The challenges of launching an ecommerce store in 2024
In the ever-evolving ecommerce world, staying ahead of the curve and making the right decisions is trickier than ever. As we step into 2024, launching your store on Shopify has never been simpler & with its rich out-of-the-box feature set and a vast eco-system of Shopify Apps, you can be confident that Shopify is the right platform not just to launch your store but to grow your business through 2024 & beyond.
Today, we will talk about why Shopify is the right platform for you.
Shopify makes the fundamentals simple
One of the key reasons why Shopify is so popular with merchants in the UK is that it just gets the basics right. When you decide to launch on Shopify, you'll have all these features (and more) available at your fingertips.
- Easy to use admin right out of the box with everything you need.
- Gorgeous storefronts that offer top-tier experience to your customers.
- It is secure and reliable, so you can focus on running your business instead of your server.
- It is infinitely scalable from your first order to breaking one million turnover and beyond.
- Integrated payment gateways, including Apple Pay and Google Pay, are available out of the box.
- Advanced marketing tools with Shopify's email marketing app.
- It is GDPR-compliant with Shopify's privacy and compliance app.
- Reach your audience anywhere by selling directly on social platforms.
But how do you best take advantage of Shopify to set yourself up to succeed?
Set up your Shopify store to succeed!
While Shopify provides you with a rich set of features right out of the box, you still need to apply these tools in a way that is right for your business. There is no one-size-fits-all, and your setup will depend on your business needs. However, these are some of the basics you need to pay close attention to.
Product discoverability
You can offer the most excellent products at highly competitive prices, but if customers can't easily find your products, you'll always struggle. Fortunately for you - Shopify provides you with all the tools you need to succeed here.
An intuitive navigation and collection setup lets customers quickly find what they want.
Once the customer has found the collection they are looking for, you need to allow them to use relevant product filters to narrow their search to view only the specific products that meet their needs.
However, at this stage, it's all too easy to get ahead of yourself; after all, it's exciting to launch your store, and it all seems so simple.
Getting this right requires careful planning to understand what you need to launch and set yourself up for growth. The last thing you want to do is have to recreate the entire setup 6 - 12 months down the line.
Custom product data setup
The information you want to present to your customer will vary depending on your product range. A bike retailer might need to show a technical breakdown of their latest e-bike, whereas a fashion retailer might want to show care instructions and size guides.
This is all possible on Shopify with product meta fields and, of course, it's even possible to handle different product types within the same store as you might sell cycling gear and cycling clothing.
Setting this up is relatively simple, but with careful planning, you can ensure consistency across your entire product range and avoid unnecessary duplication of data entry by having the same data populate the product page and power your collections and filters.
Custom landing pages
Since Shopify 2.0 launched in 2021, it has been possible to build out custom landing pages directly in the theme editor without the need to revert to custom development. This allows merchants to create targeted landing pages for seasonal events such as Black Friday or your latest marketing campaign.
However, with Shopify's new 'meta-objects' feature launch in 2023, this feature has become even more powerful. Meta-objects allow you to quickly and easily create landing pages around brands or collections using the same theme template. With this new feature, building and maintaining landing pages has never been easier!
Reassure customer's key concerns
It sounds simple, but it's so easy to overlook when starting. Make sure you're addressing your customer's key concerns at appropriate times during their purchase journey. Be upfront about delivery costs and timelines so that there is no nasty surprise at checkout for your customer. Communicate your returns policy so that customers can be confident they can easily return the product if, for some reason, it's not quite right.
Discounts & Shipping Upsells
Encourage more sales with strategically planned discounts using Shopify's native discount functionality. Using the native functionality, you can run anything from a 'save 15% off your first purchase ' campaign to a buy one get one free automatic discount within a specific collection. And with carefully planned shipping costs, you can encourage customers to increase their basket value to qualify for free delivery.
How about those must-have Shopify App
One of the most significant appeals of Shopify is the mature eco-system of Shopify Apps that can be easily installed to expand the functionality of your store without the need for costly custom app development. However, with so much choice, picking the right app for your store can take time and effort. Here, we will take at some of our favourites that we recommend to most clients.
Email marketing with Klaviyo
Shopify offers a native email marketing tool called "Shopify Mail", but when you want to get serious about your email marketing, you want to look into Klaviyo. Shopify Mail launched in 2020, and in comparison with Klaviyo, it is not as feature-rich (which isn't surprising since Klaviyo has been around a lot longer). Klaviyo allows you to take greater control over your email flows and customer segregation. With Klaviyo's off-the-shelf integration, it's a no-brainer to start as you wish to continue.
Product reviews with Yotpo
Product reviews are fundamental to giving customers confidence in your product and brand. Yotpo has a proven track record of being the best tech partner for successfully obtaining positive customer reviews through its proactive and automated emails that make it easy for customers to leave feedback. You can also allow customers to provide photos of their products directly within their review.
Data backups by Rewind
Data backups are a no-brainer for all our Shopify Merchants. Shopify might provide a safe and secure platform with unbeatable security and server uptime - but they don't protect you against human error. Accidentally delete all the products in your best sellers collection - without data backups by Rewind, you might tasked with the time-consuming job of recreating those products one by one with whatever content you have to hand. However, with Rewind installed, you can have that content back online in minutes, not hours. Find out more about why we recommend Rewind Backups to all our merchants.
Products subscriptions with recharge
Subscriptions are a great way to increase your recurring revenue stream and improve your product offering. You could be easily mistaken for thinking subscriptions are only relevant for consumable or perishable products such as food and drink. However, many creative ways exist to implement a subscription model into your store.
ASOS, for example, offers a subscription model to become a VIP member with special privileges such as free next-day delivery. Another example is My Family Vets, which provides a Pet Health Club membership scheme that gives customers discounts across their entire product range.
While subscriptions aren't for everyone, it's worth considering - a well-planned subscription model can help turn first-time customers into repeat customers.
The Verdict
Launching on Shopify in 2024 has never been simpler - but without careful guidance, you might inadvertently create more work than necessary. But only by taking a holistic view of your product offering and business goals can we create an optimal setup that avoids unnecessary duplication of work and provides a setup built to scale with your needs.
If you're considering launching your brand on Shopify in 2024, why not talk to us and see how we can support your business?
