It’s not easy for any business to sell, including businesses hosted on Shopify.
Stiff competition, ongoing market fluctuations and high customer experimentation lead to Shopify businesses complaining of sales inconsistency.
Research says that the success rate of Shopify businesses is anywhere between 5% and 10%—it only adds to the estimate that most online businesses wrap up within 120 days of launching.
Which is why we thought why not put together a list that we’ve applied on our Shopify clients and seen flying colors.
This piece will cover:
31 Ways To Increase Sales In Your Shopify Store
Why am I not getting sales on Shopify? (7 critical reasons)
Here we go!
31 Ways To Increase Sales In Your Shopify Store From marketing to SEO to psychology, this list is meant to help you get into the gaps through which potential sales leak away and grow your Shopify store.
1. Match your landing pages to your paid ads To align with intent, you’ll need to ensure your Shopify store landing page content perfectly matches the ad messaging—so if someone has searched for facial serum, and the ad that comes up is of your “best selling facial serum” it should either take them to a separate landing page or the specific product page.
Here’s an example from Shopify brand Sugar Cosmetics:
2. Increase your products’ perceived value As a Shopify store owner, you should justify the selling price and bring out the value—and people will buy.
The key is to make the perceived value stand out—Shopify brand NCLA Beauty does it by stating that they’re offering a $40 value product at $24, making it instantly convincing.
Other ways to make the perceived value stand out in your Shopify store?
- Offer free shipping against a countdown timer
- Promote interest-free alternative payments
- Call out the exclusivity in products when you’re charging a high price
- Offer a $ discount when they buy more of the same product
Check out: 40 Shopify product page templates (+ stunning real-world examples)
3. Focus on multiple channels to increase sales Most of our successful Shopify clients have built their sales by combining channels for promotions, something that this Reddit response supports:
Do read :Your Shopify Store Has Traffic But No Sales? 23 Possible Causes (& Solutions)
4. Feature coupons around the product page CTA And instead of putting a generic statement like “10% off—discount applied at checkout,” make it real by saying something like “$35 value for $20 when you apply code BUY15.”
This is exactly how Shopify store JC Penney manages to get the sales ringing:
You might like: Shopify Product Page CRO: Unique ideas for improving conversions
5. Promote SMS & Whatsapp opt-ins SMS open rates are after all as high as 98% . Whatsapp open rates become as high as 70% when brands personalize communication.
You’d want to have multiple opt-in options present at your Shopify checkout: one for email, one for SMS, one for Whatsapp and one for all of them.
6. Announce a BOGO sale for specific subsegments How do we increase AOV to grow our Shopify store, is a question many brands ask us.
While working with multiple Shopify clients, we noticed that the Buy One Get One strategy worked well.
You can amplify the BOGO strategy by promoting different products for different segments of customers, instead of an open-for-all BOGO sale.
To make the BOGO strategy more profitable:
- Promote off-season products
- Use a “minimum spend” format (for shoppers to leverage it)
- Apply it on bundles during the festive season (when gifting is a priority)
Check out: Shopify Upselling Ideas for Product page, Cart, Checkout
7. Allow discount stacking above a certain order value Though once upon a time Shopify was dead against discount stacking, they changed the stacking policy in November 2022.
Since then Shopify allows stacking up to 5 discount codes for every order—with one being applicable for one line item.
To make this more compelling for customers, consider using a discount progress bar which offers call-outs like “Spend $500 more to get an additional $100 off” as the spending increases.
You might like: How do I boost my Shopify conversion rate? (45 effortless strategies)
8. Promote gift cards based on shopper intent Ways to do this on your Shopify store?
- Allow adding a gift card to an existing purchase (and declare a discount for it)
- Introduce a separate range of gift cards (with different valuations) for specific holidays
- Feature cards that make it possible for shoppers to contribute to causes
- Make it possible for shoppers to gift subscriptions
Shopify brand Kylie Cosmetics, for example, has a number of gift card valuations featured under a single product page.
9. Highlight checkout bundle options to increase Shopify sales Featuring a bundle option at checkout can work wonders.
Offer a max of two options with the common product that the customer has added to cart and alongside feature a different complementary product in each bundle.
