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Drive sales on autopilot with ecommerce-focused features
Starting an online store with Shopify can be challenging initially, as there are a range of tasks you’ll need to handle, from setting up products to designing your store. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by all the options and features available. That’s why we’ve put together these Shopify tips to help you get started.
These tips are intended to help you attract customers, optimize your store for sales, and start making money as soon as possible.
Whether you’re completely new to ecommerce or just new to Shopify, these tips will give you a solid foundation for success.
Bring customers to your Shopify store with Omnisend’s marketing automation tools
Following our Shopify tips and tricks will give you a headstart in setting up and launching a successful ecommerce store. Covering all the basics will also make your job easier as you look to add new features that bring more functionality to your shop.
Of course, following tips and other best practices doesn’t guarantee success — you’ll still need to consistently work on marketing, customer service, and product development to see real growth and achieve your goals.
10 Shopify tips all beginners should know
To help you navigate Shopify as a new shop owner and set your online business up for success, we’ve compiled a list of essential Shopify tips. Here are 10 key strategies that every new shop owner should keep in mind:
1. Optimize your Shopify store design
A well-designed Shopify theme will give you a good foundation for further optimizations that provide a fantastic user experience.
Clean navigation and strategic placement of elements directly impact your conversion rates and customer engagement. The visual hierarchy should guide visitors naturally from your value proposition to the checkout process.
Consider using minimal, fast-loading themes like Dawn or Studio for optimal performance while maintaining professional aesthetics. Your store’s layout should prioritize mobile responsiveness, with easily tappable buttons and readable text on all devices.
Strategic white space creates visual breathing room, helping customers focus on your products without feeling overwhelmed. Place vital elements like your search bar, shopping cart, and primary CTAs in predictable, accessible locations where customers expect to find them.
Professional branding elements — including cohesive color schemes, modern typography, and consistent visual elements — establish instant credibility with visitors.
High-quality product photography with multiple angles, compelling but concise descriptions, and transparent pricing with shipping costs work together to build confidence and drive purchasing decisions.
To reduce friction points in the customer journey, consider using sticky navigation, quick-view options, and a one-page checkout.
Your Shopify store’s success depends heavily on providing an effortless shopping experience from first click to checkout.
Here are some tips to consider:
Optimize your site’s loading speed: Compress images and minimize HTTP requests while ensuring your content delivery network efficiently serves global customers
Design simple navigation: Add intuitive menus and clear pathways that guide shoppers naturally through your product categories and collections
Make your mobile experience a priority: Adapt layouts and touch elements specifically for smartphone users who prefer scrolling and tapping
Ensure convenience: Product pages need to be fast-loading with buy buttons where eyes and fingers naturally land
Streamline your checkout process: Reduce form fields and offer multiple payment options that match your customers’ preferences
Smart search functionality: Understand common misspellings and show relevant results quickly to help your customers jump to products and skip unnecessary page loads
Remember that every extra click or moment of confusion can cost you a sale, so regularly test and refine your user experience. For instance, you could run heat maps to identify ignored content blocks and underperforming elements that need improvement.
Using top-reviewed plugins is a great idea to maintain high store speed. Choose only the most reliable ones:
Email marketing connects you with customers through automated messages, personalized offers, and targeted campaigns that drive sales and engagement.
Start by setting up automated welcome emails to introduce new subscribers to your brand and showcase your top products and offers.
After each purchase, follow-up emails can keep customers engaged and informed by providing tracking information, requesting reviews, and recommending complementary products they might enjoy.
Regular newsletters can keep your brand top-of-mind by highlighting new products, sales, and helpful content. You can also win back lost customers by sending reminders about abandoned carts or special offers to those who haven’t purchased recently.
Omnisend enhances your Shopify store’s retention strategy with powerful email and SMS marketing features. Starting with a generous free plan with 500 emails/month, it offers ready-to-use templates, automated campaigns, and web push notifications to keep customers connected to your brand.
Running digital ad campaigns may seem like the ideal way to quickly generate buzz, but they can be expensive. When you’re starting out, it helps to focus your efforts on free but high-quality traffic sources.
Image via Highspot
Here are a few tips to start marketing your Shopify store for free:
Build a social media presence: Set up social media accounts for your brand and promote them to groups with similar interests with email marketing campaigns
Tap into your personal network: Tell your friends and family about your business and engage them throughout your entrepreneurial journey
Try Pinterest: Pinterest puts your brand in front of 367 million active users looking for inspiration on products to buy
Maintain a blog: Providing valuable information and establishing yourself as an expert in your niche by writing useful blog posts will also help you rank on Google for relevant search terms and drive targeted web traffic
5. Encourage customer reviews
Adding product reviews to Shopify gives your shoppers the confidence to buy from your store by showing that it’s active and that real people trust and value your products.
Follow-up emails and SMS are among the best ways to request reviews, capitalizing on customers’ excitement about their new purchases. Omnisend’s Product Reviews feature can automate these requests through email and SMS.
Setup requires basic steps: Create a free Omnisend account, connect to Shopify, navigate to Store Settings > Reviews, and customize your review form.
Encouraging reviews across multiple platforms, such as your store, Google Business Reviews, Facebook, and third-party platforms like eBay (if applicable), can maximize visibility and build additional trust with potential customers.
Watch this video for more tips on growing sales with product reviews:
6. Automate basic SEO tasks
Search engine optimization is crucial for driving targeted, organic traffic. But, there are many aspects to SEO and some can get very technical, making it difficult and overwhelming for the typical Shopify store owner.
