Many E-Commerce brands assume they need more traffic (through SEO, paid ads, and social media marketing), but often, they just need to fix the leaks. Attracting visitors to a website is only half the battle. The real challenge is converting those visitors into paying customers. This is where Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) comes in—a data-driven strategy that enhances user experience and encourages potential buyers to take action. According to industry reports, the average e-commerce conversion rate is

• 3.4% North America 
• 3.2% Europe 

This means that for every 100 visitors, only 3 or 4 will complete a purchase. Improving this metric, even slightly, can lead to significant revenue growth without increasing marketing spending.

This article is not just about theory. It’s a practical guide that will explore what CRO is, why it’s critical for E-Commerce success, highlight key strategies, and provide actionable insights. explores what CRO is, why it’s critical for E-Commerce success, highlights key strategies, and provides

Key Strategies for Effective CRO

Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) focuses on designing websites to be clear, functional, and user-friendly. This allows users to achieve the goals of conversion that you want to meet, as well as those they desire. The key advantage of user-centric CRO is that it benefits both parties: when users convert, you are pleased with the outcome, and customers enjoy a positive experience. Here are key strategies for its optimisation:

Enhance Website Navigation and Mobile Experience

A well-structured website facilitates easy product discovery and seamless purchasing. 

Businesses should:

•   Use clear categories and filters to simplify product searches.
•   Ensure fast loading times (less than 2 seconds).
•   Optimise for mobile, as mobile traffic accounts for over 73% of e-commerce visits.

Optimise Checkout and Reduce Cart Abandonment

Cart abandonment is a major issue, with rates reaching 71.3% on average and up to 77.2% on mobile. 

To reduce abandonment:

• Offer guest checkout options to avoid forced account creation.
• Minimise form fields – only ask for essential information.
• Provide multiple secure payment options.
• Show shipping costs early to prevent last-minute surprises.

Leverage A/B Testing

A/B testing (split testing) compares different versions of a webpage, product description, or CTA to determine which performs better. 

Businesses can test:

• Button colours, text, and placement for CTAs (e.g., “Buy Now” vs. “Add to Cart”).
• Product descriptions and images.
• Different discount offers (e.g., percentage vs. fixed amount off).

Personalisation and AI-Powered Recommendations

Businesses can:

• Suggest products based on browsing history and past purchases.
• Send personalised email offers and reminders.
• Display targeted pop-ups for discounts when users show exit intent.

Use Social Proof and Trust Signals

Customers trust peer reviews more than marketing claims. To build credibility:

• Display customer reviews and testimonials prominently.
• Add trust badges for secure payments and return policies.
• Use influencer or customer-generated content to showcase real-life product usage.

Enhance Pricing and Offer Strategies

You can try:

• Experiment with limited-time offers and scarcity tactics (e.g., “Only 5 left in stock!”).
• Offer free shipping thresholds (e.g., “Free shipping on orders over $50”).
• Test different pricing structures to see what resonates best with customers.

The Benefits You Get With Conversion Rate Optimisation

Maximising ROI from Marketing Efforts

CRO ensures that more visitors take the desired action, increasing the return on investment (ROI) from marketing efforts.

Reducing Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC)

Businesses can increase revenue without having to spend more on customer acquisition. A higher conversion rate means that the same number of visitors results in more sales.

Enhancing User Experience (UX) and Customer Satisfaction

A smooth, easy, intuitive shopping experience is essential for keeping customers engaged. Slow-loading pages, complicated checkout processes, and poor mobile optimisation can deter users. 

Increasing Revenue Without Increasing Traffic

If an e-commerce store receives 50,000 monthly visitors and has a 2% conversion rate, it will generate 1,000 sales. By increasing the conversion rate to 3% (+1%), sales will rise to 1,500 – a 50% increase in revenue without any additional traffic costs.

2025 Trends in CRO for E-commerce 

User Experience That Converts

Maximise performance where most traffic happens. Improve steps before purchase (signups, saves). Optimise the full journey, not just the endpoint. One-click checkouts, Lightning-fast load times, and Mobile-first UX.

AI and Machine Learning

AI will continue to enhance personalisation, dynamically adjusting pricing and recommendations based on user behaviour.

Voice and Visual Search Optimisation

With the rise of smart assistants (Alexa, Google Assistant) and image-based search tools (Google Lens, Pinterest Lens), businesses will need to adapt their CRO tactics for voice and visual commerce.

Augmented Reality (AR) Shopping

More brands are integrating AR features that allow customers to visualise products before purchasing, improving confidence and reducing return rates.  

Sustainability and Ethical Shopping Influence

Increasingly, consumers prefer brands that align with their values. Highlighting sustainability initiatives can positively impact conversion rates.

Summarize

Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) is a necessity for E-Commerce success. Businesses can significantly increase sales and customer satisfaction without spending more on traffic acquisition by focusing on improving website usability, refining checkout processes, personalising experiences, and leveraging data-driven testing.

Investing in CRO is an innovative, cost-effective way to boost revenue while delivering a superior shopping experience that keeps customers coming back. Whether you’re a small E-Commerce startup or a large online retailer, optimising your conversion rates will ensure you stay competitive in the ever-evolving digital marketplace.

In this article, we are going to highlight why customer reviews are so crucial for success, explore the Top 5 review management mistakes and offer practical advice on handling them effectively.

Why Are Customer Reviews So Crucial for Businesses?

Positive reviews can be the deciding factor for a purchase/cooperation, just as negative reviews can permanently damage a brand’s reputation and force customers to go to your competitors.

1. Building Trust and Credibility

Trust is one of the most significant factors influencing purchasing decisions. When people shop online or order services, they can’t touch or try them, so they rely heavily on what others have said. Positive reviews act as social proof, assuring potential customers that others have had a good experience with your products or services.  

For new or smaller businesses, gaining that initial trust can be challenging. In these cases, customer reviews are even more vital. If visitors see that others have bought and enjoyed your products, they’re much more likely to do it themselves. Simply put, a handful of positive reviews can significantly increase conversions.

2. Influencing Purchase Decisions

Online shoppers tend to look for reviews before making a purchase, especially for higher-priced items or new products/services they have yet to try. Reviews provide valuable insights into product quality, customer service, and delivery times, giving shoppers the information they need to make an informed decision. According to research, over 90% of customers read reviews before buying something online, making them one of the most important factors in driving sales.

3. Impact of customer reviews on SEO

Reviews also have a direct impact on your website’s visibility. Search engines like Google favour websites with fresh and relevant content, and customer reviews can provide just that. Regularly updated reviews can help improve your search engine ranking, driving more traffic to your site. Moreover, reviews on external sites like Google My Business, Yelp, Clutch or Trustpilot can boost your presence on local searches, making it easier for customers to find you.

4. Improving Products and Services

Customer reviews provide direct and honest feedback about your products or services. Negative reviews, while sometimes hard to accept, can be extremely valuable. They highlight areas where you can improve and allow you to address issues. For example, if several customers complain about slow shipping times, this signals that it’s time to improve your logistics or communication. By taking action based on customer feedback, you not only improve your business but also show customers that their opinions matter.

5. Building Brand Loyalty and Engagement

Engaging with positive or negative reviews shows your customers that you value their opinions. Replying to reviews, thanking customers for feedback, and addressing concerns helps build a strong relationship with your audience. Customers who feel heard and appreciated are more likely to become loyal and recommend your brand to others.

In addition to building brand trust and influencing potential customers’ purchasing decisions, reviews help:

• Understand what attracts customers;
• Improve customer and post-purchase experience;
• Develop your company products/services;
• Prevent future customer disappointments;
• Improve customer service.

Here Are the Top 5 Of The Most Common Review Management Mistakes And How To Avoid Them

1. Ignoring negative reviews

Any negativity can be turned into an excellent case and an unsatisfied customer into a loyal one. Not responding to customer complaints can lead to a loss of trust in the brand. Responding to each negative review is vital because it shows you are willing to resolve issues and care about your clients.

2. Delete reviews without a valid reason

It may seem tempting to remove critical reviews, but this can only increase the negativity, especially if customers realize that their reviews are disappearing. It is better to react professionally and find ways to solve the problem.

