How to increase sales on Shopify: 24 Proven Strategies from the experts

Boost your Shopify sales with 24 proven strategies from the experts. Learn how to optimize your store and drive more traffic to your business

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Nandini Gangwar

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April 12, 2023

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Do you feel like you're doing everything you can to increase your Shopify store's sales but still not seeing the results you want? 

You spend countless hours perfecting your website, creating high-quality products and marketing your brand but the sales just don't seem to come in.

Well, you're not alone. It's a common problem in eCommerce. Many entrepreneurs face the same challenge of trying to figure out the best strategies to increase their sales on Shopify.

Don't lose hope just yet!  There are proven strategies that experts use to increase sales on Shopify and I'm going to share them with you in this post.

With these tips, you can attract more customers, convert more visitors and skyrocket your revenue.

Even if you're a new Shopify store owner or a seasoned pro, these strategies can make a huge difference in your sales numbers.

So, keep reading to learn how you can take your business to the next level and start seeing the success you deserve.

Reasons you have traffic but no sales in your Shopify store

Many Shopify merchants feel that despite having a decent amount of traffic on their online store, they’re not selling much. 

It's a frustrating situation that can leave you scratching your head and wondering what's going wrong.

The truth is, there are several common reasons why you may have traffic but no sales in your Shopify store. These issues can range from website design and functionality to product selection and pricing. 

It is frustrating to see visitors coming to your site, but not converting into paying customers. Let's see what's going wrong and how you can fix it.

The insights ahead will help you identify the obstacles preventing you from making sales and guide you towards more effective strategies.

Let’s find out why your traffic isn't converting and learn how to fix it.

1. Poor website design and user experience  

What turns customer away faster than anything is a poor user experience. A badly designed website appears untrustworthy to the visitors making them bounce from your store.

What counts as a bad user experience:

  • Cluttered and disorganized homepage.
  • Hard-to-find or hidden calls-to-action (CTAs).
  • Slow page load times due to heavy graphics or unoptimized images.
  • Poor navigation, resulting in customers struggling to find what they're looking for.
  • Unresponsive design, leading to a poor mobile shopping experience.

2. Inadequate product descriptions and images

Visitors find inadequate product descriptions and images are hard to understand.

Customers don't understand what they're purchasing, leading to confusion and ultimately no conversion.

What accounts for this:

  • Vague or incomplete product descriptions.
  • Poor quality or blurry product images.
  • Lack of product options or variations (e.g. size, color, etc.).
  • Lack of zoom or 360-degree product images.
  • No product reviews or ratings.

3. Poor customer support

Poor customer support can result in frustrated customers and a negative reputation for your store.

What counts as poor customer support:

  • Long response times for customer inquiries.
  • Unhelpful or unprofessional support staff.
  • Lack of support options (e.g. live chat, phone, email, etc.).
  • Inadequate product information or FAQs.
  • No option for real-time support (e.g. live chat).

4. Lacking security measures

Inadequate security measures can result in data breaches and put customers' personal and financial information at risk. Customers privacy has to be protected at all costs.

What could be the problems on your website:

  • Lack of SSL certificates, exposing customer data to security threats.
  • Inadequate password protection, making it easier for hackers to gain access.
  • Lack of secure payment processing, potentially exposing sensitive financial information.

5. Poor inventory management

Inventory management plays an important role in converting visitors. Poor management of inventory results in frequent stockouts, backorders, and unhappy customers.

This can include:

  • Stockouts and backorders, leading to unhappy customers.
  • Inadequate stock tracking, making it difficult to manage inventory levels.
  • Lack of low stock alerts, resulting in oversold or out-of-stock items.
  • Lack of effective inventory management tools, making it harder to optimize inventory levels.

6. Ineffective conversion rate optimization

A lack of conversion rate optimization can result in low conversion rates and missed sales opportunities.

Proper CRO or Conversion Rate Optimization is a must for all successful stores. What comes under inadequate CRO:

  • Lack of effective product pages, resulting in poor product descriptions and images.
  • Poorly designed checkout process, leading to customer frustration and abandoned carts.
  • Lack of effective upsell and cross-sell opportunities, reducing sales potential.

