Together with Shopify Plus We created this ebook about shop optimization. You can read an excerpt here...
You can download the ebook for free here.
The plateau
Does this situation sound familiar to you: Your e-commerce business is seeing a continuous influx of customers and sales are also constantly increasing — but then there is a sudden standstill.
This so-called growth platform is a well-known phenomenon among e-commerce brands, regardless of the business sector.
If you and your company are currently in this phase, we can reassure you: With the right approach and shop optimization, you can successfully get your brand out of the plateau.
In cooperation with Shopify Plus, Greenblut's growth experts will show you how to counteract the temporary standstill, optimize your conversion and reach the next phase of growth with your business.
As a holistic solution for e-commerce companies, Shopify Plus has established itself as the leading shop system in online retail. This resulted in what is known as Shopify Marketing — the harmonious interplay between sophisticated marketing strategy and powerful marketing technology. Learn how to tailor these aspects individually and effectively to your business in three steps.
Find your way out of the growth platform with Shopify Plus...
- Will you be able to develop a plan and implement it with suitable tools and apps.
- Can you get started with Shopify Plus
- Learn how to utilize the full potential of Shopify Plus...
- Are you reaching the next level of growth with your e-commerce business.
Whether you're active in the B2C or B2B sector, whether you offer fashion, lifestyle products or beauty items — you can tailor our 3-step guide to sustained growth through targeted Shopify marketing to your business.
Shop optimization: Overcoming the growth plateau in online retail in three steps
An inadequate shop system is the most common reason for stagnating growth in e-commerce. Special software is essential when selling your products over the Internet and is available in numerous versions. But not all of these systems are scalable, which has a negative impact on the development of your business. Here's how you can tell that your e-commerce solution is hampering your growth:
Is your shop running slowly or “not smoothly”?
Do you feel that the performance of your shop software no longer matches the size of your business?
The conversion rate of your shop is falling despite conversion optimization
Does your team feel limited in their work rather than supported by your shop's e-commerce solution?
Is your shop weak even though market conditions are optimal?
If you answered “yes” to at least one of the above questions, it is time for you and your team to take action.
We provide you with our 3-step guide to reliable e-commerce growth. For each section, we will present you with the necessary marketing measures and the tools needed to implement them. The strategy comes from our pen and is based on our expertise as a Shopify partner agency. For technological implementation, we refer to the relevant features of Shopify Plus.
Shopify Plus Marketing Made Easy — Foundation, Convert, Scale
The good news first: Sustainable growth in e-commerce doesn't have to be time-consuming or expensive. At least if you use the right tools for online shop optimization. Shopify Plus is not very popular in this area for nothing, because since it was founded in 2006, the software has developed into an extensive shop ecosystem for online retail. For this reason, Shopify — more specifically Shopify Plus — is an integral part of the growth strategy we've created.
It is important that you complete the following steps in order and do not skip any phase. Only when there is a solid basis (foundation) and you have set the course for attracting visitors to the shop and then paying customers (conversion) can your e-commerce business grow (scale).
Foundation
This first step is about the basics as an important factor for online shops. It is important to set up a solid framework for the positive development of your brand. The growth effect can only be achieved when this is in place. You should therefore be conscientious during this phase.
The strategic steps
First, it is your task to set the business goals of your business and to ensure that they can be measured.
Define your company's goals
Where should the journey go? You will discuss this basic question as part of the goal definition. A typical growth target is to increase sales figures. But increasing subscribers on social networks or expanding the number of visitors to the online shop are also useful projects. Formulate the target state as precisely as possible to avoid ambiguities when measuring success.
Example: The goal is to increase sales.
Better: The goal is to increase sales of 20% for product XY within the next three months. Better: increase the% share for returning customers by 15%
Your business goals serve as a starting point for your marketing strategy. Identifying them precisely will help you stay the course and develop a coherent growth concept.
Determine individual KPIs
Performance indicators — including key performance indicators (KPIs) — are an important factor for evaluating the success of your strategy. You set a specific value to your growth goals, which you continuously compare with the status quo. This tells you whether you're on the right track to inspire potential customers, or whether there is a need for optimization.