3. Respond emotionally or unprofessionally

Even if the feedback is unfounded, aggressive or fake, it is crucial to remain calm and polite in your response. Emotional reactions will damage your reputation.

4. Provide standard answers

Using the same templates for all reviews can give the impression that the company does not care about its customers. Try to personalize the answers, address customers by name, and move away from template answers.

5. Make excuses without offering a solution

In response to negative reviews, it is important not only to make excuses, but also to offer concrete steps to solve the problem. This shows readiness for dialogue and a professional approach. Sometimes, it is necessary to investigate the reason for the negativity in more detail and then ask for forgiveness.

Ask customers to update negative reviews. After resolving a problem or responding to a customer complaint, politely ask them to update their review, taking into account all aspects of your last interaction.

How to Handle Customer Reviews Effectively

Now that we know how crucial reviews are and how to prevent mistakes, so let’s explore how to deal with them to benefit both you and your customers:

1. Encourage More Reviews

Actively encouraging your customers to leave reviews is the first step to building a strong online reputation. You can do this by sending follow-up emails after a purchase, asking customers for feedback, or offering small incentives like discounts or loyalty points for leaving a review. Additionally, make it easy for customers to leave reviews by placing a clear and simple feedback option on your website or product pages.

2. Always Respond to Reviews – Both Good and Bad

Responding to reviews is critical to showing your customers that you care about their opinions. For positive reviews, a simple “thank you” can go a long way in building customer loyalty. However, it’s the negative reviews that require more attention. Respond professionally and offer a solution instead of ignoring them or getting defensive. It shows potential buyers that you’re proactive in handling issues.

3. Showcase Positive Reviews

Make the most of positive reviews by showcasing them on your website, social media channels, and marketing materials. For example, you could feature a “Customer Testimonials” section on your homepage or highlight specific product reviews under each item. If you receive particularly glowing reviews, consider turning them into case studies or success stories.

4. Monitor and Analyze Feedback Regularly

Regularly monitoring your reviews helps you stay on top of customer sentiment. Use feedback analysis tools to spot trends, identify recurring issues, and track changes in customer satisfaction over time. This data can be valuable for making informed business decisions, improving customer experience, and driving overall growth.

You can find more advice for e-commerce businesses in our Blog – How to Collect Customer Reviews for Your eCommerce Business.

How a Web Development Agency Can Help You Manage Customer Reviews

Managing customer reviews and feedback can be overwhelming for business owners, especially if you have to work on core business tasks. A seasoned web development agency can provide valuable services to streamline the process and ensure you maximise customer feedback’s benefits.

Here’s how:

1. Integrating Review Systems

Integrating advanced review systems directly into your website makes it easy for customers to leave reviews and for you to manage them. For example, agencies can implement tools like Trustpilot, Yotpo, or Google Reviews that allow customers to leave feedback seamlessly while providing you with a user-friendly dashboard to monitor and analyse reviews.

2. Automating Feedback Requests

Setting up automated email sequences or in-app prompts that encourage customers to leave reviews immediately. By automating the process, you can ensure that you regularly receive fresh feedback without manually sending out requests.

3. Improving User Experience to Encourage Reviews

Often, the number of reviews you receive is tied to how easy it is for customers to leave feedback. A web agency can enhance the user experience (UX) by simplifying review submission processes, optimising mobile responsiveness, and ensuring the feedback form is accessible and user-friendly. The easier it is to leave a review, the more likely customers will do so.

4. Social Listening and Review Monitoring

Social listening services help you monitor customer feedback across various platforms like social media, review sites, and forums. By tracking mentions of your brand and products, you can stay ahead of public sentiment and respond promptly to feedback, further boosting your reputation.

5. Review Management Strategy

Finally, a web agency can help create a comprehensive review management strategy. This includes setting up automated alerts for new reviews, training your team on responding to different types of feedback and providing regular reports on review performance. A structured approach to managing reviews ensures you maximise customer feedback’s value.

To Sum-up

Customer reviews are more than just comments about your products or company – they’re a powerful tool influencing trust, SEO, and sales. Businesses that actively manage their reviews are better positioned to build credibility, attract more customers, and improve their offerings. By cooperating with an experienced web development agency, you can streamline the process of collecting, managing, and leveraging customer reviews, ensuring your business gets the most value out of this critical form of feedback.

Many companies have fascinating creation stories and marketing strategies. We have selected three of our favorite stories to inspire you to make your dreams come true. Everyone knows the success stories of companies such as Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon. Still, we would like to share the success stories of Dollar Shave Club, Beardbrand, and Ipsy.

Of course, eCommerce is growing and changing rapidly. It’s impossible to repeat someone’s existing story, but getting some inspiration is always good.

Beardbrand — From Hobby to Large Business

Beardbrand is a company focusing on personal care products, namely beard, mustache, hair care, styling products, and skincare.

The history of this brand began with Eric Bandholz, an employee of Merrill Lynch. Eric did not share the company’s “no facial hair”. The position was a matter of principle, so he decided to leave his job and do what he genuinely liked. He started blogging on beard care.

Just this year, the cult of the beard began to gain popularity. The blog grew and gained momentum, so it was impossible to stop there. Eric decided to participate in the Startup Weekend competition. His idea was a TV show featuring a bearded host who would look for famous — outstanding — beards from around the world. The idea did not win, but it resulted in Eric meeting Jeremy McGee and Lindsey Reynders, who became excellent supportive colleagues..

After a year of blogging, the New York Times approached Eric for an interview about beard care products. The entrepreneur couldn’t miss this opportunity and launched his store before publishing the article. Bandholz contacted his friends from the competition, McGee, and Reynders. This team, relying on the commitment of suppliers and $30, opened their store the day before the publication.

Eric took over the company’s marketing and became the brand’s face, Lindsey oversaw purchasing, and Jeremy took over the strategic development. The company resold goods from other brands. Eventually, the team decided on the requirements and quality of the merchandise they wanted to see in their production and launched their products. Every month sales grew, and the company developed.

The company advertises on social networks and streaming platforms and communicates with customers. A distinctive feature of the brand is that the partners built a whole community around their products and did not just sell them. They help men feel confident, teaching them to use their products and take proper care of themselves.

The story turned from an ordinary blog into a successful business. The main thing is to create your ideal website quickly and find reliable partners. It is also vital to earn customer loyalty and understand “why” your business exists and how your business can help your customers.

Dollar Shave Club — From Comedy to Large Business

Dollar Shave Club is one of the market leaders in selling men’s razors in the United States, and the company is second only to Gillette.

The Dollar Shave Club offers a solution for many men to make their lives easier and rob them of their monthly trips to the store for new razors. Dollar Shave Club offers a monthly delivery of new razors and blades for $1 per month—hence the name. The main idea of ??this business is to provide an alternative to the monopolist Gillette at a reasonable price.

The story began when Michael Dubin, a marketing and advertising manager in New York, inadvertently stumble on a man selling a warehouse of leftover razor blades while talking with his friend Mark Levine. As a professional, Michael saw the potential in this business and developed a rough business plan: selling razors by mail to men at a lower price. This plan’s main advantage was closing customers’ pain, namely the obligatory visit to the store.

The very next week, he launched his website, dolareshaveclub.com. As a professional, Michael understood how to compete with the giants, so changing the advertising approach was necessary. Given his love of humor, Dubin decided to shoot a comedy commercial for the Dollar Shave Club.

The Dollar Shave Club released a video announcing itself to the world. The difference was that the video was completely different.

We highly recommend watching this video if you haven’t seen it yet. This video has become the voice of the brand.

You see a brief video, but offers, benefits, and comedy are also apparent. By the way, Michael also managed to make fun of competitors in this short video. Such an advertising line continued in the future.

Michael Dubin financed the commercial with his savings. With his professionalism, understanding of advertising trends, comic skills, and the right choice of platforms, the commercial went viral and received 12,000 orders on the first day. The video now has over 28 million views on YouTube.

Today, Dollar Shave Club delivers more than 70 million razors annually. Video clips are still the primary type of advertising and communication with the client. Of course, now the company sells a variety of razors, trimmers, cosmetic products, and more, and the subscription costs more. However, the price is still very adequate, and everyone can afford it.

