can wave to instantly and effortlessly grow your business. You have to put the work in. Optimise. Improve. Use the platform as it was intended to be used.
Once you do that, you may start seeing the results you seek.
If you're ready to increase sales on Shopify, just follow these tips.
You can't underestimate the power of free shipping.
A few years ago, a study of several thousand shoppers found that over three-quarters of shoppers had abandoned a shopping cart because they didn't like the shipping options. In the world of Amazon Prime, where customers expect fast and free shipping, charging several pounds for this service just won't wash.
Of course, shipping might be free for them, but it isn't free for you. In fact, despite rising competition caused by increased customer demand, shipping costs are increasing and it's posing a serious and costly problem for businesses.
Ultimately, it's all about striking the right balance.
If a free shipping offer increases your average order value and conversion rate by 200% but increases your order cost by 50%, it's a worthwhile investment. If not, consider an alternative, such as switching couriers or offering free shipping on orders over a certain amount.
Shopify lets you check how many customers are dropping out during the checkout process. Just click Orders>Abandoned Checkouts and you'll get an idea of just how dissatisfied customers are with the process.
If you're seeing a lot of abandoned carts, it's clear that something needs to change. As noted above, shipping and delivery times play a big role here. But a laggy or distracting checkout process is just as harmful.
You need to create a streamlined ordering process for your customers. The fewer obstacles there are between them and the "Buy" button, the more likely they are to complete a sale.
So, think about the following:
Click the "Discount" tab in your Shopify store to see all active discount codes. Clicking "Create Discount" will then give you the option to add some new codes to the list and target price-conscious shoppers.
Customers are always looking for a discount and are much more likely to purchase if they find one. Any discount won't do, though. 5% is rarely enough, 20% is sure to win over some potential customers but will also eat into your margin. 10% is usually the sweet spot.
Advertise discount codes through social media and newsletters. You can even promise a discount to every new player who joins your newsletter. Marketing>Automations will let you create some newsletter email flows so that this code is sent automatically.
Pay attention to key discount dates. Prepare a Black Friday ad, Christmas ad, Easter ad, and anything else that is relevant. Dates like these are a big deal for e-commerce stores, so make sure you're fully prepared when they roll around.
Upselling and cross-selling are great ways to increase sales on your Shopify store. Like the sugary treats that beckon shoppers at supermarket tills, these marketing tricks are used to encourage customers to add extra items to their orders.
An upsell is a product that has a higher margin than the one they are buying, such as a bulk option instead of a single one. A cross-sell is something similar that accompanies the product, such as an infuser added to a tea order.
You can add Shopify upsells and cross-sells using third-party applications.
Speed is important as modern consumers are impatient. They expect online stores to be rapid and every split second they have to wait for a page to load increases their chances of giving up.
Page speed is also an important SEO metric (more on that below). You can test the speed of your site using Pagespeed Insights. If it's slow, consider compressing images, removing unnecessary sliders, promotions, and icons, and keeping everything as streamlined as it can be.
Customer retention is essential in any business and on any platform. The more you can encourage a customer to remain on your site and stay loyal to your brand, the less you will spend on advertising to them and converting them.
Unfortunately, modern consumers rarely add sites to their bookmarks and then visit every time they need to reorder. They buy, forget, and then remember the next time they see an ad, at which point they go back to clicking and converting and you pay for their custom again.
A loyalty program is one of the ways you can reduce advertising costs and ensure they keep buying without needing a push. Shopify offers options for subscriptions and points-based programs, so consider using them.
Professional CRM that collects leads from various communication channels for you, helps with marketing and website presence.
Get StartedGoogle Ads is a very effective way to market your products and services to potential customers. It lets you tap into a vast network, covering everything from shopping ads and search ads to video ads shown on YouTube.
You can set a small budget, to begin with, and then gradually increase it as it learns more about your business and sends more sales your way.
Don't know your target audience yet? Don't worry, as Google Ads is backed by incredibly complex AI and will figure most of that out for you. It can even create ad headlines and descriptions based on your product pages. Add a few free professional stock images to the mix and you have some readymade ads you can show to millions of potential customers worldwide!
8. Remarket to Loyal Customers with Meta Ads
Google Ads isn't the only effective global marketing platform. Meta, formerly known as Facebook, is equally vast. It also has a lot of data on its users and you can use this to narrow down your target audience and start showing them some ads!
One of the most effective ways to use Meta Ads is to target existing customers, those who have already made a purchase or expressed a strong interest. You know they like what you're selling, and that means they're primed and ready to go for another round.
Why pay for ads when you can get that traffic for free? SEO is all about cementing your position in the search rankings, ensuring you rank higher than your competitors. It's a long-term solution and it's not as easy to implement as paid ads, but if you invest a little time and money now, you could reap the rewards in the future.
SEO for an e-commerce business is the same as SEO for any other site. Here are some tips:
Another way to create great SEO content is to let your customers do the work for you. Make it possible for them to leave reviews and comments; let them rate your products, post pictures of them enjoying the products, and even ask questions about how they work.
And remember, customers can tell when they're being lied to. They can spot fake reviews a mile away. So, keep everything honest. As long as you have good products and excellent customer service, you'll get the ratings you want.
Email marketing may seem a little old school, but it's just as effective as it has always been, provided you do it right. Shopify stores come with built-in email automation options, including abandonment flows, newsletter flows, and more. you can even add widgets that let customers buy directly through email.
Just remember, you must provide your customers with value if you want to keep them interested and ensure they don't unsubscribe. You don't need to try and sell something in every single email, even if you're offering discount codes.
There are several ways that you can build trust in your customers. Reviews, testimonials, and customer photos all help. You should also post badges from verified payment providers like Visa and Mastercard, showing them that you accept these methods and provide a secure checkout process.
If possible, offer a money-back guarantee and a helpful return policy. But don't expect your customers to find these things themselves. They're not going to go digging through your FAQs and shouldn't need to. Post the information somewhere they can see it.
Social media sites like Instagram, X, and Meta are free and incredibly effective at building your brand's online presence. You can post products, highlight customer reviews, engage with current and future customers, and collect valuable information for future advertising campaigns.
Are you getting traffic? Is there any way for customers to see your Shopify store? This isn't something you can just create and then leave. You have to spend time promoting your site and getting customers through your virtual doors.
If the traffic is there but the sales aren't, it could result in an optimisation issue. Check your site on your desktop and use your mobile phone to see if there are any glaring issues. The abandoned checkout page will tell you if there are any lost sales.
If all of that fails, consider asking your website visitors (through social media, for instance) if there are any improvements you could make.
Search engine optimization is one of the best methods. It can be a slow process, but if you do it correctly, it will pay dividends in the future. Imagine sitting at the top of the Google rankings without paying for the please. Of course, if you don't have any content creation skills, you'll need to hire someone to do the work for you and that can be expensive. However many small business owners with a passion for their product are happy to take some time out to write the occasional blog.
Believe it or not, some of the most successful stores online are Shopify stores, from large online retailers to influencer-driven projects. There is no upper limit. GymShark, Omaze, AllBirds, and GFuel all run Shopify stores. Mr Beast and Jeffree Star are also Shopify store owners. And these stores are just a few of the big brands opting for this e-commerce platform.
After implementing some, most, or all of the above tips, you should see your Shopify sales increase and your fortunes grow along with them. But remember, this is not a one-time deal.
Success on Shopify requires you to stay consistent and keep making tweaks. So:
It's a lot of work and a lot to consider. If you want to simplify everything and get everything under one roof, making it easier to run and optimize your online store, consider a subscription to Bitrix24