Shopify Articles

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If you're in the ecommerce game, you know that collection & category pages are where the magic happens. Or the tragedy, depending on how you play your cards. Let's dive into what makes these pages shine and avoid those facepalm mistakes that we've all seen (and maybe made). These pages are the lifeblood of your online store, so buckle up, and let's get them right!

Common Mistakes? Oh, We've Got a Few...

Pushing Collection Grid Below the Fold

Ever seen those sites where you have to scroll forever to find the products? Yeah, me too. Let's skip the ego-stroking banners and get right to the good stuff. Customers are here to shop, not admire our artistic flair. Let's put the collection grid where it belongs - at the top, making the shopping experience as smooth as a jazz saxophonist's solo.

Infinite Scroll Pagination

Infinite scroll might seem cool, like wearing sunglasses indoors, but it's prone to breaking and annoying your users. Stick to traditional pagination; it's like a reliable old friend who never lets you down. Remember, not every new trend is a winner, and in this case, old-school pagination holds the crown for user satisfaction.

Let's Talk Enhancements

Filtering, Sorting, and Merchandising

These aren't just buzzwords; they're your toolkit for a top-notch shopping experience. Make it simple, make it intuitive, and watch your customers nod approvingly from behind their screens. These tools empower customers, giving them control and confidence, which translates into trust and, ultimately, conversions.

Content 'Cards'

Content 'cards'? Fancy, right? They're not a breeze in Shopify, but if you pull it off, you're in the cool club. They can showcase your unique offers, promotions, or even editorial content, making your collection pages pop like fireworks on the Fourth of July. It's an aesthetic and functional win.

How Many Products on a Page? Goldilocks Had It Right

Too few products, and your page looks like a ghost town. Too many, and it's a chaotic market. Find that Goldilocks zone where everything's just right. Test, tweak, repeat. Your customers don't all think alike, so why should your pages look the same? Tailor the product count to your audience and watch the engagement rise.

Quick View or Quick Add: Not a One-Size-Fits-All

Quick view or quick add features are like spicy food. Some love it; others, not so much. Test these features with your audience, gather feedback, and iterate. They might love the zing, or it might not be their cup of tea. Either way, it's better to know than guess, right?

More Good Stuff for Your Collection Pages

Mobile-Friendly Design

Mobiles are everywhere, like hipster coffee shops. Make sure your pages look good on those little screens; otherwise, you're missing out on a latte... I mean, a lot. A responsive design isn't a nice-to-have anymore; it's as essential as your morning brew. Don't let mobile users drift away to competitors with a better mobile experience.

Clear Call to Action

What's a collection page without a clear call to action? A missed opportunity, that's what. Make it clear, make it compelling, and watch those clicks roll in. Your CTAs should be like a friendly guide leading customers to their next destination. Keep them prominent, persuasive, and aligned with your brand's voice.

Wrap It Up: The Magic Formula

Collection and category pages aren't just digital shelves; they're your virtual sales floor. Play it smart, avoid the common pitfalls, and embrace the best practices. Your customers will thank you, and your sales might just do a happy dance. Invest in these pages as you would in a physical store - they're the gateway to your products, the face of your brand, and the start of many successful customer journeys.

Unveiling the Magic of ChatGPT for Unparalleled Market Research

Friends, marketers, entrepreneurs, lend me your ears. Let's take a radical ride through a new way of conducting market research using the marvel that is ChatGPT.

Step 1: Gather Your Reviews

Start by exporting your Shopify product reviews in a CSV file. You're basically amassing a wealth of customer insights, ready to be unraveled.
If you need to extract reviews from Amazon, a browser extension is a great tool for the job.

Step 2: Prepare Your Initial Prompt

Craft your initial prompt for ChatGPT like this: "You're a marketer working for [COMPANY]. I will give you their top 100 customer reviews then ask you questions about the given reviews." It's like giving your AI a job description, setting the expectations right from the get-go.

Step 3: Address Lengthy Reviews

If the content turns out to be too big for a single paste, then try the ChatGPT PROMPTs Splitter. This open-source tool handles up to 15,000 characters per request, ensuring nothing gets lost in translation.