Highlighting a bundle with a higher value with a free gift can also instantaneously improve Shopify sales.
You might like: How to Customize your Shopify Checkout Page: 23 Proven Ideas
10. Take the guesswork out of shipping details How you talk about shipping on your Shopify store can be a sales gamechanger.
After all, more than 50% of shoppers refuse to buy if shipping and delivery details are unclear.
Take a cue from Chubbies, for instance.
You won’t even see the main homepage until you’ve seen this:
Picking up geolocation and then relaying that “shipping is easy” to that location can also cast aside shopper doubts early on.
11. Increase Shopify sales with out-of-stock pre-announcements This can be especially useful in taking your Shopify sales a few notches up right before and during the peak holiday season.
So let’s say you showcase some of your bestsellers on the homepage—label some of them with “going out of stock soon” to rake in sales. You can also do this on the “Sale” page.
Here’s a tip: For products that are already out of stock, introduce a “pre order” CTA button beneath the “out of stock” button. This can especially help you make more sales in the busy September to December timeframe of the holiday season.
Do check out : Why Is Your Shopify Conversion Rate Low?
12. Talk about membership rewards right from the homepage Most Shopify businesses we’ve worked with prefer to highlight their rewards through an expandable button on product pages.
But a better Shopify sales strategy is to bring this button upfront to the homepage.
This can better initiate those who’re still at the top of the funnel to see value in purchasing from your brand.
Shopify brand Luxy Hair sets a fine example by clearly stating what immediate benefits shoppers will get if they join.
13. Showcase your UVP across your store The UVP is why your customers want to buy from you, and the UVP is what sets you apart from competition.
So it needs to reflect in your content across pages and sections of your website, carrying your brand values and promises forward.
That’s what Shopify brand Hiut Denim Co. does—they make only jeans and every pair is made for one person.
The brand ensures this fact shows up clearly in the content they feature, here are some examples:
14. Offer more discounts to repeat buyers Studies prove that existing customers are 50% more likely to want to try new products than new ones.
Here’s how you can increase sales on your Shopify store by targeting repeat buyers:
- Offer a discount code against a feedback email
- Declare a conditional surprise upgrade for them to extend their subscription
- Send early access emails on new product launches
- Feature a limited time offer where if they cross a minimum spend, they’ll get free shipping or fast delivery
15. Make product suggestions shoppable on the homepage While category pages and product pages still have a huge role to play in your Shopify store sales, your customers shouldn’t have to move away from the homepage.
So, if you’re bringing bestsellers or sale items upfront to the homepage, make sure you feature an “add to cart” button—along with it, a “quick view” option can help them get quick deets on the product.
Shopify brand The Honey Pot Company features add to cart buttons on the homepage itself:
If you have size specifications, make the CTA appear as “select size” and then “add to cart” once the shopper has selected size or quantity.
Check out: Shopify Homepage CRO: 21 proven ideas to boost conversions
16. Use compelling email opt-ins Your email opt-ins need to be compelling enough to generate an emotion: curiosity, excitement, scarcity, exclusivity etc.
Shopify brand Nutriseed uses “surprise offer” to bring in more email signups:
17. Offer wishlisting reminders to increase Shopify sales According to research, 40% of shoppers say they would enjoy a better shopping experience if brands offered them the wishliting option.
To build your Shopify sales through this tactic, show up a pop-up that says something like—We noticed you checking out…(insert products) and create a CTA “Wishlist these favorites,” if you find a shopper leaving without saving their items.
18. Set the tone with a great welcome email Given that the average open rate for welcome emails is up to 86% , this is a key tool for you to grow your Shopify store sales.
When we went out there to see what kind of conversations business owners were having on Reddit, we found advice like the following:
19. Make your cart recovery emails less intrusive More than 40% of cart abandonment emails that are successfully delivered, are also opened.
Here’s how to make your cart recovery emails less intrusive:
- Don’t try to do it all in a single email—create an abandoned cart sequence to send a reminder, offer a discount, etc.