Fortunately, there are now apps that can take care of many SEO tasks for you on autopilot. Yoast SEO is the most popular Shopify plugin for this purpose. But there are some, like Smart SEO, that automate or simplify several SEO tasks for free until you’ve grown enough for an upgrade.
7. Add refunds and returns policies
Your store policies show that you care about providing value at the level your customers expect. Having fair and customer-friendly refunds and returns policies on your site will help you build trust and let consumers feel safe about transacting with your store.
Thankfully, Shopify makes it easy to generate refund policies, and there are several other resources online that will help you make sure you have everything covered for the protection of your shoppers as well as for yourself. Get your policies and cancellation emails up as soon as possible, and then you can keep improving them as you get more feedback from your customers and learn about their preferences.
Here’s a simple but effective example from AquaFlask:
As you create your policies, keep these tips in mind:
Keep the language simple to prevent misunderstanding
Define a reasonable timeline for returns (e.g., up to 60 days)
Convey refund conditions clearly
Describe the expected condition of returned items
Don’t think of returns as a lost business but as opportunities to provide excellent customer experiences. It will translate to sales and better brand affinity later on.
8. Write an FAQ section
Compiling answers to the most common questions you get from shoppers won’t only save you a lot of time, but will also move customers along your sales funnel more quickly. Ultimately, it saves you costs as you avoid using resources to answer the same questions over and over again. It can also boost your revenue since customers are more likely to buy when they’re not plagued with uncertainty.
FAQs will differ for every business, but if you’re selling physical products, consider describing your shipping policies (e.g., which countries you ship to, how much it will cost, how soon to expect the package, etc.) and returns policies (e.g., the returns process, how to qualify for refunds, etc.). You should also cover questions about your products specifically, including size, materials, and proper care.
Remember, you can add more to this page later as you receive more inquiries from your target audience. Don’t feel like you need a comprehensive FAQs section right away.
9. Upsell or cross-sell products
When you already have a shopper that’s primed for purchase, chances are you can get them to spend more using subtle but effective upselling tactics. Here are some things you can do to impact your average order value:
Entice with an upgrade: Show that the benefits of an upgraded version far outweigh the price difference. Then, give them an easy way to upgrade their selected item.
Recommend complementary products: Show add-ons or related items that could enhance their enjoyment of what they’re currently buying. Direct links should then be added to these other products to reduce buyer search time.
Offer a reward for a minimum purchase value: Show them how little they need to add for valuable rewards (e.g., premium samples, free shipping, exclusive gifts, etc.). Then, recommend items that can get them over the threshold.
Arguably, no other brand does this upselling and cross-selling better than Apple. When you’re buying a Mac, you can start from the model with the lowest-end specs, but you’ll be asked about several upgrades (e.g., memory, storage, pre-installed software, etc.) throughout the buying process.
Then, once you’re done configuring your purchase, you’re shown recommended accessories and other Mac products that complement your purchase before you can actually check out. At the end of the entire checkout process, your cart value will have already increased by several hundred dollars.
Learn more about cross-selling and upselling, as well as the difference between the two strategies: How to cross-sell retail products.
10. Set up effective analytics
Shopify Analytics is one of the best ecommerce analytics tools for monitoring your store’s traffic, conversion rate, average order value, and more.
Shopify’s dashboard shows sales performance across all active sales channels, including online store, POS, and social media integrations. Your traffic source data reveals which platforms bring visitors to your store and how they interact with your content.
You can also configure custom dashboards highlighting your most crucial performance indicators and growth trends. For instance, bounce rate and checkout conversion data pinpoint where customers abandon their shopping journey, enabling targeted improvements.
Review your acquisition metrics weekly to identify which marketing channels deliver the highest ROI, adjusting your ad spend and content strategy accordingly.
Comparing your data between time periods will highlight seasonal trends, help you forecast inventory needs, and optimize your marketing budget allocation.
Omnisend provides additional email, SMS, and push marketing analytics, giving you a clear understanding of opens, clicks, and engagement. Plus, you can compare the performance of email, SMS, and other channels across all metrics.
Shopify tips for beginners: Wrap up
Shopify has made it possible for practically anyone to build an ecommerce store or even a multi-store business. But that doesn’t mean it’s always easy. These Shopify website tips will help you take care of things that matter the most at the beginning of your ecommerce journey. They will help you prepare everything you need to get your business up and running and ensure that you set yourself up for success.
Join Omnisend to easily create and send marketing emails and SMS on Shopify
Success on Shopify comes from offering unique products, optimizing your store design, providing excellent customer service, and using effective marketing strategies. The key to success will rely on your SEO, social media promotion, and email marketing. Continue to analyze your data and adjust your approach based on customer feedback and sales performance.
How do you make the best use of Shopify?
To make the most of Shopify, leverage its built-in features and integrate with useful apps. You should optimize your product listings, include high-quality images, create engaging content, and monitor Shopify’s analytics to make data-driven decisions. It’s also important to update your store and stay informed about new features and best practices.
Is Shopify a good way to make money?
Absolutely! Shopify can be an excellent platform for making money. It provides the tools and infrastructure you need to run a successful online store. However, your profitability can depend on factors like your product selection, marketing efforts, pricing strategy, and ability to manage your costs effectively.
Is Shopify profitable for beginners?
Shopify can be profitable for beginners, but it requires both effort and patience. Start with a clear business plan, choose the right products, and invest time in learning ecommerce best practices. Be prepared for an initial investment in inventory and marketing, too. With persistence and smart strategies, though, beginners can absolutely make their online shops profitable over time.
Bernard is the Sr. Director of Communications & Creative at Omnisend, with a passion for good research, helping ecommerce businesses with their marketing automation needs, and beating absolutely everyone in Mario Kart 64.
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