Step 4: Employ Follow-up Prompts

These prompts serve as your roadmap for deeper insights:

  1. "Can you provide a condensed version of the reviews provided?"
  2. "Pinpoint the repeated themes appearing in these customer reviews."
  3. "Spotlight the main product features as mentioned by reviewers."
  4. "Assess the overall emotional tone of the compiled reviews."
  5. "What motivations for purchase can be inferred from the reviews provided?"
  6. "Highlight standout quotations from the supplied reviews."
  7. "Select the most compelling and pertinent review quotes for social media sharing."
  8. "Craft a detailed customer profile using the insights from these reviews."
  9. "Construct an FAQ section derived from issues raised in the reviews."
  10. "Create attention-grabbing headlines for Facebook ads using these reviews."
  11. "Propose enhancements to the product based on the feedback in the reviews."
  12. "Sort the reviews into different categories according to their main subject of focus."

Afterward, I paste the best answers into a Google Doc, format it, and share that with the client.

By following this SOP, you're effectively enlisting ChatGPT as your dedicated market research assistant, ready to analyze, summarize, and extract wisdom from your reviews. With this workflow, you're setting the stage for a more efficient and insightful market research process. Enjoy your journey to customer understanding.

You now have the power to give ChatGPT custom instructions that persist in the background. This saves you from having to repeatedly define the same parameters. All it takes is answering two simple questions:

  1. What information would you like ChatGPT to know about you to enhance its responses?
  2. How do you prefer ChatGPT to respond?

I decided to give ChatGPT the responsibility of a 'prompt engineer' to assist me in crafting my instructions.

Below are ready-to-use templates for each question that you can simply copy and paste:

What information would you like ChatGPT to know about you to enhance its responses?

I'm Your Name, a dedicated Your Role and the Your Position at Your Organization, a Type of Organization where our mission is to What Your Organization Does. My core expertise lies in Your Field or Area of Expertise. I'm located in Your Location. Having a deep passion for Your Passion or Interest, I am its vocal advocate, striving for a world where Your Vision or Goal.

How would you like ChatGPT to respond?

'Before answering any query, measure your confidence in delivering a precise and beneficial answer on a scale of 1 to Your Preferred Maximum Scale. Use examples for clarity, such as 'Confidence: X/Y'. If your confidence score is below Your Preferred Threshold, seek further clarification with a follow-up question rather than risking an incomplete or incorrect answer.

Elucidate your thought process step by step prior to presenting a solution or response. This insight into your approach strengthens the reasoning behind your eventual answer.

Craft your responses in a Desired Tone tone, employing Preferred Communication Techniques to express your message.

Adhere to a Desired Reading Level to guarantee comprehension. Strive for concise writing.

After filling out these templates, copy and paste them into the 'Custom instructions' field found in the context menu of ChatGPT. If you'd like to fine-tune them further, you can ask ChatGPT for help by posing the question: 'You’re a prompt engineer. Can this custom instruction prompt giving you context of who I am be improved?'

Every digital journey starts with a single click. For Shopify store owners, that click is the gateway to success. But how do you get visitors to embark on this journey with you? The answer lies in effective traffic generation strategies. Let's dive into the world of SEO, social media marketing, Pinterest pins, podcasts, and YouTube tutorials to explore how they can pave your path to success.

SEO and Content: The Unsung Heroes

Imagine you're walking down a busy city street, browsing through the stores. You're more likely to step into a well-lit, inviting store, right? That's what SEO-friendly content does for your Shopify store—it illuminates your online presence. By creating engaging content like how-to articles, product guides, and even quizzes, you can attract organic traffic like a moth to a flame. Just remember:

  • Formulate a content plan based on customer queries
  • Research relevant keywords
  • Publish regularly and consistently

Social Media: The Digital Town Square

Remember the time when the town square was the hub of all activities, from commerce to entertainment? Today, that town square has gone digital, and it's called social media. By actively engaging with your audience and sharing valuable content, you can funnel traffic from your social platforms to your Shopify store. Think of it like a modern-day town crier, proclaiming news, promotions, and updates about your products and brand.

Pinterest: The Digital Bulletin Board

Remember pinning interesting flyers to your bulletin board? Pinterest is the digital equivalent. Its shoppable pins feature has become a game-changer for e-commerce, allowing you to turn casual browsers into potential buyers. Think of it as pinning a flyer with a direct link to your store.

Podcasts: The Modern-Day Radio Shows

In the golden days of radio, being a guest on a popular show was a surefire way to gain publicity. Today, that role is played by podcasts. By sharing your unique insights and experiences, you can reach out to a whole new audience, just like I did when I appeared on the E-commerce Insights podcast and saw a significant uptick in traffic to my Shopify store.

