A shop owner launched in September selling books and merchandise but has received zero sales despite driving 90,000+ visitors through a TikTok ad campaign. They recently adjusted margins to offer free shipping and hired a Shopify expert for setup assistance, but conversions remain at zero.
The owner is requesting community feedback on their store (thecuratedshelf.store) to identify why visitors aren’t completing checkout. They’re seeking honest, actionable insights about potential issues preventing sales conversions.
Current Status: Problem unresolved, seeking diagnostic help from the community to understand the disconnect between high traffic and zero purchases.
Summarized with AI on October 24.
AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
I started my shop in September and sell my books and merch that support the story lines. I launched a TikTok ad campaign and drove over 90K people to my site. I am still not getting any sales. I just adjusted the margins on my shops I can offer free shipping.
If anyone is willing to take a look at my shop and give me some ideas why people do not complete the checkout process. I hired a person who said they were a Shopify expert to help me complete the setup of the shop.
Please be brutally honest, I need sales and will do whatever I can afford to fix the issues. Please visit https://thecuratedshelf.store.
Hi Brad, your shop seems great and 90K visitors is huge, at list it shows clearly people are interested. The issue is probably a few friction points in checkout, mobile experience, or trust signals that are stopping conversions.
Free shipping is a good start, but make sure it’s super visible before checkout. Test your site on mobile, simplify the flow, and show reviews or press mentions to build trust.
I help stores like yours pinpoint exactly what’s holding visitors back and fix it to boost sales. Happy to share some actionable ideas or walk through your site if you want.
Hi, thanks for the reply. I just added a Trust badge at checkout so people would fee comfortable checking out. Do I need to pay something like TrustPilot to increase trust? Do you suggest other ways to increase trust?
Very good! it definitely helps people feel safer. You don’t need to pay for TrustPilot or anything like that. Things that really build trust are showing real reviews from your customers, having clear product descriptions, highlighting any press mentions, and making sure your refund or guarantee policy is visible. Even just having a genuine “about” page with your story can make a huge difference.
I want to also advice you to consider looking at rebranding and brand positioning. Your store to be frank doesnt say specifically what you sell or major on especially for first impression. this contributes greatly to new potential customer’s perception of your store and product in general. Do let me know what you think in this regard.
I started my e-commerce to sell books and offer merch that aligns with book series we carry. I hoped to bring people into the store through 2 funnels. 1 - email lists for the types of books we sell (Cozy Mystery, Thriller, History Based Fiction) and (2) fun ads on TikTok highlighting cute cat and patriotic products. This is why I called it The Curated Shelf - curated products that align with the stories we sell. I agree the story may not be coming across so I will have to work on that. Does my explanation make sense?
Maybe because you provide absolutely nothing to the customer. Maybe because you have nothing to offer. Same old dropshipping bs. Same old copyright theft. Same old con artist prices. Look at the same exact design on Amazon for almost 50% cheaper.
To be clear, I purchased the rights to the artwork I am using. As for the price, I use Printify for my dropship and have to cover the shipping. I am looking at trying to reduce the cost of my shirts. I run a publishing company and not a t-shirt business so maybe I need to push the books harder on the landing page. The designer who helped me with my revisions suggested the look and feel for the landing page.
Yeah I agree, if you’re a publishing company then you should look like a publishing company. A page full of shirts and one ebook with no clear idea that you’re even in the book publishing industry, probably not a good way to sell yourself.
You want to sell book theme- associated apparel, you can sell them as a bundled offer. Eg. Harry Potter series with Hermione Mug and Wand.
You want to sell merch alone then have a link to merch in the header, maybe a couple images of book related graphics. But if, like you stated, you’re not in clothing industry. So your homepage doesn’t need to be full of random clothing.
Hello there Brad @bjswede first things first, big ups for the confidence bringing your store here for positive criticism from the community, I have no doubts that you’ll surely improve after this.
Have you considered creating categories for the products in the store? Dividing the products into sections like best sellers, latest arrivals, etc would help improve both the presentation and user experience of your store.
Also, Have you considered making bundles of the products as well? Bundles usually help stores improve their conversion rate especially those in the clothing and gadgets business from my experience. I’ll suggest you check out the one in my profile and maybe give the bundles route a try.
I wish you and your store the best of luck!
Not a landing page, but irregular product grids like screenshot below do not inspire trust.
Links to empty collections, like “Shop”-> “Coffee” or, above all, FAQ(!) do not help either.
Jolly blobs on your homepage product slideshow do not contribute to the serious publisher image…
Finally – we can understand your price structure, however, your potential buyer do not have to do it – they see better price elsewhere (and Amazon has way more credibility on top of price difference) – you lose your sale.
First, test your checkout process thoroughly as a customer to identify any errors or friction. Enable guest checkout and multiple payment options in Admin → Settings → Payments. Add essential policy pages (Returns, Privacy) and contact information to build trust.
For app assists:
Use Hoppy Free Shipping Bar & Upsell to prominently display your free shipping offer and encourage larger orders. Full disclosure: I’m on the team behind Hoppy Free Shipping Bar & Upsell.
Consider Super Trust Badges & Icons to add security badges on product pages and cart for credibility. Full disclosure: I’m on the team behind Super Trust Badges & Icons.
If problems continue, share your theme name and any specific error messages for further help.
Your traffic is interested, but the lack of sales indicates there might be trust or clarity issues. Improve first impression with better product images and clearer story telling and with faster loading. Include social proof, reviews and clearly defined value propositions. Simplify the navigation and the checkout. Try retargeting TikTok ads to bring back those who came but didn’t convert.
Your explanation does make sense buddy. There seems to be a lot of work to do, from streamlining your niche to getting your branding right and reorganizing your business altogether. Do let me know whats going well at the moment. im very much here to help you just in case. well done!
