Would love un-objective feedback on my handmade store

[HHC2016]

hodgepodgehandmadecrafts.com 

Hi, all! I've had my handmade shop open for about a month and a half, and I'm so familiar with it by now that I can't be objective anymore. If you would, please take a look and tell me what you think is working and what could be changed. Constructive criticism only, please. Thanks a bunch!

[Bo]

Hey there, @HHC2016 

Bo here from Shopify Support! 

Thank you for getting in touch. Your store is looking great. I can see that a lot of work has gone into getting it together so very well done on that front. There are one or two things I would consider adjusting. 

I would definitely recommend adding more policies to the footer of your page. I can see that your refund policy is listed, however, some customers may want to see some more. Customers often look for the following before proceeding to checkout:

• Refund policy
• Privacy policy
• Terms-of-service
• Shipping policy

You can read up on creating these policies right here. 

I can see you have a contact page but it does not have an easy to fill form. With products of this nature, customers may have questions about the specifications of the products. I would recommend taking a look at this guide on creating a contact page. Trust is the most important currency an online store deals in. If a customer does not trust an online store they will not place an order, having a contact page can really help raise that trust factor. If you are willing to be contacted it is easier to trust you.

I noticed that you have different variants listed as different products altogether. Most stores would have the same product and all its variants listed in the one product listing, making the site easier navigated by the customer. If they see a design they like they can simply select the size they need, as opposed to looking for the correct size in the store. You can read up on adding variants here.

I noticed that you have an About Us section in your navigation, it is, however, very short and does not really tell your customer anything about your business. The About Us is probably the most underutilized marketing tool on Online Stores. What an About Us page should be is a goal-oriented sales page, one that focuses on highlighting the biggest selling points of your story and brand, making a strong impression on curious customers. You can read up on how to write a persuasive About Us page here.

Best of luck with your store! 

Bo

[HHC2016]

Thank you so much for the feedback, Bo! I've already implemented all of the changes that you suggested. :)

[neha-sparq]

Hey Hodgepodge Handmade Crafts,

The Search, Login and Sign Up buttons should be placed on the top right of the header while the Cart and Checkout must be placed below them. Other suggestions of mine for a better and more professional store look are as follows:

1. The logo alongwith the central banner and dropdown should be shifted slightly upwards to avoid the unwanted white space on the header top.
2. The social links when placed in the footer instead of placing them below the dropdown would give a more systematic footer view.
3. The central banner looks a little pale. Try adding a more unique one to impart a professional look to the site.
4. Instagram images need to be added for better brand promotion.
5. You can also install one of the most popular app Growwave which is all in one marketing platform that helps store owners increase conversions with ease.
6. Finally, I would also recommend replacing the default search with an advanced search like Sparq which allows synonyms, advanced custom tag filters, spelling correction, and other such features. Visitors with search are high intent users and their conversion rate is higher than normal users.
   Check out the features live here.
   You can use Sparq free trial for as many products in your store. After the trial period, you can enjoy with Sparq’s Free Starter Plan for upto 1000* products.

Hope the store optimization results in great success for you in the coming time.

Neha :)

[AiTrillion]

@HHC2016,

Add call to action button on the homepage. It increases the chance of getting sales.  You can start giving loyalty points to your customers on different activities like signing up, visiting a store, making a purchase, allowing for push notifications. This will help you to entice your customers and retain them. You can reward your customers in order to redeem those points. 

 It’s good to display testimonials on the homepage and add Q&A to establish authority and influence visitors with user-generated content. Turn your customer content into sales by collecting and leveraging reviews, ratings, and Q&A. You can have a review button on the homepage which makes it easier for customers to review and go through them.

Add web push notification. It turns visitors into subscribers and subscribers into customers. It's a powerful and effective marketing tool adopted by online businesses to reach out to and interact with their audience, keep them updated about any important information, announcing sales and offers, and eventually driving more eCommerce conversions.

If you would like to implement all these I would suggest you to install AiTrillion.com It has all the features in a single app and is a fully integrated app. It is all in one Shopify app. Plus you don't need to install multiple apps. You can check it out. I am sure you will find it useful.