YouTube Tutorials: The New DIY Guides

There's a certain joy in building something with your own hands, following a DIY guide. Now, imagine if that guide was a YouTube tutorial, and the creator was you. By creating engaging tutorials related to your products, you can drive traffic to your Shopify store, just like when I created a step-by-step tutorial on building a birdhouse using the supplies from my store.

Conclusion: Your Roadmap to Success

Your Shopify store's journey to success begins with a single click, and these traffic generation strategies are your roadmap. As you embark on this journey, remember to provide value, engage with your audience, and most importantly, track your results. After all, in the digital world, the journey is just as important as the destination. Now, it's your turn. Which of these strategies will you embark on first?

Harley Finkelstein began his entrepreneurial journey DJing and selling t-shirts. Today, he’s the President of Shopify.

How did he get from point A to point B? Some may sum it up to a meeting in a coffee shop with Shopify’s CEO, but Harley’s entrepreneurial work ethic is also a big piece of the puzzle.

He sat with us to share his story, discuss his thoughts on the growth of Shopify and eCommerce, and provide some wisdom for fellow entrepreneurs based on his more than two decades of experience in this space.

The Origin Story

Harley has always been an entrepreneur at heart. When he was 13, he decided to be a DJ, so his dad created business cards for him. He pinpoints these simple business cards, made on a home printer, as a pivotal moment that showed he could make any dream he had a reality by taking the first action step.

In 2001, Harley set his sights on college and attended McGill University in Montreal for undergrad. That same year, his parents fell on hard times financially and could not support him. Forced to figure out how to make money, he gave entrepreneurship a real try at 17 years old. Harley started a small t-shirt business selling fan shirts themed around McGill University. He would sell his t-shirts to the university, and they would turn around and sell them to consumers. He began scaling the business, selling directly to multiple universities. A mentor noticed his small success and let him know that he would soon hit a ceiling. He recommended that Harley go to law school if he really wanted to succeed as an entrepreneur and figure out how to grow a successful business. This advice led him to pursue an MBA and law degree from the University of Ottawa—a decision that changed the entire trajectory of his life.

While attending the University of Ottawa, Harley joined a group of founders and entrepreneurs called the “Young Entrepreneurs Club.” One of the few members of this club was a computer programmer, Tobias “Tobi” Lütke. Tobi owned a snowboard company and wrote a piece of software to sell those snowboards online. This software later became known as Shopify. Harley believed in Tobias's work and opened his store as the 136th shop with Shopify.

“This is The Entrepreneurship Company, not because of Shopify, but because of all the people involved with this community. Every one of us has decided that entrepreneurship is the greatest tool to self-actualize, to solve a problem, to find success, and to find ourselves.”

 

From Shopify seller to Shopify President

Harley graduated from law school, passed the bar, and went to work for a law firm (as most people do after law school.) His Shopify shop supplied the magical feeling and sense of community, which he felt was pulling him back when he tried to walk away from entrepreneurship. Less than a year later, he left his job as a lawyer behind, reached out to Tobi, and asked if he could help him build Shopify.

Harley officially joined Shopify in 2010 as Chief Platform Officer, but he was the “jack of all trades,” helping with business development, law, finance, marketing, and more. Since then, he has worn the hat of Shopify’s COO and now of Shopify’s President since September 2020.

Harley has received numerous accolades, including the Canadian Angel Investor of the Year award, Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 Award, and Fortune’s 40 Under 40. He was on the board of the C100 from 2014-17, was inducted into the order of Ottawa in 2017, and was on the board of directors of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation from 2017 to 2020.

He equates many of his successes to the fire that the growth of Shopify has lit beneath him. To this day, he works hard to continually qualify for his job through learning, meeting people smarter than him, and gaining knowledge through mentorship and coaching.

“The entrepreneurial way to grow a business is the optimistic way, the way that I’ve always wanted to live my life, which is ‘challenge accepted.’ If Shopify is going to grow at this ridiculous pace every year …I need to keep up.”

 

Is Shopify still the go-to platform for eCommerce?

Shopify’s growth has been explosive in recent years as eCommerce adoption has grown rapidly, now being the norm rather than the exception. Shopify now accounts for more than 10% of all eCommerce retail sales in the United States, second to only Amazon.