- Use copywriting that creates ease—if you were using “The time is now to grab these,” consider using “Ready when you are” instead
- Drive the benefits of buying the product, offer a bold CTA and that’s it!
20. Get word out about flash sales over SMS Since SMSs cut out all other advertising noise, open rates are usually as high as 98%.
So while you promote your flash sale on your website, make sure to reach out to those on your text list with personalized SMSs.
Hello <insert customer name”, remember you were checking out <insert product name>? It’s on a steep 50% discount ONLY FOR TODAY!
Last chance to get a 50% off on the products sitting in your saved cart! Shop now!
Get Free Shipping on some of your favorites for the next 24 hours! Explore products…
You get the drift?
21. Send push notifications for price drops This is one of those tactics that can take your Shopify sales to the next level.
With specific push notifications on price drops, you’re only reaching out to specific customers with alerts on specific products they’ve browsed multiple times, wishlisted or left behind in their cart.
22. Focus on the quality of cart page upsells We’ve noticed many Shopify store owners make the mistake of featuring cart page upsells without thought on:
- who they’re selling to
- why the product isn’t the right upsell for the season
- which upsell would convert fastest based on the overall cart
A/B test multiple offers on a single segment to see what works best and assess the data to see why.
23. Make influencers review your products Before you reach out to a list of influencers to increase your Shopify sales, create subsegments amongst them.
For example, if you sell health supplements, it’ll help you to reach out to health coaches, fitness models, age-specific influencers including senior ones, nutrition experts etc.
This way you’ll be able to talk of more use cases through these people, influencing a greater number of people to buy and try your products.
24. Ask VIP customers to tag on social It’s great that you’ve been asking your elite customers to share their feedback on your Shopify store through email forms etc.
But now it’s time to ask them to talk about your products on social media and tag you as well.
One way to promote this best practice? Carry a tag us@ signature across transactional emails , newsletters as well as social media posts.
The idea then will become sticky among more of your customers.
25. Drive product suggestions through a quiz And you quiz needs to:
- Ask questions that a customer at the top of the funnel would relate to
- Carry an incentive along with the right product recommendations (something like “finish the quiz to get an instant 15% off!” can be effective)
- Show the quiz to visitors at different points based on where they are in the funnel (for a new visitor, showing it on the homepage makes more sense than the product page, which can be more effective for a seasoned shopper)
26. Offer something new (or cheaper) If you’re trying to ramp up your Shopify sales, look at either offering a differentiated product or offering a similar product at a noticeably lower price—here’s some great advice we found on a query that had a golf product business asking how to increase their sales:
27. Prioritize free shipping over signup discount A study found that 97% admit to being interested in and being impacted by whether a brand offers free shipping or not. In the same study, 47% also mentioned that they would happily pay a minimum amount if that guaranteed free shipping.
This means when you’re trying to grow your Shopify sales, you’ll have to factor in costs in such a way that you give this benefit instead of a discount benefit.
28. Highlight bestsellers for new customers The way to do this is to highlight your hero products and make them readily accessible through navigation.
Check out how Shopify brand Pipcorn achieves this—all a shopper needs to do is hover over “shop” and this is what shows up for them:
29. Up your SEO game for high visibility Before your Shopify sales get a chance to grow, more people need to know about you and trust you.
For organic traffic to flow in seamlessly, up your SEO game by:
- Culling out keywords through competitor research (when you type in your desired keyword, notice which businesses rank the highest and then check which keywords they rank for)
- Focusing on the “buying intent” of a keyword (if Google doesn’t return category or product pages for it, know for sure people are not keying it in to buy)
Also read: How To Drive Traffic To Shopify Stores: 14 Proven Strategies
30. Use Quora to bring in relevant website traffic To improve your Shopify sales, you’ll have to start meeting your target audience wherever they’re at.
One great platform to look into is Quora—people use it as a community resource to get answers to burning questions—and use it to attract traffic .
Become a part of relevant discussions, leave suggestions and solutions alongside a link to your website as well as your social handles.
31. Link blogs & product pages to increase Shopify sales When you link the key questions of “how to use” and “what to buy”, the recommendations can actually nudge people to shop.
