Feedback on store

[bobmac727]

Hello,

Looking for some feedback on my store and what I can do to optimize.  Opened late November and have a few sales.  Site has been submitted to Google about a month ago and understand that part may take some time.  Is there anything else I can work on in the meantime.  The url is themerchandiseplanet.com  Appreciate the insight.

Thanks,

Bob

[PageFly-Richard · Accepted solution]

Hi Bob from @bobmac727 ,

This is Richard from PageFly - Shopify Page Builder App.

First of all, congratulation on your new store. It looks awesome and very detailed, I bet you have put a lot of effort into it. However, I would love to give you some suggestions for your Homepage that would even make it better to convert to sales.

1. Add a CTA to hero banner

Creating a CTA and making it a well-structured navigator for your visitors is very crucial for a page, especially the homepage. It can help you to navigate your visitors to the place you are aiming to take them to and showcase the best items of your store or campaign.

Lacking a CTA like “Buy Now”, “Shop All” etc on the hero banner would be a huge waste since that CTA helps push visitors to discover more and make a purchase.

2. Add an announcement bar

Basically, the announcement bar will announce the information about discounts or any promotion campaign of a store. You can add one on the top of the homepage to impress your customers at the first place.

3. Make the header sticky

A sticky header allows customers to quickly access the navigation, search, and utility-navigation elements whenever they scroll up or down on the page. It is also the fastest and the most useful way to access the necessary information for the customers when they reach your website.

4. Add proper spacing for the text

The text “Top Trending Must-Haves” is way too close to the top banner while it is belonged to the lower section. It is suggested that you should add some more spacing between them.

Same issue for this part as well, you can increase the line height for this case:

5. Add a countdown timer

It can be seen that you are running a sale promotion for some products. You can consider adding a major Countdown Timer on the Homepage. Showing a timer rolling backward which communicates how much time remains before a given action should be taken. It's probably good practice that the shown urgency is authentic and not just made up.

Here is an example:

6. Item Alignment

The product lists are not well - aligned with each other since some products have long tittles, some products do not, ect.

You can make them align in one line to make the site more professional.

7. Testimonials

Having a customer testimonial section can be enough to earn the trust of your visitors. The more testimonials you have, the more your visitors will assume that you must be a trustworthy brand. For that reason, I suggest you should add a section to display the testimonials of your past customers.

For examples:

Furthermore, for the upcoming Valentine's Day, will you run any campaigns? Here are some promotion ideas for your campaigns, I hope they will be useful for you.

1. Personalize Your Offer for Valentine's Day

Gift-giving is almost like a ritual on Valentine’s day. You can make the most out of it by offering products around Valentine's theme.

• If you already have products that people buy on Valentine’s Day, give them a little touch of love. It doesn’t matter if you’re selling a digital or a physical product.
• If you don’t have a physical product, you can still curate special Valentine's Day offers around your services that can be used on Valentine’s Day like “two for one” or “buy one, get one” deals.

2. Mention Your Delivery Time & Rates Clearly

Delivery time is one of those things that can make or break your business. And if it’s some holiday, buyers take the delivery dates too seriously. To convert these visitors into potential buyers, mention your delivery dates clearly across your website, app, and emails. Also, specify the last date to place an order to reach on time.

3. Create Gift Guides

As mentioned earlier, Valentine’s Day is the season of gift-giving. But, when it comes to finding a perfect gift, people have what’s called a perpetual dilemma.

You can do this by making Valentine's day gift guide. Break the guide into sections based on gender, interests, or personality traits like this:

• By Category: Valentine’s Day gifts for her/him, couples, teenagers
• By Price Range: Best Valentine’s Day gift under $25, $50, $100
• By Interest: Gift ideas for art lovers, dog lovers, and foodies

Feel free to ask me if you have any questions.

Good luck and have a nice day!

Best regards,

Richard | PageFly

[Ollie · Accepted solution]

Hey @bobmac727.

Thanks for reaching out.

I appreciate that you have provided us with your online store URL for us to explore!

What do you think about adding a slideshow section to the online store homepage as the first section? As this can allow your customers/visitors to learn more about the business and products without having to scroll. For example, you could include your best seller or favorite product. It is a great way to strengthen your brand and make the homepage more personalized and engaging.

You can add Product Reviews to your product pages allowing your customers to share their experience. This can definitely encourage a purchase!

Do you have any social media business accounts for this store? You can connect your online store to the available Sales channels. It is a great way to reach a larger audience and gain traction is to Share your product page on social media.

Let me know what you think.

[bobmac727]

Thank you for your input.  I can implement these suggestions pretty easily.

[PageFly-Richard · Accepted solution]

Hi Bob from @bobmac727 ,

This is Richard from PageFly - Shopify Page Builder App.

First of all, congratulation on your new store. It looks awesome and very detailed, I bet you have put a lot of effort into it. However, I would love to give you some suggestions for your Homepage that would even make it better to convert to sales.

1. Add a CTA to hero banner

Creating a CTA and making it a well-structured navigator for your visitors is very crucial for a page, especially the homepage. It can help you to navigate your visitors to the place you are aiming to take them to and showcase the best items of your store or campaign.

Lacking a CTA like “Buy Now”, “Shop All” etc on the hero banner would be a huge waste since that CTA helps push visitors to discover more and make a purchase.

2. Add an announcement bar

Basically, the announcement bar will announce the information about discounts or any promotion campaign of a store. You can add one on the top of the homepage to impress your customers at the first place.