Shopify has become the go-to platform for eCommerce due to its focus on user-friendliness and simplicity paired with advanced features for the modern eCommerce marketer. The recent adoption from major companies such as Glossier, Spanx, and Mattel is proving its evolution in scale and mass adoption.

Shopify’s app store is also growing, and the platform’s features are constantly being updated. When deciding which to update and focus on, their motto is: “making the important things really really easy.” One example of this is their new checkout functionality, which allows merchants to change the overall feel, look, and function of their checkout experience to match their brand—making branding easy.

“There is no company that is more future-proofing eCommerce than Shopify. If you are at your mom’s kitchen table and want to start a business, we’re making sure it’s really easy. At the same time, if you’re a publicly traded company, you can use Shopify, too.”

 

Shopify during the pandemic

When the pandemic hit, many entrepreneurs still did not have an online platform and were forced to adapt to the online format overnight.

Shopify was there for them and earned their trust. More merchants are using more of Shopify’s products than ever before, and Harley attributes this growth to the trust Shopify earned during the pandemic. These same entrepreneurs are now replacing their in-store POS systems with Shopify’s, so their omnichannel experiences are built with Shopify on the back end.

“I’m very proud of how Shopify operated during the pandemic. I think the pandemic was difficult for everybody—even the pandemic winners. But Shopify earned incredible trust with businesses and merchants during the pandemic.”

 

Wisdom for entrepreneurs from Harley’s failures and successes

Entrepreneurs know what it means to take risks. This also means they know what it’s like to fail and to persevere in the face of failure. Harley shared some advice for entrepreneurs based on his experiences:

Prioritize Hiring: Hiring the best people is important for the growth and expertise of your company. In the early days of Shopify, Harley says he could have done better at really focusing on hiring, and it has taken him many years to realize just how important those decisions are.

Delegate: You may be great at doing every part of your business, but you don’t get to scale when you try to do everything yourself.

Find an easy way to explain your offerings: The more your customers know about your offerings, the more they can purchase and benefit from your company. One improvement Harley thinks Shopify needs to work on is explaining what service they offer merchants.

Be transparent and admit when you’re wrong: Whether you make a mistake internally or publicly, admit your wrongdoings and try to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Learn from your mistakes. In the summer of 2022, Shopify had to lay off 10% of the team due to predicting eCommerce growth wrong, based on COVID-19 pandemic predictions, and overhiring. Tobi, Harley, and other leaders of Shopify have been very vocal about this mistake and what went wrong in press releases and interviews.

Finally, and most importantly, Harley wants people to know that entrepreneurship is for anyone. The idea that entrepreneurship is only for people with experience and money is old-school thinking. Yes, it is difficult to stand out amongst competitors, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

“This is the greatest time ever, in the history of the world, to build a brand new business.”

 

Next Steps for Harley

Harley’s success with Shopify has not stopped him from nurturing his entrepreneurial spirit. He recently started his own business, Firebelly Tea. Harley’s own anxiety being amplified by coffee during the pandemic inspired Firebelly. A friend introduced him to green tea, and he thought, “Why don’t I make a small business from this?”

For Harley, the highlight of his return as an operator is the joy of the day-to-day work of owning a business. He feels that although everyone’s measurement of success is different, being an entrepreneur gives you the control to do work you love.

“That’s where you get into this concept of life’s work, and we are so frickin’ lucky we can do our life’s work. Most people only end up doing their life’s work after their life is over and after their career is done. Doing your life’s work during your life is incredibly wonderful.”

We have a client who wanted to automatically archive their orders in the Shopify Admin when all items in the order were fulfilled AND delivered.

That sounded to me like a challenge for Shopify Flow. (It's free on most plans: Shopify, Advanced, and Plus.)

1. First we need to find out when a package is delivered. To get that info, we're using the free Track123 app from the Shopify app store. When the shipment status changes in Track123, that's triggers our Flow to start.

2. A shipment update can be for more multiple reasons, so we check if the status is "Delivered" before continuing.

3. We might be able to archive our order now and be done, but what if an order was in multiple shipments? We gotta check for that by using another conditional statement to see if our order status in Shopify is "partially fulfilled".

4. If our order status is partially fulfilled, we ad the order tag "Partially Delivered" for ease of filtering in the Shopify order admin, and stop.

5. If our order status is anything other than "partially fulfilled," we do another conditional check to confirm that fulfillment status is FULFILLED.