This is why your blog can be instrumental in driving Shopify sales. While linking blogs to relevant product pages, also consider interlinking blogs to suggest upgraded information, justify suggestions and bring in more expert advice.
Why am I not getting sales on Shopify? (7 critical reasons) A number of Shopify stores we’ve worked with have had more than decent traffic but one way or another, they’ve been challenged in picking up their sales. We’ve found a pattern where one or more of these reasons exist:
1. Poor customer communication If the customer has sent a message on your live chat asking for a recommendation or citing a problem, and you haven’t responded at least within 24 hours, it’s a problem.
This sends out the message that it’s okay for them to browse but if they attempt to buy or flag a problem, the next step will want them to bounce off.
You might like: 11 Proven Ways To Reduce Shopify Bounce Rate
2. Confusing home or landing page Complicated navigation, too many offers, a lack of clarity on what you’re offering and why it’s beneficial, can all make your Shopify home or landing page become instantly unattractive for purchases.
3. Low visibility on Google & social Not being able to rank on page one for your product and category, not showing up through ads to high intent buyers and lack of engagement on social channels can make your brand visibility poor.
This invariably leads to lesser trust.
4. Reviews not being trustworthy It’s one thing to have Jess459 leaving an unverified review on one of your matte lipstick products and quite another when the shopper sees “Jessie Rowen”, a “verified buyer” has left the same review.
Not focusing on how your reviews look, read and feel, can end you up with poor Shopify sales.
5. Little brand & product information Too many adjectives on how great your brand is without fact-based justification on how you’ve gotten it all together, can leave potential customers questioning whether they should buy or not.
Too little product information can also have a similar impact, considering statistics prove that 87% of shoppers feel product content drives them to buy.
6. Lack of mobile optimization And this means two things: those who shop mostly on mobile wouldn’t want to shop from you AND Google won’t make you visible to your target audience.
Both are bad news when you’re trying to increase sales on your Shopify store.
Check out: Optimize your Shopify Store for Mobile: Proven ideas + Examples
6. Lack of trust Whether you’re totally new in your Shopify eCommerce business or have seen enough ups and downs, securing the shopper’s trust is of paramount importance.
Especially if you’re not an established brand, they’ll be on the lookout for red flags like lack of reviews, no press mentions, higher prices than competitors in the space, lack of secure payments etc.
Don't forget to check this: 30 Mobile Optimization Tips For eCommerce (+ Examples)
7. Selling to the wrong audience When you don’t pin down your ideal buyer persona from early on, you’re setting yourself up for selling to the wrong audience. Imagine creating or stocking up on accessories that someone who keys in the query “accessories for Volkswagen Virtus” is looking for, but instead ending up catching the attention of those who ask “what is a sedan?”
How Can A Speedy Checkout Increase Shopify sales? How you design your checkout flow has a huge impact on how many conversions you’ll get.
In fact research points out that if you optimize your checkout, your conversions can improve by over 35%.
Here are a few ways to make a speedy checkout possible on Shopify for better sales:
- Make it easy for shoppers to trust you (show trust badges, display important policies, feature FAQs etc.)
- Let them calculate prices in their own currency
- Allow shoppers to choose language of choice
- Make your forms quick to fill (incorporate autofill/autosuggest, limit number of fields etc.)
Recommended reading: 24 Shopify marketing strategies to build a 6-figure business (+ examples)
Shopify email marketing: The complete guide (top strategies & apps)
Prevent Shopify Cart and Checkout Abandonment: 24 Tested Ideas
How To Get More Sales on Shopify: Final Thoughts You can work hard on extraneous elements such as pricing, discounts, marketing and other factors to grow your Shopify store.
But it may still not respond to your efforts.
The truth is: 98% of visitors who visit an eCommerce site—drop off without buying anything.
Why: user experience issues that cause friction for visitors.
And this is the problem Convertcart solves.
We've helped 500+ eCommerce stores (in the US) improve user experience—and 2X their conversions.
How we can help you:
Our conversion experts can audit your site —identify UX issues, and suggest changes to improve conversions.
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