Enable tracking of relevant data
Insights into the behavior of your potential and existing customers are valuable to the success of your e-commerce business. You obtain the relevant data by evaluating the digital traces of your customers — also known as tracking. Through which channel did visitors end up in your online shop and how long do they stay there? Questions that you'll get an answer to using tracking.
The data allows you to refine your strategy and tailor it even more precisely to the needs of your target group. They are therefore essential for compiling a well-founded, target group-oriented catalogue of measures.
Greenblut tip
In order to enable and understand growth, the right tracking and analysis tools are essential first. Without data, it is difficult to draw conclusions and assess measures. Shopify Plus not only offers advanced reports within the backend and expanded segmentation functions, but can also be extended to include external analysis tools. Here, it is not only worthwhile to cover standards such as Google Analytics, but also to gain deeper insights into user behavior with tools such as Hotjar or Microsoft Clarity.
The technological requirements
Your goals have been set and the KPIs have been determined — now it is important that you also pay attention to the technical side of your shop and optimize it.
Short loading times
When the number of visitors — your shop's traffic — increases, this places high demands on the performance of your software. Shopify Plus works with unlimited bandwidth, cloud-based infrastructure, and global servers. This keeps loading times low in your store even when the frequency is high. A big advantage, because a smoothly running online shop increases usability and gives your customers a smooth shopping experience.
Comprehensive reporting
Key figures are the vital signs of your online shop and should be checked by you repeatedly. Shopify Plus provides you with all relevant data in reports, which are sorted by topic. Whether it's a marketing report, a sales report or a profit report — the statistics form the basis for calculating key figures and comparing them with your KPIs.
Shopify Plus automatic updates
As digital systems, all e-commerce solutions require regular updates to ensure functionality and security in the online shop. Shopify Plus automatically feeds this in for all shop operators, so that your software is always up to date.
Conversion
The foundations of your store are in place and visitors can come. The second step is now to convert this into paying customers. To do this, you should optimize the areas of your online store that affect the conversion rate.
The strategic steps
How you address your customers and how they feel about visiting your store is reflected in the conversion rate — keyword: customer experience.
Ensure segmentation and automation
Nowadays, blanket advertising statements and unspecific messages are no longer enough to stand out from the mass of e-commerce brands. You can only set yourself apart from your competition if you address your customers with personalized content. To do this, it's helpful to segment your target group according to specific criteria.
Automating your marketing efforts is just as important, because growth goes hand in hand with an increasing workload. By automating repetitive tasks, you free up your marketing, sales and service team—without negatively impacting the customer experience.
Allow a smooth check-out at your store
Hardly any other point in the customer experience is as decisive for conversion as the check-out. If the look or process raises doubts among your customers, the jump is very likely. Optimizing this area should therefore be an integral part of your strategy. The aim is to make completing a purchase in your online shop a pleasant experience for your customers.
Mastering the omnichannel approach
To ensure that your business grows continuously, you should address your customers in their preferred channels. Depending on the business sector, this can include multiple platforms. In addition to reaching out, it is essential that there is a seamless connection between the respective channel and your shop. If your customers land directly on the product page on social networks with just one click and can buy the advertised item, this is an ideal prerequisite for a high conversion rate.
Holistic system for high conversion
For the strategic orientation of your marketing measures, it is important that all of your systems are coordinated with each other. Only if your customers are directed to a purchase via different customer touchpoints is a conversion from interested to paying customers likely.
Greenblut tip
Shopify Plus is characterized not only by the integrated functions, but above all by the ability to expand the existing system as required. It's hard to imagine us without some of these apps and extensions. Klaviyo serves as a central hub for all customer touchpoints and makes it possible to use this data to better understand customers and send the right messages at the right time. With Gorgias Customer service at scale can be implemented effortlessly and integrated directly into the Shopify system. Tools such as Reviews.io expand the shop to include review and UGC platforms, while others offer opportunities for loyalty programs, subscriptions or personalized product recommendations in the shop.
Did you like the excerpt? Here you can download the complete ebook free of charge