7. Ignoring customer feedback

It might not seem like a big deal but it definitely is a terrible idea to just ignore customer feedback.

Disregarding customer feedback can result in a lack of customer satisfaction and repeat business. This can include:

  • Not immediately responding to negative reviews.
  • Lack of willingness to make changes based on customer feedback.
  • Not enagaging with your customers.

8. Not optimizing for mobile devices

According to recent research, like 90% of your store's traffic comes from mobile. So, a lack of mobile optimization results not only leads to a poor user experience, lowering conversion rates but also leads to diminishing repeat purchases.

This can include:

  • Poor user experience for other devices like mobiles, tablets etc.
  • Slow page load times for mobile stores.
  • Difficult navigation on smaller screens.

9. Unreliable shipping and delivery

Uncertain shipping and delivery time and information can result in frustrated customers and negatively impact your store's reputation. Unreliable shipping and delivery" could include:

  • Long shipping times, leading to frustrated customers.
  • Inaccurate tracking information, causing confusion and misunderstanding for customers.
  • Lost or damaged packages, resulting in customer dissatisfaction.

10. Failing to properly test and launch

If you don't test everything before launching your store then it can result in technical glitches, broken links and other issues that can negatively impact your store's reputation and sales. This can include:

  • Technical glitches causing problems for visitors.
  • Broken links on your pages.
  • Website not compatible with different browsers.

Strategies to increase sales on your Shopify store

Running an eCommerce brand on Shopify can be challenging, especially if you want to create a successful store.

A great Shopify store should not only attract potential customers but also convert them into loyal buyers. But what are the secrets behind a successful Shopify store?

What makes a Shopify store successful? While there's no one answer to that question, there are several things that lay the groundwork for your business's success.

Below are some prerequisites for a successful business. Implementing all will definitely increase sales and conversions to your store:

1. Fast load speed and high website performance

Website load speed is a critical factor for a great Shopify store.

Slow website leads to high bounce rates and a poor user experience, which can harm your search engine rankings(SEO).

To ensure fast load times you should:

  • Optimize images and videos.
  • Minimize the use of large files.
  • Keep your website code clean and concise.

You should also regularly test your website's performance to identify and fix any issues.

2. User-friendly design and layout

Your store's design and layout play a crucial role in providing a great user experience.

A well-designed store should have :

  • A clean and organized layout.
  • Easy-to-use navigation.
  • High-quality images and videos.
  • Detailed and clear product descriptions.

The website should also be visually appealing, with a consistent color scheme and font style that is easy to read. These elements will help visitors quickly find the information they are looking for and make a purchase.

3. Optimize your product pages

Make sure your product pages are optimized for conversion. To convince potential buyers to make a sale you should use:

  • High-quality images
  • Detailed descriptions
  • Customer reviews
Allbirds use high quality images and product description on their online store

4. Offer free shipping

Offering free shipping above certain amount is a great way to incentivize customers to make a purchase. Consider offering free shipping for orders above a certain threshold or for specific products.

5. Use email marketing

Email marketing can be an effective way to keep in touch with your customers and promote your products. Use personalized and engaging email content to drive sales and encourage repeat business.

6. Leverage social media

Social media can be a powerful tool for driving traffic and sales to your Shopify store. Use Instagram, tiktok etc to showcase your products, engage with your audience and promote special offers and sales.

7. Use social proof

Social proof can be a powerful tool for increasing sales. Build trust, credibility and loyalty with potential buyers by prominently displaying:

  • Customer reviews
  • Ratings
  • Testimonials
allbirds.com shows reviews as "social proof" to their customers

8. Offer discounts and promotions

Offering discounts and promotions can be a great way to entice potential buyers to make a purchase. Consider offering limited-time offers, bundling products together or running a flash sale to boost sales.

9. Optimize your checkout process

Always ensure your checkout process is fast, simple and easy to navigate. Remove any unnecessary steps or distractions that may discourage customers from completing their purchase.

10. Implement upselling and cross-selling

Upselling and cross-selling are effective ways to increase the average order value. To encourage customers to buy more, offer them:

  • Related product recommendations
  • Complementary products suggestions
  • AI powered product recommendations

Display these recommendations throughout the customer journey from homepage to checkout and post purchase.

