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As a survey and feedback app, Gojiberry is focused on helping Shopify owners with their Shopify journey. We have taken the liberty to offer feedback to Shopify store owners who seek help in the Shopify community. The majority of complaints from shop owners have been that their Shopify stores have high traffic but low conversion, or that they are spending a lot on advertising and seeing no sales.
After nearly 180 days of being active in the Shopify community platform and giving feedback to hundreds of Shopify stores, we have decided to compile an ultimate 12-item checklist of best practices (and mistakes) just for you! This list includes common mistakes, practical solutions with specific examples, and references to real stores that are doing it right. If your store checks less than half of these boxes, then it's time for a strategic overhaul to optimize your Shopify store.
Mistake: Failing to include engaging Call-to-Action (CTA) buttons.
Solution: Implement CTAs like "Buy Now", “Add to Cart”, or "Learn More" beneath product descriptions. Clothing or shoe stores can even have CTA for “Check available sizes”. For instance, a Shopify store selling eco-friendly products can use a CTA like "Shop Green Now" to resonate with their audience’s values.
Real store reference: Sage and Twine include great CTAs under their products on the homepage, with pop-ups for customers to quickly check for available options.
Mistake: Lacking authentic reviews or testimonials.
Solution: Display real testimonials on the home page and showcase real customer feedback on product pages. Try to showcase at least 5 testimonials on your site, whether it's from friends and family, or your offline store customers. Having some social proof helps boost consumer confidence in your site. A Shopify apparel store, for instance, can display customer photos wearing their clothing, along with positive reviews about fit and quality.
Don’t have reviews on your store yet? Make sure to install a review or feedback app to gather testimonials and product reviews.
If you have already sold your products other than on Shopify, don’t be shy about showing off your reviews on your Shopify store! Authentic customer voices go a long way.
Real store reference: Hello Peachiee does a great job showcasing testimonials from their satisfied customers.
Mistake: Using blurry or low-quality images.
Solution: Invest in professional photography. Blurry images and graphics drastically lower the aesthetics of your site and make everything look unprofessional. It’s important to take photos with good lighting and use a good enough camera, plus do post-editing to make sure your product image is as appealing as possible. For example, a Shopify jewelry store should use high-resolution images to capture the intricate details of their products.
Real store reference: nspired beauty does a stellar job of capturing crystal-clear images of their bottled scents and creating a good brand image.
Mistake: Inconsistent font usage or difficult-to-see font colors. Using mismatched fonts, fonts that are too big or too small can have similar effects as blurry images. It makes the site look poorly made and can affect the trust of customers.
Solution: Use a uniform font style and size across your site. Make sure all your fonts are visible and easily readable for your customers. Also, choose a font that resonates with what you are selling. A Shopify gadget store might use a modern, clean font to convey a sense of tech-savviness. To streamline the design process and ensure a professional look, consider using a premium Shopify theme like Eurus Theme. With its customizable font options and pre-designed templates, you can easily create a visually appealing and consistent website.
Real store reference: Fusion Motorsports USA has a professionally done site with clear fonts that capture the passion and professionalism of motorsports.
Mistake: Hidden or vague shipping policies and no details on returns. Many stores that sell large items such as furniture make the mistake of not putting any shipping info on site. Consumers will abandon their cart if they do not know how much they would have to pay on top of the product prices or realize retroactively how expensive shipping is.
Solution: State shipping costs and policies. As a rule of thumb, ensure your shipping info is transparent and easy to find. If you offer free returns, make sure your customers see it easily. For instance, a Shopify furniture store should provide detailed shipping information, including costs and delivery timeframes, on each product page.
Real store reference: Naturalistic Products communicate their shopping policies in a way that’s clear and easy to understand.
Mistake: Ignoring mobile compatibility.
Solution: Regularly test and update your store’s mobile version. A quick way to test this is to drag your browser so that it resembles the mobile view. Or try to access your site on a mobile phone. Check if all the call-to-action buttons are aligned, and if the site looks professional also on mobile. According to Shopify, 79% of all consumer traffic comes from mobile. For example, a Shopify beauty store should ensure their site is easily navigable on smartphones, with clear images and easy checkout options.
Real store reference: Annovero has a clear and easy-to-understand mobile store, with all the images and buttons optimized for mobile shopping experiences.
Mistake: Not leveraging social media.