6. If our order is fulfilled, now we can remove our "partially delivered" tag if present, tag the order Delivered for reference, and finally archive our order.

I 💚 Automation. Work Smarter.

In the ecommerce space, everyone wants data driven decisions.

…Or at least, that’s what we hear a lot of people say.

“I want data-driven decision making. What does the data say?”

And then, of course, they go with their gut. They read articles, advice, and best practices, then implement whatever they think is best. When it goes well and conversions and Average Order Value (AOV) ticks up, they decide that their hypothesis is correct. The decision they made is now supported by their data.

This is something we consistently see, except in one instance - split testing.

For whatever reason, split testing is a very particular kind of data that everyone seems to respect. And for good reason, it’s extremely effective. You can read and implement all the best practices you like, but if you really want to see results you need to test. Test, test, and test again.

Let’s talk split testing, why you should love it, and what tests you can start running right now that will have a real impact on your store come the Black Friday and holiday season.

What is split testing?

When you make a design change to your site, oftentimes you’ll be going with your gut. What looks better, what feels better. In this case, you don’t have an idea of what the real impact of that change is. Say you add a bunch of press logos to your homepage, thinking that it’s going to add legitimacy and give customers an extra bit of convincing that your product is worth buying. Is the impact good, or bad? You don’t really know.

That’s where split testing comes in.

Split testing is where, for example, you show one group of visitors the homepage with press logos, and one group without. You then monitor and measure against different KPIs and metrics to determine the effect that change has made. Do more visitors who see the press logos place an order, versus those who didn’t? In some cases, you may even notice no impact at all.

In short - group A sees one thing, group B sees another. Compare, contrast, analyze, learn, implement. This allows you to make effective, truly data-driven decisions about your store that will lead to more conversions, higher AOV, and more.

The other key pillar in split testing is segmentation.

You may have heard of segmentation or even used it in other areas of your store, like email marketing. This is where you siphon off a specific group of customers or visitors that meet certain criteria, for example new vs returning customers, or mobile vs desktop. This is going to take your split testing to the next level, because you can see how it’s impacting different types of visitor or customer.

It’ll also help you to make better decisions based on the results of your split testing. For instance, if you’re testing the effect of having a “recently viewed” section on product pages. Prior to segmenting your test group, you may find that it has little or negligible impact overall. However if you look at new vs returning customers, maybe that section has a pretty significant impact on sales with returning customers, and the overall data was skewed by it having little impact on new customers.

Split testing and segmentation will give you the power of data behind your BFCM and holiday strategy. You’ll make effective decisions on lots of different elements of your store, and you’ll see more success. Or at the very least, you’ll better understand your store, your customers, and their behavior.

What tests should you run? Everything.

Well, not everything. That would be impractical. So let’s look at five tests you can run ahead of the holiday season.

Note before we get started

It’s worth stating now the tools you’ll need to actually run split tests. I recommend using Google Optimize, but for some tests you’ll need to look at other solutions. For example if you’re testing shipping, you may want to look at ShipScout or Intelligems.

5 split tests to run for your store

#1 - Should price appear on collection grids?

Where you place pricing on your store can impact customer experience and conversions. One which is worth testing, is whether or not you should display the price on collection grids like so:

Screenshot of Homesick Candles product grid

There are a lot of considerations and potential outcomes to including the price on the collection page or not.

Let’s say you don’t include them - the customer is going to see the product on the collection page, and make a value judgement there and then before they click on the page. They know in their heads how much they think that product may cost. If the actual price is lower than their expectations, it seems like a good deal and therefore they may be more likely to buy. On the other hand, that may also work against you and they perceive the value of the product as being much lower than the actual price. Once they head to the product page, it may come off as overpriced.

Alternatively, including them may help to set expectations and reduce the number of customers landing on product pages who won’t ever make a purchase due to price. Every customer who lands on a product page is doing so being fully aware of the cost, and wants to know more.

You want to be able to better understand the behaviors of your customers when you do or do not include pricing on the collection page. When we ran tests, including the price increased revenue per session by about 23.6% with 97% confidence.

If you wanted a short answer to “is it worth including price on collection pages?”, it would be “maybe”. Which is precisely why you should test for your own store, rather than simply looking at someone else’s results and taking them as a best practice.