Mafia | Dollar Shave Club

Above is one of the latest Dollar Shave Club commercials. The story and quality of the video are very different, but the voice of the brand and the story remain to this day.

Thus, a huge business resulted from one idea and video clip. The primary advice of this story is to believe in your vision, choose a suitable method of communication, and find your customers.

Ipsy — From Vlogging to Big Business

Ipsy is a subscription cosmetics delivery service. Every month, customers receive a set of cosmetics selected especially for them.

The history of this brand began with Michelle Phan, who started her career as a YouTuber in 2007. While a YouTuber, Michelle was engaged in her beauty blog. Beauty blogs, makeovers, makeup tutorials, and secrets have gained wild popularity this year. Her channel has gained more than 1 million subscribers thanks to Michelle’s quality and trending content.

Maintaining constant contact with her audience, Michelle noticed that people constantly ask for the best cosmetics, especially for them. Hence, the idea for a business came up.

Together with Camberos and Goldfarb, Phan launched her first business called MyGlam in 2011. The company oversaw sending a monthly “Glam Bag” with samples of cosmetic products suitable to customers. A year later, MyGlam was renamed Ipsy.

The business gained momentum every year more and more; thanks to a large audience on YouTube and word-of-mouth advertising, the company became profitable almost immediately.

The company grows and develops to this day and offers three different subscriptions. It also sells products of its production, collaborates with many bloggers and stylists who help the development of the brand, and are its brand advocates.

The advice to take away from this success story is the importance of finding your audience and understanding what they need. A pre-prepared audience will help you sell your products and immediately become informal ambassadors of your brand.

The lockdown is still taking its toll, and consumers need to watch live streams of unboxings or product reviews before buying. This eCommerce trend is only one that will be even more influential in the future.

To keep up with competitors and be at the center of customers’ attention, you should always keep an eye on eCommerce trends that can affect your company’s success. By following this rule, sellers will be able to prosper both this year and in the future. Only by following all the new trends can you easily anticipate customer needs, identify competitors, explore new opportunities and always be up to date.

We’ve compiled a list of eCommerce trends for 2023 to help you and your business leverage your online presence for profit.

Omnichannel Shopping Experience

As we mentioned at the beginning of the article, buyers accustomed to online shopping after the COVID-19 period are now paying special attention to their online purchases. Almost 75% of customers browse several distribution channels before purchasing to research and ensure they get the best value for their money. Shoppers want to be able to conduct online research even if they are already in the store and looking at the product.

Solution: Consider this factor and prepare all your channels so that customers get a smooth transition between them, with each channel continuing the previous one. Allow your customers to buy a product on any of your channels and provide relevant descriptions and data specific to each channel. Shoppers can browse social media, check the price and return information on your website, and finally purchase in the store or through any channel they choose.

Mobile Shopping

We’ve already talked about the omnichannel experience trend, which means that mobile shopping is also becoming more popular than ever. According to Tidio, mobile devices account for 41.6% of eCommerce sales, nearly half of all online sales.

Solution: You need a responsive website that customers can use regardless of their shopping device. If you have a lot of loyal customers and high sales volumes, you can create your application for mobile devices. If you need help, our team will quickly adapt your site for any device and speed up and optimize.

Customer Personalization

The next trend is personalized experience; customers now expect individualized offers based on data collected from their accounts.

Solution: If customers are willing to share data with you, take advantage of it and personalize the experience. With your data, you can create personalized offers for your customers and show them that you value the information they share.

Social Commerce

With the advent of the omnichannel shopping experience, brands have begun to use social media for more than just brand awareness and customer acquisition. Sales through social networks have become a new trend for businesses, meaning customers can place an order directly on social media platforms. These social networks are Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Pinterest, and Twitter.

Solution: If you still need to jump on the social commerce trend, now is the time to start thinking. Analyze your audience and choose the right and appropriate sales channel for your audience. However, do not make a store out of social networks, dilute the page with helpful content, find influencers, constantly communicate with your audience, and analyze actions.

Subscription Trading

A new and popular trend is subscription sales. This method allows customers to make monthly/weekly purchases without thinking and spending time on them. As a business, this is a way to retain customers in the long run. 35% of shoppers use digital subscriptions, and this trend is set to go up by KEARNEY.

Solution: If you have a business that can launch such a service and it can be in demand, take this chance. Analyze the purchase history; if you have customers who make such purchases, take advantage of this, and make their life easier.

Buy Online, Pick Up in Store

Buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) is still one of the most popular and current shopping models. This model combines the best in online shopping and fast ordering without long delivery and additional delivery costs and at a convenient time for the buyer. According to Fit Small Business, 70% of BOPIS customers improve their shopping experience.

Solution: If you have a physical store and many local customers, take advantage of the opportunity to offer customers a click-to-collect service that will help promote an omnichannel experience, better manage customer experience, sell additional products, and process returns efficiently.

Customer Service

Customers appreciate the opportunity to receive support from the store at any time. This support applies both before and after the purchase. Most importantly, the support is prompt and effective in solving problems.

Solution: New technologies offer great business opportunities. Chatbots can answer most questions from customers. According to HubSpot, 89% of consumers are more likely to make another purchase after a positive customer experience, so remember to pay attention to customer service.

Here are some chatbot concepts:

• Remembers essential details about buyer’s previous orders eliminating the need for customers to re-enter information
• Provides answers to inquiries about goods or services
• Offers excellent customer service
• Interacts with clients
• Makes  customer support available 24/7
• Expands worldwide at no additional cost

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI is an excellent opportunity for businesses to offer an improved customer experience. With the help of AI, companies will be able to create personalized content and recommendations. AI will help you improve marketing campaigns, personalize the customer experience, and predict buying behavior based on a user’s browsing history and online searches.

Solution: Take advantage of AI technology and provide customers with these individual product recommendations; this approach will provide you with many cross- or up-sells.

Voice Search

Every year more people use smart speakers to get things done. According to Insider, more than 33% of US residents use smart speakers like Amazon Alexa and Google Home and mobile services like Siri and Cortana. According to Think with Google, the data shows that 72% of smart speaker owners use them daily. Most also use them to create shopping lists, order groceries, perform other household tasks, and surf the web.

Solution: Optimize your store for 1) keywords, 2) content related to voice searches performed on these devices, 3) conversational keywords, 4) question-type keywords, and 5) natural language. Your customers will likely use voice search to get an answer to a question. Pay attention to this fact and build content that will answer questions about your products that your consumers will ask through voice search.

Additional Payment Options at Checkout

Omnichannel sales channels, mobile sales, and social commerce give the understanding that customers want to use convenient and fast payment methods. Providing businesses with simplified checkout or payment methods will help reduce cart abandonment.

Solution: Offer your customers the opportunity to pay for purchases through leading digital wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal.

In addition to digital wallets, there are many payment methods.

• Digital Wallets — PayPal, Google Pay, Amazon Pay, Apple Pay
• Cards — Visa, Mastercard, Maestro
• Buy now, pay later — Klarna, Walley, AfterPay, and PayPal Pay in 4
• Online banking

Analyze what payment methods are popular in your country and what payment methods your customers use. Consider these results, and give customers the freedom to choose.

Customers Have Less Patience Due to Shipping Delays

The new trend of the year is the transparency of order fulfillment. It is essential for customers to deliver their goods on time and understand where their package is and how long it will take to be delivered. Providing this information is a crucial part of your after-sales service.

According to FedEx, 70% of consumers say they are less likely to buy from a retailer again if delivery is delayed and the retailer does not inform them. This statistic means that this condition is vital for obtaining repeat orders.

Solution: Offer customers transparency in delivery times, give accurate estimates before placing an order, keep customers informed of progress and delivery delays, and enable customers to track their orders.

That’s why developing the correct holiday marketing strategy is essential. To help you make the most of the holiday season, we’ve put together a few tips on creating a special place in the hearts of your customers. Make just a few changes and add some categories and holiday collections, and these steps will help your store get the most out of the holidays in no time.

Take advantage of every opportunity to develop your business and make it customer-oriented and loyal to customers. We have prepared a list of tips for preparing your store for the holidays.