3. Make the header sticky

A sticky header allows customers to quickly access the navigation, search, and utility-navigation elements whenever they scroll up or down on the page. It is also the fastest and the most useful way to access the necessary information for the customers when they reach your website.

4. Add proper spacing for the text

The text “Top Trending Must-Haves” is way too close to the top banner while it is belonged to the lower section. It is suggested that you should add some more spacing between them.

Same issue for this part as well, you can increase the line height for this case:

5. Add a countdown timer

It can be seen that you are running a sale promotion for some products. You can consider adding a major Countdown Timer on the Homepage. Showing a timer rolling backward which communicates how much time remains before a given action should be taken. It's probably good practice that the shown urgency is authentic and not just made up.

Here is an example:

6. Item Alignment

The product lists are not well - aligned with each other since some products have long tittles, some products do not, ect.

You can make them align in one line to make the site more professional.

7. Testimonials

Having a customer testimonial section can be enough to earn the trust of your visitors. The more testimonials you have, the more your visitors will assume that you must be a trustworthy brand. For that reason, I suggest you should add a section to display the testimonials of your past customers.

For examples:

Furthermore, for the upcoming Valentine's Day, will you run any campaigns? Here are some promotion ideas for your campaigns, I hope they will be useful for you.

1. Personalize Your Offer for Valentine's Day

Gift-giving is almost like a ritual on Valentine’s day. You can make the most out of it by offering products around Valentine's theme.

• If you already have products that people buy on Valentine’s Day, give them a little touch of love. It doesn’t matter if you’re selling a digital or a physical product.
• If you don’t have a physical product, you can still curate special Valentine's Day offers around your services that can be used on Valentine’s Day like “two for one” or “buy one, get one” deals.

2. Mention Your Delivery Time & Rates Clearly

Delivery time is one of those things that can make or break your business. And if it’s some holiday, buyers take the delivery dates too seriously. To convert these visitors into potential buyers, mention your delivery dates clearly across your website, app, and emails. Also, specify the last date to place an order to reach on time.

3. Create Gift Guides

As mentioned earlier, Valentine’s Day is the season of gift-giving. But, when it comes to finding a perfect gift, people have what’s called a perpetual dilemma.

You can do this by making Valentine's day gift guide. Break the guide into sections based on gender, interests, or personality traits like this:

• By Category: Valentine’s Day gifts for her/him, couples, teenagers
• By Price Range: Best Valentine’s Day gift under $25, $50, $100
• By Interest: Gift ideas for art lovers, dog lovers, and foodies

Feel free to ask me if you have any questions.

Good luck and have a nice day!

Best regards,

Richard | PageFly

[bobmac727]

Hi Richard,

Thank you for the detail.  I like the CTA and announcement bar.  I'll have to check on the sticky header as I thought this was turned on.  I knew I need to do some item title and desc clean up for your point and SEO.  The spacing is a quick fix.

I've just added the Judge.me app to the store yesterday and need to set that up to import.  I was a little hung up on with limited purchases, do I import the reviews from Aliexpress (or other providers) vs not doing it?  At this point, I'm a tad late for Valentine's day, however your outline is applicable to any holiday ie.  Easter and Mother's day is coming up.  

Appreciate the input.

Bob

[Ollie · Accepted solution]

Hey @bobmac727.

Thanks for reaching out.

I appreciate that you have provided us with your online store URL for us to explore!

What do you think about adding a slideshow section to the online store homepage as the first section? As this can allow your customers/visitors to learn more about the business and products without having to scroll. For example, you could include your best seller or favorite product. It is a great way to strengthen your brand and make the homepage more personalized and engaging.

You can add Product Reviews to your product pages allowing your customers to share their experience. This can definitely encourage a purchase!

Do you have any social media business accounts for this store? You can connect your online store to the available Sales channels. It is a great way to reach a larger audience and gain traction is to Share your product page on social media.

Let me know what you think.

[bobmac727]

Hi Ollie,

The slideshow section on the homepage is a good idea.  I'm lukewarm about the homepage myself, so that might be a nice change.  I just added Judge.me Friday and need to set up.  I need to do better on social.  I have a FB page but do not do nearly enough to promote on there.  I do not have IG etc.

Appreciate your input.

Bob

[Rayshuggs · Accepted solution]

Hey there @bobmac727 after getting a good look at your store, here are some pieces of advice I’ve for you.

1) Customer testimonials would help greatly. You made mention of this fact that you have made a few sales so you need to use that to your benefit and reach out for some reviews on your product, if you haven’t already done that then add them on your homepage.

2) Social media accounts of the business aren’t provided on the homepage which I think is quite necessary. Having your Tik Tok, Instagram etc accounts on your homepage helps to boost clarity and accessibility 

3) A good way to retain those customers you made those sales to before and to try sway the minds of those who haven’t bought yet is through the use of discounts and rewards for their purchases. For example, those who patronized you already can be rewarded with loyalty discounts to convince them to make their next purchase from your store. I’m doing so, I believe you would find the Seal Subscriptions App very helpful. It would help you to properly assign these discounts to the appropriate customers. If you are unsure of it, it has a free plan and a 30 day free trial period you can check out here https://apps.shopify.com/seal-subscriptions 

[bobmac727]

Hi,

I just added Judge.me yesterday and was suggested by others.  Major gap, pretty easy fix.  Woefully poor on social.  Have a FB page, but not anything else.  Don't leverage the followers on FB I do have either.  Email marketing to optin's is something I've just started doing.  The list is small but need to be consistent on that front even if it's one email per week to say "Hi, I'm still here!".

Appreciate your insight.

Bob