#2 - Is font size important? (spoiler: it’s more than font size)

Font size is something that commonly comes with UX and UI, however it’s just one piece of a much bigger, more important puzzle called readability. I’ve attempted to split test just font size, and couldn’t get anything conclusive or statistically significant, which goes to show you can’t reduce readability to something so specific as font size.

Baymard Institute regularly conducts large-scale usability studies, and through these we learn a lot about readability and guidelines around it. According to them, line length is actually the most important factor, rather than font size. There’s also color and contrast - if you’ve ever seen bright red text on black or something equally as painful on the eyes, you’ll know how important this is. There’s how large paragraphs are, how easy it is to click on different page elements, how easily understandable your language is. And there’s also font size.

#3 - Are hero images on collection pages worthwhile?

So, here’s the thing - hero images on collection pages look really smart. With a lot of design elements of your store, a huge part of the decision making focuses on the aesthetics and what looks good just by nature of what web design is.

Screenshot of a collection page header showing a collection image banner

However, in split test we ran for a store, getting rid of the hero image on the collection page increased revenue per session by 16% with 92% confidence. Even after running the test again on mobile versus desktop, new versus returning visitors, the numbers changed a little but in all cases it was always better without the hero image.

I’ve used hero images as a way to illustrate that you should test these design elements that you subjectively think look really good but may actually have a somewhat negative impact. Testing design elements is always going to be worthwhile. Just because it looks good, doesn’t mean it’s the best decision for your store.

#4 - Is free shipping a must have?

As we approach the holiday season especially, shipping becomes a hot topic for ecommerce. With brick-and-mortar stores, you can just physically go to the store and buy something the same day. Whereas with buying online, you need to rely on shipping and for some customers this can make or break their decision to purchase. To remedy this, many merchants turn to free shipping.

But how do you choose your threshold for free shipping? $25? $100? Or across all your orders as standard? You need to find the balance between what’s actually going to entice customers, and what makes sense for your profits. After all, you may think initially you need to offer it on all orders with no threshold, but through split testing you notice that there’s actually relatively similar pickup on free shipping when the threshold is $25. Maybe instead of just free shipping or $10 shipping, you add in a “budget” option that’s faster than free, but slower than express, to see if customers would rather pay for a slightly better shipping experience.

This is going to be a big one you need to test before BFCM and the holidays where fulfillment and post-purchase is even more crucial than the rest of the year. People know from watching the news when there are delays and supply chain issues. It’s more important to them that they know their order will absolutely arrive, rather than they save a bit of money in shipping costs. The idea that free shipping is the must-have, especially around the holidays, is no longer the case. It’s still important, but you can experiment with the threshold to find a balance where it works for your bottom line, and actually drives sales. You need to figure out what’s going to work best for your customers.

#5 - Should you always include a “recently viewed products” section?

We’ve all seen this section on so many ecommerce websites. You’re browsing a store, viewing lots of different products, trying to decide which to buy. You want to easily get back to that product you viewed a few pages earlier, and there it is handily on the page in the “recently viewed products” section. Maybe you go to your cart and you spot a product in that section on the cart page that you’d forgotten about and decide to add it. In theory, this keeps people on your store, and it helps to capture their attention and increase average order value.

Screenshot of a Recently Viewed Items widgets displaying linens

But does the theory hold up? Kind of, but maybe not in quite the way you might expect.

We tested for this, and it did have a positive result overall. Great! That means it’s worthwhile, right? Well, we decided to segment it with new and returning customers. We reckoned that maybe this result would look very different for each segment, because if you’re a new customer then “recently viewed products” may be less important to you. Whereas if you’re a returning customer, it’s more relevant to you.

In our test, including this section decreased the conversion rate by around 9% for new visitors. For returning visitors, it increased by 33%. That’s a big difference. So, therein lies an opportunity to personalize the user experience; hiding the widget for new visitors, and leaving it be for returning visitors.

Personalization is huge in ecommerce, and it’s why it’s so important that when you’re split testing you’re also thinking about segmentation. Doing so will reveal any opportunities you may not initially realize to enhance customer experience and boost conversions.

——

Split testing is the key that’s going to unlock so many more sales and opportunities for your store. We’re seeing now channels like Facebook ads are less effective, and the more channels are changing the less clear it is which acquisition channels are actually worthwhile. So, an effective way to decrease costs and reliance on these other channels is to find the opportunities that may be lying in wait on your own site.

Run the tests, find the gold, and set your store up for success this holiday season.