But first, let’s figure out who the holiday buyers are, the purchase statistics and why this period is so critical.

The holiday period accounts for 91% of consumers who plan to spend during the winter holidays, meaning they plan to buy gifts.

We would like to share with you a few statistics that drive the holiday audience:

• 55% of consumers love and enjoy holiday shopping.
• At least 50% of consumers are happy to change stores if they find a better deal.
• About 91% of consumers lied about buying at the last minute.
• Roughly 30% of consumers admit to making urgent holiday purchases a week or two in advance, and 7% even made holiday purchases on the day of the holiday.
• About 50% of consumers prefer gift cards as gifts.

Now that you understand shopping behavior, it will be easier to figure out how to prepare your site for the holiday season.

We suggest analyzing previous marketing campaigns at the very beginning, but this is in case you have them.

Audit of Previous Marketing Campaigns

By examining the statistics of past seasons, you will be able to understand which decisions were successful, which did not work, and which decisions need to be improved. But most importantly, you will be able to determine what products were in demand, how the client moved around the site, and who this client was. This knowledge will help you create the perfect advertising campaign.

Personalize Your Website

Personalization is one of the essential elements for attracting a store of potential customers. Only by creating an attractive, well-designed landing page with reasonable offers will your store succeed.

Once the landing pages are ready, it’s time to move on to personalization.

We have prepared a few tips that would help improve the personalization of content on your site:

• Analyze the needs of your customers and make proposals based on this
• Add “Recently Viewed Products” and “Abandoned Cart” features, and don’t forget to personalize your customer experience
• Use call-to-action buttons that are equally well-optimized for any device

Create Holiday Collections

Make life easier for your customers by creating special categories and collections. Try grouping products into groups such as “Gifts for Her”, “Gifts for Him”, and “Holiday Dresses”. Such a simple move will quickly help you improve your sales.

Offer Digital Gift Cards

From statistics, we know that 50% of consumers prefer to receive a store gift card. 30% of buyers make purchases at the last minute, which means that customers do not always have time to order goods so that they can be delivered on time. This lack of delivery time means a digital gift card will be ideal. Try posting them prominently, promoting them on social media, and offering discounts on their purchase.

Offer Time Suggestions

Special temporary pre-holiday offers. For example, you can include everyone’s favorite Advent calendars with your products. Alternatively, you can e-mail the Advent calendar when a brand sends a discount/new request daily.

Add Gift Wrap as a Product

Offer the client a solution that will facilitate the preparation of the gift. Most importantly, remember to report such an offer.

Run a Raffle

Invite your customers to participate in the drawing. You can ask the participants to share their feedback, impressions, or information. Thus, you can please your customers and get important information for yourself.

Add a Holiday to the Announcement Panel

Your panel must scream your best deals, lure customers, and make upsells. Specify your special offers, such as express delivery or gift guide.

Add Last-Minute Delivery

If you have a lot of local shoppers, add a helpful service for last-minute gift givers or offer same-day pickup.

Hold a Holiday Sale In-Store for Regular Customers

Stay open late for your loyal local customers and invite them into your store for an exclusive event with food, music, and sales.

Appeal to the Emotions of the Buyer

Add emotions to your marketing, and let your buyers distinguish your company from others. For example, shoot an inspiring, inspirational ad or tell your company traditions to evoke strong feelings.

Offer Free Shipping and Easy Returns

Every store will try its best to sell its products during the holidays, and you will have many competitors. Free shipping and easy returns will help you lure customers to your store and increase sales. Studies sometimes show that offering free shipping increases your conversion by 50%. Suppose free shipping is too expensive for you. In that case, you can submit it when the customer spends a certain amount, which will also help increase the total check of the order. Also, remember to report an easy return of goods.

Find Yourself Partners — Influencers

Try to attract famous people to advertise. Consumers like to buy products similar to people they admire, and these people can help sell more products and find new buyers. Influencer partnerships also create hype for your brand, as influencers tend to post many of their social feeds in advance.

The development of global trading platforms allows anyone from anywhere in the world to buy and organize their store in a few clicks to sell goods both on the domestic and foreign markets. The low threshold for entering the e-commerce industry leads to increased competition, which means that players in the market need to differ in terms of price, quality, and reviews.

When discussing eCommerce packaging design for a marketplace, it is essential to consider where precisely the product will be placed.

Large marketplaces usually deliver orders in their eCommerce packaging boxes, where the order is hidden behind corrugated cardboard with marketplace branding elements.

For small trading platforms or personal online stores, a unique user experience from interacting with a box that the manufacturer sends directly, bypassing global marketplaces, becomes relevant. For such manufacturers and sellers, it is necessary to pay attention to the product itself and the box in which it will be delivered to the buyer. If you can offer a unique “unboxing experience”, the customer will want to return to that product and experience that situation again. Equally important is the box’s contents because through letters, inserts, wrapping paper, stickers, and other elements, you communicate with your client.

In this article, we will tell you what the trends in e?ommerce packaging design are and what trends are currently relevant in the eCommerce market.

What Is eCommerce Packaging?

eCommerce packaging means a combination of your actions in protecting your product for shipping, managing shipping costs, branding, and promotional purposes.

Bright and memorable packaging can help increase brand loyalty and profitability, improve the impression your products make on your customers, and, most critically, set you apart from the competition. And since competition in the markets is more important now than ever, developing impressive packaging is essential.

Most Popular eCommerce Packaging Types

eCommerce packaging GoPro is the most popular type of packaging, and the main advantages are the possibility of secondary packaging, strength, and lightweight. We can say that a corrugated box is an ordinary cardboard box, only with a small additional layer so that everything inside is additionally protected from shock, moisture, and temperature changes.

Padded mailers are envelopes with additional protection inside (paper or bubble wrap); such packaging helps safely and accurately transport fragile goods. One of the main disadvantages is that the extra protection can add to the cost and be less environmentally friendly.

Bags and Envelopes: Mostly PE mail bags or plastic mail bags, great for sending small and light items that don’t need much extra protection. This option is excellent for clothes.

Individual product packaging is stylized packaging (box, bag, tape, or filler with your brand logo on it or inside it) specifically for your product, business, and brand. eCommerce custom packaging will help you present your brand perfectly and optimize your delivery.

Essential Aspects of eCommerce Packaging

eCommerce packaging has impressive graphics, a striking presentation, and adequate protection of what’s inside.

Here are a few things to consider when choosing eCommerce packaging solutions for your business:

High-Quality eCommerce Packaging

If you are planning to use a courier service to deliver your orders, it is important to use lightweight yet durable packaging. Just imagine how upset the client will be if they receive a damaged box or damaged product because of this.

Weight of eCommerce Packaging

Courier companies charge based on the weight of your package, so it’s crucial to ensure your package isn’t too heavy.

Branded eCommerce Packaging

When delivering products to your customers, always ensure  that your brand is easy to read on the packaging. But remember that branding is not only about the logo: try to stand out and be recognized  by adding some interesting touches. A small personal thank you note won’t cost you dearly, but it will make your customers feel appreciated. Don’t forget toplace a flier with your current promotions in the box to get the customer interested in looking  at the site again.