PersonalizerAI is a powerful Shopify app that will  increase your AOV by letting AI upsell and cross-sell on your Shopify store. The AI will deliver 1:1 personalized product recommendations to your customers to persuade them to buy more. 

Amazon uses AI-driven product recommendations as "Frequently bought together"

11. Use retargeting ads

Retargeting ads are effective in reminding the potential customers of products they've viewed on your store. Show them targeted ads on social media or other platforms to encourage them to come back and buy the products.

12. Provide excellent customer service

Offering exceptional customer service will build trust and loyalty with your customers. Always ensure that your customer support:

  • Respond promptly  and friendly to customer inquiries
  • Provide helpful information and solutions to customers' problems.

13. Focus on your unique value proposition

Highlight your unique value proposition in your marketing and messaging to differentiate yourself from competitors. Your branding should be consistent everywhere. Focus on what sets you apart and why customers should choose your products over others.

14. Optimize for mobile

With more and more customers shopping on their mobile devices, it's crucial to optimize your Shopify store for mobile. More than 90% of your traffic comes from mobile search. Make sure your site is mobile-friendly and easy to navigate on smaller screens.

15. Implement a loyalty program

A loyalty program can be a powerful tool for increasing customer retention and repeat business. Offer rewards or discounts for repeat purchases, referrals or social media engagement to incentivize customers to come back to your store.

16. Create urgency

FOMO is really powerful. Creating a sense of urgency can encourage customers to make a purchase quickly. Consider using limited-time offers, countdown timers or low stock notifications to encourage customers to act fast.

17. Optimize for search engines

Always make sure your Shopify store is optimized for search engines to increase visibility and drive organic traffic to your site. Use relevant keywords in your product titles, descriptions and meta tags to improve your search rankings.

Use tools like Google Search Console for helping improve search performance and bringing more traffic to your Shopify store.

Infilimits Google Search Tools is an excellent free Shopify app that will help you monitor, maintain and troubleshoot your Shopify store's presence in Google Search results directly from your store's admin panel.

18. Collaborate with influencers

Partnering with influencers in your niche can help increase brand awareness and drive sales. Identify influencers who align with your brand values and products and collaborate on content or promotions to reach their audience.

You don't always need Celeb or Mega influencers for influencer marketing. Sometimes collaborating with micro and nano influencers with better engagement in your niche drive more sales.

19. Simplify your returns process

Your return process should never be unclear and difficult. Always make it easy for customers to return products by providing clear instructions and a hassle-free process.

A simplified returns process can increase customer satisfaction and reduce cart abandonment.

20. Provide multiple payment options

Offer multiple payment options to cater to different customer preferences. Consider offering options like PayPal, Apple Pay, Stripe and more along with credit cards to streamline the checkout process and increase conversions.

21. Leverage user-generated content (UGC)

User Generated Content such as customer photos and videos, can be a powerful tool for increasing sales. Display UGC on product pages and social media to showcase your products in a more authentic and relatable way.

22. Personalize your customer experience

Personalization has become a neccessity for all eCommerce brands. Personalizing the customer experience builds relationships and increase customer loyalty.

You can use AI or machine learning to offer personalized recommendations, promotions and content based on customers' interests and behaviors.

PersonalizerAI help Shopify merchants with 1:1 personalization on their stores. Merchants are using AI to deliver personalized recommendations across the buyer journey to boost AOV and skyrocket profits. 

23. Use email automation

Email automation can help streamline your marketing efforts and increase efficiency. Use automation to send abandoned cart reminders, post-purchase follow-ups and personalized recommendations based on customers' browsing or purchase history.

24. Test and optimize

Continuous testing and optimization are essential to improving your sales performance. Experiment with different tactics, measure their effectiveness and make data-driven decisions to continually improve your strategies.

While implementing these strategies is a good start, it's also important to remember that every business is unique and what works for one may not work for another. Experimentation and testing are key to finding the strategies that work best for your business

This means testing different strategies, monitoring your metrics and making adjustments as needed. With dedication and perseverance, you can increase sales on Shopify and grow your business to its full potential.

So if you're ready to take your Shopify store to the next level, start implementing these proven strategies today.

Whether you're a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting out, with the right approach and mindset, you can achieve success.

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