Move over Unite, the big announcements are now happening twice a year with Shopify Editions, Shopify’s new semi-annual showcase.

CEO Tobi says,

“With Shopify Editions, we’re sharing our big bets and latest innovations in commerce so that those ambitious enough to try their hand at entrepreneurship can start and scale faster than ever before.”
hell yea, show me what you got, TL!!

The theme of this first Editions is speed of innovation. Let’s dive into the three announcements I’m excited about...

B2B: New Whole Experience on Plus

We’re starting off with a Plus-exclusive feature, but one that’s going to be very Welcome by existing Plus merchants and those looking for an excuse to upgrade… a revamped wholesale experience.

We’ve set up wholesale solutions dozens of times, and this sounds like the wholesale channel we wished we had. Native support for net terms, company profiles with different payment terms, self-serve portal, etc. We haven’t tried this one ourselves yet, but it could be a killer feature for Plus worth upgrading for.

Announcement | Learn More | Read the Blog

(We heard there are other big new Plus changes in the works, maybe we’ll see those at the next Editions.)

Shopify Functions: Long-term game-changer

Shopify Functions is new, technical, and going to be a little tough to conceptualize at first. Functions will allow developers to “extend or replace native Shopify server-side business logic to meet the unique business needs of our merchants.”

Available to all merchants, Functions are “...deployed with an app, and configured directly in the admin.” Long term, Functions has massive potential. It opens up a development path on Shopify that makes the platform extensible. A lot of kludgey apps may get replaced by more performant Shopify Functions.

Functions feels to me like a grown-up version of Script Editor. We use Script Editor several times a week to solve bespoke checkout-related issues for clients without apps or hacky workarounds. If Functions brings that same energy to more of Shopify, then the future is looking pretty bright.

Announcement | Learn More | There's a Discord too.

Discount Combinations

*“Finally–now you can combine discounts on the same order...”

No more Script Editor or app workarounds either. Y’all can quit asking me about this one. 😅

As one commenter in our Facebook group wrote, “Multiple automatic discounts at one time, praise the lord!!”

*This feature will be rolling out to all merchants over the next few weeks.

Plus 100+ more feature and updates

Editions is everything new year-to-date, today, and launching the next several weeks. There’s a lot to unpack.

Check it out: shopify.com/editions/summer2022

We’ll discuss it on an upcoming podcast episode too.

huzzah!
-k.

Create a Wholesaler Link on Your Website

You’ll notice a lot of websites have a wholesale link in the footer. It creates an easy access point to start a dialogue. To weed out the tire kickers, you’ll want to ask questions like:

  • How long have you been in business?
  • Do you have a physical store?
  • Do you sell online?
  • Why do you want to carry our product?

Incentivize Them and Make it Easy to Buy

If you are on Shopify Plus, there is a wholesaler portal built in that will run all the discount pricing scripts automatically. If not, there are a lot of good apps to checkout like Wholesale Helper, Bold Customer Pricing and Wholesale Gorilla. These apps will help manage access to incentivized discount pricing and streamline them into your fulfillment workflow.

Help Them Sell

This is the opportunity that so many people miss! Don’t treat your wholesale customers like regular customers and forget about them. Create a newsletter just for your wholesale customers. Segment them into their own list. Put together marketing materials and promos that they can then use to sell your product. Help them sell your stuff and you will be rewarded.

We’ve all been here at some point. It feels like you can’t stop working, or things will just stop, but you don’t make enough yet to fully outsource. You created a business to have freedom and be your own boss, but before you know it it feels like you’re in this non stop hamster wheel. I’ve been there myself and these are the things I like to do to help manage it.

Get in the Right Mindset

I immediately start taking inventory of the things I’m grateful for. I think of all the wins no matter how big or small. Then, I run through my short and long term goals. When I remember the why’s behind my business it helps get me motivated.

Utilize Contractors to Outsource Important Tasks

In the beginning, you may not be making enough to hire full time employees. Contractors are great because you can outsource certain tasks, without taking on full time employee costs. Outsource tasks that are essential for your business to function, but that you don’t enjoy doing. When you take time to pause and really break down all the tasks you are in the hamster wheel doing, you may realize there are a lot that are sucking up time, but not adding much ROI.

Take a Day Off

Your business won’t blow up if you take one day off. You don’t even need to ask permission or forgiveness, because it’s your business! That’s the magic of it. Shaking up your routine and stepping back, even just for a day can help clear your perspective.