Sustainable eCommerce Packaging

Every time you ship a product, the packaging ends up in a landfill or trash can. This situation means that your business regularly creates waste. Itt is possible that this eCommerce packaging waste will not be recycled or reused. Fortunately, switching to sustainable eCommerce packaging can benefit you and your customers, not to mention a significant environmental impact. Choose recyclable materials and indicate this fact on the website, with a print on the packaging or  a special attachment. Prove your interest in protecting the environment.

eCommerce Packaging Materials

eCommerce packaging comes in a variety of shapes, sizes, and, most importantly, materials, but there are some pretty standard packaging types and materials that most brands use.

eCommerce Paper Packaging

Paper is mainly used as additional protection for other, more complex packaging materials. The paper helps to protect the product from light, dust, and moisture. Usually, kraft paper or paper napkins are used for these purposes. Craft paper is a thin wrapping paper that takes its name from its production method. It is generally accepted that it, in comparison with ordinary packaging paper, has a higher strength factor. Tissue paper—cellulose material— is often used in preventing scratches and chafing.

eCommerce Cardboard Packaging

Cardboard packaging is the most popular type of eCommerce packaging. Cardboard packaging looks like a simple box, although it can also be in other formats (pipes, envelopes, or similar things.). Most people prefer this kind of packaging because it is reusable and easy to recycle.

eCommercePlastic Packaging

Plastic packaging is an inexpensive product for packaging and transporting a wide range of goods. Models may differ in design, size, and design features and production is carried out using synthetic materials. Today, there are the following types of packaging materials and plastic products: bags and plastic wrap (flexible packaging), bubble wrap, and the like. This decision is terrible for the environment, so most customers prefer eco eCommerce packaging, which means packaging without plastic.

eCommerce Wooden Packaging

Wooden packaging is mainly for heavy loads; however, sometimes eCommerce businesses choose wooden packaging instead of standard cardboard packaging to provide a unique unpacking experience for the customer. All wooden boxes are made to order so that they can be of any shape.

Best eCommerce Packaging Examples

To make it easier for you to improve your eCommerce packaging design, we’ve compiled a selection of the most creative, fashion eCommerce packaging ideas to inspire you. And at the same time, we will tell you about eCommerce packaging trends.

Acne Studios

Acne Studios is a multidisciplinary luxury fashion house based in Stockholm, Sweden, specializing in menswear, women’swear, footwear, and accessories.

Acne Studios boxes have a beautiful minimalist packaging design for their products and are also economical. It is crucial for a brand that its bags and gift packages are recognizable to customers. This customer recognition helps strengthen the brand and the level of credit in the market. Packaging design is most important, but at the same time, there is no desire to sacrifice quality.

Acne Studio’s packaging combines its design and environmental ambitions.

Esco Coffee

ESCO is a new coffee shop in Indonesia. The coffee beans are harvested, processed, and roasted at the family farm that owns the brand.

Packaging for Esco Coffee combines sustainable development principles with modern abstract illustrations. ESCO packaging design aims to represent the local culture.

All packs are available in plastic-free pouches or tubes and are adorned with quirky illustrated elements that highlight their different origins, which complement the brand’s unified black top of the pack.

Girlfriend Collective

Girlfriend Collective is a sportswear and loungewear brand that uses recycled materials such as polyester, fishnets, and water bottles to create its products.

The company’s unique value is the utmost concern for the environment and the desire to produce clothes from 100% recycled materials.

The whole package contained a cardboard box and a fabric bag into which even the threads used for sewing were processed.

The result is a clothing package that is simple in form but incredibly strong in meaning.

Consumer buying habits and industry packaging trends are the main drivers behind the rapid growth in packaging demand. We have highlighted the top trends in eCommerce packaging.

– Sustainable and environmentally friendly packaging

– Individual packing

– Colours, patterns, and gradients

– Minimalism

– Storytelling and plot

We reviewed the dynamics of the main trends in packaging. Now you are up-to-date with the latest trends and can start implementing your innovative ideas and strategies.

There are many payment solutions for businesses, but it is worth spending a little time to figure out which one suits you best. 

We’ve compiled the most crucial online payment solutions for your business in Sweden and we would like to tell you which eCommerce platforms will help implement these payment methods.

How do Swedes Pay Online?

There are several popular payment methods in Sweden, while one of the most common reasons consumers cancel purchases is because they can’t pay the way they want.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution, but there are a few intricacies in the most popular payment methods in Sweden to keep in mind:

Card Payments

Card is the payment method that most people use to pay online and is also the most popular. It works well for customers from other countries. However, keep in mind that different countries use different cards, and not all transactions can go through. Therefore, you should not use this method as the only payment solution if you want to sell your goods outside Sweden.

The site must be well encrypted, so third parties cannot access customers’ card details . It is a good idea to allow customers to save information about their cards to make purchases faster. 

Bank Transfer Payments

Bank Transfer is a direct payment through Internet banking. To offer such a solution to your clients, your company must have an account with the same bank as the client. The money is then transferred directly from the client’s account to your company’s account at the same bank. With direct payment, the customer feels safe and doesn’t have to provide a card number.

To offer Bank Transfers to customers abroad, however, your company needs to open a bank account with every foreign bank.

Open Invoice Payments

Open invoices are a prevalent part of the accounting cycle for any growing business that processes credit-based transactions.

An open account is an account with specific information: invoice number and order number, name and address of the payer’s and payee’s company, description of the goods or services purchased, date of delivery and creation of the invoice, details and total quantity of goods or services, terms of payment and directions.If a company has too many open accounts, it can have cash flow problems, which can stop the business’s processes.

Swish Payments

Swish is a mobile payment system in Sweden. Six major Swedish banks launched the service. Swish is a service that works through an application linked to a bank account through a phone number. Unlike all other payment services, Swish is impossible to connect your e?ommerce directly to the payment service. Instead, you must go through either a bank or a payment service integrated with Swish.  

8 out of 10 Swedes pay with Swish, which shows the latest edition of “The Swedes and the internet”. 

Swish allows businesses, traders, associations and organizations to receive payments from individuals. Swish is especially advantageous for those enterprises that do not have a card reader. It collects fees from companies and registered organizations. In addition, for merchants, Swish charges about 2 SEK (depending on the bank) for each payment. However, there is no charge for customers. All users need a bank account with a Swedish bank and a national identification number.

Swish eCommerce volume grows 50% despite the industry downturn.

Klarna Payments

Klarna is one of the most secure payment services. Klarna payments allow shoppers to buy now and pay later. Merchants can improve their conversion rates with a streamlined mobile commerce user interface and modern payment methods. 

Klarna for Business offers a large number of solutions, namely Klarna.Pay directly, Klarna.Pay latter, Klarna.Divide, Klarna.Subscription payments, Klarna.Checkout, Klarna.In-store, Klarna.Point of sale, Klarna.Corporate financing.

Let’s take a closer look at the main solutions.

Klarna. Checkout –  the most commonly used checkout solution in Sweden. Klarna. Checkout – a complex of all payment options, simple customer identification, customizable design, and much more.

Klarna. Pay Later – solution suggests getting your items first, before making a decision. The client chooses the later payment option pay within 30 days, monthly bill, pay within X days.

Klarna. Installations – The solution offers your customers the opportunity to spread their costs and pay the right amount. Now and then. The client only needs the minimum monthly payment.

Klarna. Pay directly – payment solution which goes straight to the point. It’s fast, safe and simple. Consumers can pay immediately and in full, wherever Klarna is available.

Klarna has 147 million active users worldwide and 2 million daily transactions. Klarna has many partners – IKEA, H&M, Saks, Nike, Sephora, Ralph Lauren, Expedia Group, Samsung, ASOS, Peloton, Ralph Lauren, Abercrombie & Fitch, Macy’s, Shein and others.

Some Klarna stats:

Total number of active consumers: 147,000,000

Total number of traders: 400,000

Number of employees: 5000

At 3.50 SEK per transaction 2.79% of the transaction fee, Klarna is quite an expensive solution.

PayPal Payments

PayPal is an online payment system through which individuals and legal entities can make money transfers and open accounts. PayPal also allows shoppers to buy now and pay later.

PayPal Commerce Platform increases growth, efficiency and security for large companies.

PayPal is also an expensive solution because it l charges high fees for transactions made outside of the US. The cost is 3.4% transaction fee 3.25 SEK per transaction.

There is also a problem with rejected transactions, as some transactions do not meet the collateral requirements of Swedish banks.However, if you plan to sell internationally, PayPal is a great solution.

NETS Payments

Nets is one of the complete payment solutions. Nets Checkout is integrated with many popular payment services available on the European market. Nets payment solutions are suitable for both online shopping and payments in physical stores.

Nets are also integrated with most major international payment services: PayPal, Afterpay, Union Pay, etc. A transaction fee of 1.8% will apply for each UnionPay app transaction.

Payson Payments

Payson Checkout is an all-in-one payment solution that allows you to integrate your online merchants with the ability to charge fees such as Card, Swish, Invoice and Partial Checkout. With Payson, you can also pay through your Internet bank, which is more secure.

