Shopify is an e-commerce website builder. It helps businesses create stores through its website and gives them access to a multitude of free and paid apps to support their business, retain customers, and increase their Shopify sales.
Having a store or business on Shopify is "the easiest, cheapest and most convenient way for a business to set up a store and start selling their products and services online straight away," says SmartInsights.com.
This may be the case. But having a store on the mega platform won't guarantee you traffic and sales. You have to take initiative and market your business on Shopify.
In this article, we'll be tackling 5 tips that can boost your store's Shopify sales and help you retain customers.
There are many reasons to have a store on Shopify. Here are some tidbits about the Shopify platform.
Between February and July 2020, Shopify has had nearly 70 million visits, while in the past 12 months, Shopify saw 218 million buyers from 175 countries visiting shops on its platform.
Talk about potential!
"Mobile optimization is important on Shopify," says WebsiteBuilder, noting that 81% of Shopify's traffic comes from mobile devices.
In addition, "the average visitor spends nearly 4 minutes on Shopify and visits more than 3 stores," the website says.
Shopify's average conversion rate stands at 1.5%.
It's also worth noting that some of the world's top brands use Shopify.
Brands such as Tesla, Nestle, Red Bull, and Kylie Cosmetics have stores on the e-commerce platform.
A couple of historical tidbits?
In 2018, Shopify recorded its billionth order.
In 2020, Shopify witnessed over $1.5 billion in sales in a single weekend, according to WebsiteBuilder.
COVID-19 hit many businesses in 2020, including Shopify stores. But the platform quickly took initiatives to support people using its platform.
The Ottawa-based e-commerce website unveiled a series of updates during its online Shopify Reunite 2020 event to support its merchants, their revenues, and their customers.
“The world is changing fast,” said Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke in a statement released in late July.
“With the rapid shift to online commerce, massive disruption to conventional employment, and growing conviction that opportunity needs to be more evenly distributed, entrepreneurship has never been more important," Lütke said.
"With all of these changes, our core principles remain the same: everything we ship is designed to lower barriers to entrepreneurship and reduce friction wherever we can,” Shopify's CEO stressed.
What Does This Mean?
It means that if you have a Shopify store or are planning to launch a store on Shopify, there's great potential for you and your business revenue.
But having a Shopify store doesn't mean you'll instantly see sales the day you launch or even a week or a month in.
Check out Here the 20 Best Shopify Apps to Support Your Store
Put simply, without a clear Shopify marketing strategy, you won't see any Shopify sales or if you have any, they won't grow.
As business, it's important to look at what your competitors are doing. You don't have to – or rather shouldn't – copy them, but should look at what's working for them and what isn't.
You'll notice that your competitors are marketing their brand and products.
"A sound marketing strategy can help you build brand awareness, drive customer loyalty, and ultimately increase online sales," explains Shopify.
In addition, your competitors are trying to create loyal customers.
Why? Because loyal customers tend to buy more than first-time buyers.
As a store owner, you want repeat customers who continue the checkout process and thereby increase your Shopify sales.
So how can you achieve this?
There are 5 tips to give your Shopify sales a boost.
One of the most important things to do when launching an online store is to build trust with your customers.
Once customers trust you, they would be more willing to not only buy from you repeatedly but also refer you to their friends and family.
These referrals translate into customer acquisitions and more Shopify sales for you.
Whether you're selling a service or a range of products, clear descriptions are essential to getting customers to buy from you and increase your overall Shopify sales.
A product without a clear description will easily drive customers away.
Do you buy products that aren't clear about what they do or what they don't do? Your answer is probably "No," which means your customers will think the same if they don't find clear descriptions with your products.
One of the top ways to increase your Shopify sales is to use a loyalty program in your store.
Why? Because a loyalty program can quickly build a relationship between your store and customers.
It's also a great tool to turn first-time buyers into repeat customers.
In other words, a loyalty program makes customers come back to your store and buy more from you.
You can even reward loyal customers when they join and use your loyalty program with points that can later be translated into discounts or free shipping, both of which will boost your Shopify sales.
We've also compiled a list of the top 17 Industries that get the best results with loyalty programs.
Check out Top 5 Points to Consider Before Creating a Loyalty Program
By the way, Gameball has a free plan on Shopify that you can start with to increase your Shopify sales.
Remember what we said about building trust?
Having customers who trust your brand translates into higher sales.
Creating a referral program means you can encourage customers to refer you, track referrals, and watch your customer base grow.
Even better? Gameball offers referral program options for Shopify store owners like you.
What's more is that with Gameball's loyalty program, you can get customers to refer you and reward them for those referrals.
Check out Make the Most Out of Your Referral Program
It's one thing for a customer to tell another about your business, but it's different when that referred customer starts buying from you.
You can create both a referral program and a loyal program using Gameball and reward your loyal customers.
Last but certainly not least, to increase your sales, and raise brand awareness, your Shopify store needs marketing. Constant marketing.
That said, marketing doesn't have to be expensive. There are organic and paid options.
Depending on your industry, consider telling people about your products and sharing them on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
If you're using Gameball, you can also get your current and loyal customers to share their program milestones and referral links on social media.
In addition, you can reward customers with points when they like your page on Facebook, share a post, and so on.
Gameball currently supports three social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