Solution: Link your Instagram or Facebook feed to your store. Research shows that 76% of customers buy products seen on social media posts. For instance, a Shopify fitness store could feature Instagram posts of customers using their workout gear, creating a sense of community and trust.
Real store reference: Japanese outdoor sleep tech store, Hotel Camps has successfully integrated their Instagram feed into their webpage. Serving not just as content but also as a news feed for new product releases and store opening hours etc.
Mistake: Neglecting brand storytelling. A common mistake we see is the Shopify store having a very generic and not convincing “About us” page. It seems that the texts are created just for the sake of having an About Us page but don’t add any value.
Solution: Update your “About us” section with details and an authentic story or create blog posts that resonate with your audience. A good example of storytelling for a Shopify organic food store would be to blog about farm-to-table processes, connecting with health-conscious consumers.
Real store reference: Julyliebe tells an excellent visual brand story and showcases who they are and what they are about every step of the way!
Mistake: Inadequate trust signals.
Solution: Display security badges and clear return policies. Tell your customers about secure payment, payment options, and your trust pilot ratings. Authentic product reviews and testimonials help too! Many stores sell famous brands or big-ticket items such as furniture with high prices but do not do their due diligence in creating consumer trust on their site. Making sure that your site looks trustworthy is the number one thing to do before focusing on ads or conversions. For example, a Shopify furniture store should highlight its shipping policy, secure checkout process, product warranty, and easy return policy to reassure customers.
Real store reference: Home Detail does an excellent job instilling customer trust in their site. They included a Trust Pilot rating, a phone number, a clear shipping and return policy, and a fully secured SSL checkout.
Mistake: Overlooking cross-promotion opportunities.
Solution: Collaborate with influencers or complementary brands. It’s really difficult for a business to grow just organically without any outside help. It’s important to leverage the influence or contacts of others. One quick way to approach this is to work with influencers or work with media that can feature you and drive traffic back to your site. Harnessing the power of an existing audience can help your store grow quickly. Check out micro influencers or any complementary brands you can collaborate with, and create a win-win situation. A Shopify pet supplies store might partner with a popular pet blogger for a sponsored post, attracting a relevant audience.
Real store reference: Hebel Design, a fantasy & folklore handcrafted jewelry store collaborates with Instagram influencers and book lovers to feature jewelry pieces inspired by certain novels.
Mistake: Ignoring SEO best practices. Creating a site without researching the keywords that are most used by your potential customers, is like making a treasure hunt without any directions or hints and expecting your players to just find the treasure magically. With a good amount of frequently searched keywords, your site is more likely to be discovered organically via search results. Of course, keywords are not everything. It is also important that other sites are featuring or linking back to your sites.
Solution: Use targeted keywords and backlink strategies. A Shopify book store could use keywords like "best-selling novels" and "book reviews" in their product descriptions and blog posts to improve search engine rankings.
Real store reference: Wise By Nature does a great job with getting media, press, and bloggers to talk about them and linking back to their site.
Mistake: Not utilizing customer feedback.
Solution: Ask your customers! (Most effective for increasing conversion) When you have some converting customers, ask them how they found out about your shop. You can easily do so with a post-purchase survey app like Gojiberry.app, and reward your customers with coupons/points to keep them coming back again. Once you find out your strongest marketing channel, focus more effort and money on that.
Real store reference: Our client T. Buckwheat Tea has utilized customer feedback to optimize their packaging as well as marketing messages. They found that consumers prefer eco-friendly packaging and bio-degradable tea bags. They also found that many people misunderstood that buckwheat tea contains gluten. More sales and more satisfied customers came once they had addressed these issues. Read the detailed case study here.
By addressing these 12 common pitfalls with specific, actionable solutions, you can significantly enhance the performance and customer experience of your Shopify store.
From implementing effective CTAs to leveraging SEO and soliciting customer feedback, each element plays a crucial role in the success of your online business.
Utilize tools like Gojiberry.app to gather valuable insights and continuously refine your strategies, ensuring your Shopify store not only meets but exceeds customer expectations in the competitive e-commerce landscape.
Want to find out about how you can harness the power of story telling? Check out The Power of Storytelling in E-commerce Marketing: Transforming Shopify Stores for Success
Interested in knowing more e-commerce trends? Check out The state of E-commerce 2024
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