The cost of using the Payson payment solution consists of a transaction fee of 2.85% for small businesses.

All of the above payment solutions differ in their functionality, price, and viability in different markets, but apart from that, let’s look at which e?ommerce systems these payment solutions are compatible with.

Payment Methods Available On eCommerce Platforms

Quick Butik

Quickbutik is a universal platform for launching, selling and developing an online store. According to Quickbutik, Quickbutik is currently the fastest-growing eCommerce platform in Sweden, with over 4,000 Swedish online stores in less than 5 years.

All of the above payment methods can be integrated into the Quik Butik platform, namely Card, Klarna, NETS, Swish, PayPal, Payson.

Wiking Gruppen

Wikinggruppen is one of Sweden’s largest e?ommerce service providers, offering comprehensive and flexible mobile responsive design solutions for all types of eCommerce. You’ll also get access to a very advantageous shipping deal. Klarna Checkout is included with no startup or monthly fees. You can integrate payment methods such as Card, Klarna, NETS, Swish, PayPal and Payson into the Wikinggruppen platform.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is one of the world’s most popular eCommerce solutions, a highly customizable open-source e?ommerce platform built on WordPress. WooCommerce can also be integrated with all the most popular payment solutions, such as Card, Klarna, NETS, Swish, PayPal and Payson. 

WooCommerce supports all of these payment methods through its extensions. These extensions are WooCommerce plugins. With the help of quality free WooCommerce plugins, connecting store owner credentials is available through the admin area.

Below are a few WooCommerce modules that many companies around the world trust.

• Plugin for Card (credit/debit) – WooCommerce Stripe Gateway
• Plugin for Open Invoice – Invoice Gateway For WooCommerce
• Plugin for Swish – Woo Swish e-commerce
• Plugin for Klarna – Klarna Checkout for WooCommerce
• Plugin for PayPal – WooCommerce PayPal Payments
• Plugin for Nets – Nets Easy for WooCommerce
• Plugin for Payson – PaysonCheckout for WooCommerce

By the way, one of the areas of our company is WooCommerce, so we are ready to create a full-fledged niche store in just 10 days and integrate all payment methods there. To get this, send us a request and the “Woo Story” promo code and get a 10% discount.

Shopify

Shopify is software that allows you to create and run your online store. The platform has the most straightforward functionality and many templates for users without advanced design and technical skills. Shopify can be integrated with Card, Klarna, PayPal, Swish for Shopify is available only through Quickpay, NETS (By the way, NETS says they have also integrated the Swish payment option into their Shopify module).

However, there is no way to integrate Payson into the WooCommerce platform.

One of the significant advantages is that in Shopify, most of the payment methods are available out-of-box and are enabled right from the admin dashboard. Therefore, solutions like Paypal and Klarna will immediately be included in your store.

Besides , we think it’s a great solution to quickly and easily launch a store for your business. In a week, we will make a niche website for you, add all the necessary payment methods there, fill in the goods, and the site will be ready to launch. Send us a request with the “Shopify STORY” promo code, and you’ll instantly receive prices, available packages, and a 10% discount.

Abicart

Abicart is one of Sweden’s most prominent eCommerce solution providers, with over 3,900 stores. It is also known as Textalk in some markets. Their goal is to provide access to eCommerce tools to make it easier for your customers to shop online. Abicart allows you to integrate such payment solutions as Card, Klarna, Swish, PayPal, Payson, NETS.

Magento 

Magento is an open-source eCommerce platform. More than 100,000 online stores have been created based on this platform, and third-party developers have created more than 2,000 extensions. You can also integrate Card, Klarna, NETS, Swish, PayPal, Payson into the Magento platform.  It’s quite a flexible and advanced solution for the growing online businesses with many products

As you can see, there are many solutions available to help you create a great store with various payment methods. These solutions are characterized by the features available, cost, flexibility and ease of use. If you are thinking about which solution is right for you, write to us and save time. Our eCommerce advisor will offer you a free consultation and help you choose the best solution for your needs, business goals and budget.

NFT mobility has become a valuable business resource, and companies have started to have many more opportunities due to eCommerce platforms with NFTs. Nearly $41 billion worth of cryptocurrency was spent on NFT marketplaces in 2021. The most valuable NFT is worth over $91.8 million.

The idea of NFT is tricky to comprehend, but technology has limitless potential in today’s world. The companies started to have much more beneficial opportunities due to the eCommerce industry with NFT.   

First, let’s figure out what NFT is and how Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) and eCommerce platforms can access the global market by using NFT.

What Is NFT Token? 

NFT stands for “Non-Fungible Token”. A non-Fungible token is a cryptographically recorded ownership of a unique object. In order to identify the original copy, a digital file can be stored as an NFT. It can be anything: a video, a song, an artwork, a photo of your cat, some memes or a tweet. 

NFT can be considered a modern collectable. You can buy and sell them online, often with cryptocurrencies, and the same software is generally used for encoding NFTs as is used for cryptocurrencies. 

NFTs are like any other collectable items, such as artworks, but you are not physically buying them; you are just getting the digital file and the proof that you are now the owner of the original.

Here we are facing one of the most significant contradictions: how can you pay money for something that can be, in principle, downloaded for free when many NFTs are just “ownership” of an online image?

We can feel both admiration and scepticism towards NFT… What on earth can determine the value of an asset that is really just a digital token?

What Is NFT in eCommerce?

Usually, NFTs are sold on trading floors. As for NFT in eCommerce, a digital storefront is created by artists in order to sell their art.

For example:

An experiment in which real sneakers were sold paired with virtual ones was undertaken by Nike and their partner artists, FEWOCiOUS & RTFKT. It was hugely successful: more than 600 pairs/NFTs were sold in 6 minutes, bringing them about $3.1 million.

The limited-edition NFT “Into the Metaverse,” launched by Adidas, was even more profitable. The physical clothing and NFTs offered by the company sold out in a few hours, earning $22 million.  

Robert Mondavi’s NFT is another good example of NFT in eCommerce. In order to promote their unique, authentic wine collection, a vineyard initiated this new digital asset.

Users of the Shopify eCommerce portal can offer NFTs directly on the site. For example, the Chicago Bulls created a collection of NBA championship rings in NFTs. This new form of merchandise was represented on Shopify eCommerce platform. They sold this collection of digital NFs in approximately 3 minutes.

One year ago, the world-famous brand Gucci announced a digital sneaker collection. The NFT environment created by Gucci allows their customers to buy and sell sneakers, as well as initiating the creation of their own digital NFT collections. NFT in eCommerce has become an inseparable part of this luxury fashion brand. 

How to Sell NFT?

If you have decided to get started with NFTs, your first step will be to find a way to introduce NFTs to the world. You can consider two options: selling them through your own website or using the NFT marketplace. Which one to choose depends upon the level of control you would like to have over your payment and branding.

NFT Marketplaces

You can choose from a great variety of NFT marketplaces and NFT websites, focusing on a specific niche.

What are the top NFT Marketplaces out there?

NFT Launchpad is mostly recommended for traders and creators
Binance NFT Marketplace is an excellent trading platform
OpenSea is a great place to start and is leading in NFT sells
Axie Marketplace is an excellent NFT gaming platform
Nifty Gateway is an easy to use platform for buying/selling and storing art and collectable items digitally
Rarible is a good choice for musicians, artists and photographers

The list of market places mentioned above is indicative of the variety of NFT platforms, which have different features to choose from in order to accommodate your needs.

Corporate Websites

When you use your own website for selling NFTs, it allows you to control your brand, data and analytics and payment process, which is quite advantageous. However, there are some disadvantages: the complexity of the procedure and strict regulations will undoubtedly increase your efforts and the costs, while sales of NFTs are not supported by all payment systems – most of them only accept cryptocurrencies as a payment method.

Sell NFT on Shopify

Shopify offers users the chance to sell their NFTs through their storefronts. When we use Shopify to deal with NFTs, there are many advantages as compared with other NFT-focused marketplaces.

Shopify NFT marketplace provides help with:

•   Finding the right payment option
•   Creating a brand experience
•   Embracing a wide range of clients
•   Shopify platform integration with websites

To sell NFTs on Shopify, you must be a US store and have a Shopify Plus plan. This will enable you to join the Shopify NFT beta program. 

After getting approval for your application, you can get NFTs from your Shopify store by paying with credit cards and cryptocurrencies.

If your Shopify store is located in another country, you can still apply for the NFT program. But you will need to connect with your payment provider, in order to pay for orders in your store.

What Can You Sell as NFTs in eCommerce?

In eCommerce, NFT can represent both physical and digital objects. We would like to draw your attention to some of the NFT ideas that can be sold:

Fashion Design Industry

If you are a famous international brand such as LV, Victoria’s Secret, Calvin Klein, Burberry, with a huge client pool, you have a new possibility: selling not only the physical product but also a digital version, as well in the form of NFT. In order to be profitable, you need confirmation that your clients will have an interest in the creation of digital collections for your brand.

Artworks

We all know that some online stores sell digital art prints. Like them, you can turn your artwork into a unique object, creating an NFT and selling it, for example, on Shopify. 

Photography

Your photos can be turned into NFTs and sold online. Some photographers do the same by selling their photos in digital form. 

Music

If you are a creator of musical compositions, you can convert them into NFT format and sell them online, if you wish. The only thing you have to be sure of is that they are unique and authentic.

Video

Videos can also be sold as NFTs. The same rules apply. Full rights to the video in question are required from you.

How Can an eCommerce Company Use NFT?

Give NFT as a Reward

For your eCommerce business to be prosperous and well developed, customer involvement is crucial. It is imperative to interact with your potential consumers by conducting surveys, beta tests, and discussing the prospects of your eCommerce business development so as to take into account their needs and wishes. To keep your customer happy, you can give them NFTs as a reward and thereby increase their engagement and strengthen your relationships.

NFT as a Loyalty Tool

NFTs can be used by merchants as part of a reward program for an eCommerce business, equivalent to a membership card. Thus, you can issue NFTs as verification of membership, voucher, or purchase. What’s more, due to the unique nature of NFTs, the reward for each NFT holder can be customised, such as discount conditions, events participation, early access to new products, and many others.

Sell Digital Goods

You can earn extra income by selling digital goods or using them to complement your physical goods. In the meantime, this will help eCommerce stores provide a unique experience for shoppers.

What Is Shopify?

Shopify is a modern business-focused eCommerce solution. It is a cloud-based eCommerce platform for everyone who wants to start, grow, and scale their eCommerce business. With Shopify online store, you will enjoy benefits such as various marketing tools, payment gateways, effective product and store management, and analytics.Unlike other platforms that require hosting or website knowledge before use, Shopify offers tools and resources to sell online successfully for both beginners and experts.

Shopify features include:

• an admin panel to manage the website;
• a website builder helps you create an online store;
• a Shopify cloud hosting;
• a mobile-friendly look to provide a great digital experience;
• domain registration to create a catchy domain name for your brand;
• a shopping cart optimized to sell;
• advanced inventory and product management to keep full control over the products;
• the marketing features such as SEO, gift cards, free shipping, discounts to grow customer loyalty and brand awareness;
• advanced store management to connect various services, manage on the go, and discover more useful information about your customers;
• multiple languages support to communicate with a broad audience;
• a POS solution to sell in person;
• a complete blogging platform to create connections with your target audience;
• a handy dropshipping solution helpful in starting businesses or experience dropshippers;
• and more great solutions to help your brand grow!

Why Shopify Online Store Will Help Your Brand Grow

Shopify is an excellent choice for those who want to give an online business a try and see how it will work. You can launch your store quickly and sell right from the start. It requires fewer investments into web development and less time into education than more complicated and advanced platforms. It’s a great solution for beginners and experts. This is why:

Easy-to-Manage

Shopify platform is created with users in mind, focusing on the user and the business. It doesn’t require deep technical knowledge of web development, system administration, etc. All you need is to create your account, build your website with a handy block editor, choose the design, and add the content. It is all easy to do with an admin panel. It gives you building blocks for your eCommerce store, all necessary tools, and practical guides to create your eCommerce experience. If you need any help, you can always turn to the Shopify expert to get assistance right from your admin account.

You’ll save costs on website support and team education.

Fast-to-Start

Shopify allows launching an eCommerce website within a few weeks. We recommend you create a plan, evaluate your budget, decide what capabilities your store needs, prepare your content, and then start growing online.

After you choose your domain name, you can create a Shopify account in a trial version. During 14 days, you can see how it goes. So, you are free to look around till you come up with the decision whether you like this platform or not.

You’ll then be able to buy the subscription to one of Shopify plans, find and connect needed features, and select one of the beautiful themes in the Shopify Theme Store. If you add your authentic content, your online store will look different from the others, even with the ready Shopify theme. It will be a great start, especially if you are on a tight budget! If you want a unique look for your online store, professional designers and theme developers from all over the world are at your service.

You save time for project development and start to earn faster.

Business-Focused

Shopify is not just a platform. It is a whole ecosystem that unites entrepreneurs and experts: brand owners, Shopify experts, and digital specialists. You can always connect with professional people ready to help your business grow. This platform focuses on your business and provides you with all the necessary tools to grow successfully, save you time and money, and grow your business income.

It doesn’t matter whether your first try or you already run a successful business using another platform. Shopify allows you to launch quickly and on a budget or migrate without too many efforts. Shopify is not an open-source platform. There is no way to modify its backend, but you can add all the required features with particular apps. In most cases, you’ll need help with creating the custom theme – if you want a unique design or if you’d like to delegate some tasks.

Various reporting tools allow you to analyze business results, create marketing campaigns, and see all about your store management.

The platform focuses on optimizing your business results.

Mobile-Ready

Shopify provides fully mobile-optimized commerce. Mobile eCommerce sales account about 50% of total eCommerce sales. Our customers want to shop right on the go. It is now essential to make sure that the brand website mobile-optimized as mobile traffic has increased significantly. Fortunately, the themes on Shopify are optimized for mobile devices and provide a responsive mobile experience.

You reach a large audience of mobile users and grow conversion.

Growth-Oriented

The in-built SEO functionality of Shopify will help your brand rank well in Google search results and bring more traffic.

Shopify app store offers various marketing tools, from integrating your store with social networks and advertising tools, such as Facebook, Google shopping, Google ads, Instagram, to an email newsletter and customer reviews.

Moreover, if you don’t have the time for digital marketing or find it time-consuming, Shopify provides an in-built kit to help you. It works as a virtual assistant, performing marketing activities based on your sales, helping you grow and track progress.

You have all the tools you need to grow your brand right from the start.

How Does Shopify Work?

Merchants have the following options: they can create or buy an online store. Charging begins after a trial expires.

Shopify uses a monthly subscription model, offering to choose among three plans. They will cost you $29, $79, or $299 per month. They differ in their feature list and purposes.

Shopify, Shopify Basic will be enough in most cases, especially for those who are just beginning their online business growth. These plans have some differences in the reporting system, the number of team members’ accounts, and some additional features.

Advanced Shopify provides additional features for scaling business, such as different locations, advanced reporting, custom-calculated shipping rates, international domains, and exchange rates management. It’s suitable for experienced companies that want to scale.

View the complete feature list on the Shopify website.

You can add useful features with Shopify apps and create an attractive design for your website by applying one of the Shopify themes or creating the custom one.

Shopify Apps

The Shopify App Store is a place where you’ll find various apps for everything, whether you’d like to include customer reviews, offer your products on social media, manage inventory and shipping, analyze results, or boost marketing effects, and more.

Many of them are free. You can add the desired feature by installing the app on your website.

Shopify Themes

The Theme Store has an extensive selection of themes and templates, among which you can choose the desired web design. There are various styles and layouts, offering each user a unique experience for a particular business niche. You can modify the theme with the theme editor in your admin panel.

How Much Does Shopify Cost?

The total budget that you need to launch your Shopify online store depends on your particular brand needs and basic costs:

Hosting: Shopify offers cloud hosting and no set-up costs for all plans.

Subscription: Shopify provides three basic payment options for businesses: $29, $79, $299.

Domain: You’ll need to buy an eCommerce domain that will cost you about $11 per year.

Apps: Apps differ in their cost. Of course, you can find helpful free apps. Most of the paid apps cost $20-$29. Others cost about $67 , a one-time payment.

Theme: Prices for Shopify themes vary from free to $180 one-time.

Setup: Most advanced eCommerce platforms require knowledge in website engineering and coding expertise to get started. Shopify offers a choice: you can launch and set up your website by yourself using their helpful guides or request the Shopify expert for help. This work cost also differs and will depend on the agency’s or developers’ hourly rate and hourly project estimation. Rates vary from $30 to 150 per hour.

So, lets’ calculate:

Minimally, the Shopify store launch will cost you about $500 if you buy about ten apps, a basic plan, a $180 theme, and set up your store by yourself.

How Can You Grow Your Brand with Shopify?

Shopify is a business-focused solution that can help you solve various business tasks:

Sell Online Everywhere

Shopify offers the opportunity to start selling quickly and set up an online store within several days. With its help, you can sell on the website and social media. It allows you to transact in person with the Shopify Point of Sale (POS). You can manage all these from a user-friendly interface.

Get Paid Instantly

With Shopify payments, you can keep track of all your transactions and orders from anywhere. This feature is preinstalled with your account and will start working the moment you activate it. You will start accepting payment instantly while skipping third-party activations.

With an active Shopify account, Shopify payments will show you a complete overview of your entire finances and the needed things to prepare your documents.

Start with Dropshipping on Shopify

Jumpstart your business by dropshipping on Shopify. It works straightforward and conveniently. You’ll not pay for additional shipping logistics, and Shopify dropshipping will ensure that your customers receive their products unscathed. Your dropshipping supplier will automatically receive your orders, prepare them and finally ship the orders to your customers.

Unify Your Sales with Shopify POS

Shopify POS allows you to handle your entire inventory management from the Shopify cloud. It will help you save time and make smarter decisions with a comprehensive and detailed report. Besides, it will also save you the hassle of third-party restrictions and accept payments.

Drive Marketing & SEO for Shopify

SEO can get your brand to the top of the pages of search engine results, and as a result, bring significant and relevant traffic. Utilizing SEO for Shopify is an organic way of growing your company’s exposure, which would then play a huge part in how shoppers can easily find your store. Shopify offers various SEO-friendly features, and the higher your ranking, the more traffic your online store will get.

Enhance Shopify Shipping

A fulfillment service is a network of third parties that prepares your orders for you and ships them. If you don’t want to have to deal with delivery or have evolved beyond your current warehousing capabilities to a point where manually moving goods is impossible, opting for fulfillment Shopify is a fantastic choice.

You can take control of your Shopify Shipping from your location to any part of the globe without an extra fee.

Create a Blog for Your Brand

Content marketing and a blog will help your brand highlight your goods and services, educate your customers and create a connection with them. Consistent blogging will show your customers that you have invested in your brand and are eager to help your customers make the right decisions. It is a powerful tool to connect new and loyal customers who want to discover what your brand offers. The default blog on Shopify is free, easy to use, and covers the blogging basics. Another option is you can link your blog from an external platform from within your Shopify online store.

Work on Customer Loyalty with Gift Cards

To attract new customers and retain old ones, you can employ a loyalty program. This method resonates well with shoppers, and you can easily use gift cards to conduct social media contests and giveaways.

Motivate return visits by adding Shopify gift cards into your loyalty program, either as discounts, birthday rewards, or in your brand awareness campaign.

Grow Trust with Customer Reviews

You can automate your review collection for service and product reviews, add a TrustBox widget, and collect reviews from your previous customers via Shopify’s incorporation with Trustpilot. Trustpilot helps you automatically collect your customers’ reviews. Your customers can share their experience with the world and your sales can be greatly influenced by their reviews because buyers will definitely look for feedback before making any purchase. This way you build trust with your customers and grow your brand equity.

To sum all this up, get inspired by Shopify store examples where you’ll see the great stores created for different product categories and niche markets. Use Shopify sitemap to learn all you need to know about this solution and see how you can grow your business by industry.

While shopping online, our potential customers cannot physically interact with our products and brand. However, they can read the verified reviews and get complete information about our businesses. Social proof in the form of reviews is one of the most powerful tools to gain new customers’ trust.

Importance of Customer Reviews for Brands

According to stats, 88% of customers trust online reviews when choosing the brand. They consider reviews at the same level of trust as personal recommendations.

These numbers tell us a lot. With genuine customer reviews, we can cover many crucial marketing tasks and grow our brand positive power.

Build Trust Between Brand and Customer

Potential customers often feel uncertain regarding the online business they have never interacted with. This is why we should invest our efforts into building customer’s trust, and genuine customer reviews help. When people come online and see positive reviews about a brand, it increases their credibility, and the potential customers feel much more confident. Once there’s trust, then getting customers becomes easier.

Get Honest Feedback for Growth

Analyzing how well people love and patronize your brand encourages your business growth. When you get honest answers from your customers about your products or services, no matter positive or negative, it helps. When customers give honest feedback, it’s a great chance to evaluate your brand efforts and see the areas for your growth. Always pay attention to the feedback about the things you need to improve. This is a big help that customers even not loyal can do for us. Remember, if we want somebody to grow, we show what needs improvement. If we are indifferent and don’t want to help somebody – we keep silent and pass through. The feedback is a valuable resource.

Predict Customer Loyalty

Customers that leave you reviews are often loyal ones. Other customers could make purchases and leave. Some of them don’t give feedback, and it’s hard to predict their reaction. If so, try to ask about their experience using various communication channels before leaving the online review. You can personally ask about their opinion: by phone, in the personalized email newsletter, or via messengers. When you hear lots of points that need improvements – it’s valuable information for the plan and helps predict how likely it’s the right moment for asking about the review.

If we deal with an eCommerce review, we deal with a more complicated system and a larger number of customers. This is a tip: you can set up an automated email that asks to evaluate your company’s experience. If the customer gives you a good mark, the automated script can show them the suggestion or link to the online review page. If the mark is bad, you know that and make conclusions. But the automated system doesn’t ask the customer about the full online review right away. We often met such examples in Apple App Store apps.

Grow With a Word of Mouth

What people say online about a particular business is what others use for making their purchase decisions. A brand with multiple positive reviews will more likely get more trust and more purchases than competitors. At the same time, negative reviews can stop customers from making the purchase. But! No one is perfect – people understand this. If you reply to negative reviews sincerely and consistently, it can increase the trust even more.

Social proof represented by customer reviews helps your business be trustworthy and stay ahead among even the strongest competitors. Genuine and verified customer reviews are the long-run investment into the brand growth and awareness.

How to Ask for Customer Reviews

Sometimes it becomes a bit challenging to ask the customer for a review. First, we feel uncertain; second, we need a plan to do that with many customers, scale it for the whole business, and last: people tend to spend time on their priorities. The review is a priority for us, but often not for the customer. That’s why our customers will more likely leave a review in two cases: if they are emotionally impressed, feel happy, and want to share their experience, or if they can get some bonus for their allocated time. Some useful points will help you to prepare and make this process more simple after you do them.

Define the Purpose

We already know the importance of customer reviews. However, we also need to know what we need the reviews for. Is it to improve our services or to get a positive online review? If you need to find the growth points, motivate your customers for honest feedback! Ask about the things they think you need to improve, how likely they will recommend your brand, etc. By doing this, the aspect of your business that needs improvement will be known to you. On the other hand, if you decide to increase positive online reviews quickly, use a different approach. Evaluate customer loyalty first, and start with the most loyal and potentially-loyal customers. Try strategies that help you predict the opinions and grow customer satisfaction. Work on the growth points to show that you hear your customers and become better for them.

Choose Your Approach

To get the desired outcomes, you must engage in proper timing to ask for customer reviews. If you ask customers for reviews at the wrong time, they may drop negative reviews for you. So, look for clever ways to ask for reviews from your customers and at the right time. At what point should you then ask customers for reviews?

These are some indicators of the right moment for the online review:

• repeat purchase and order;
• some time left after the first purchase, and creation of a new wishlist;
• spending much time on your website specific product category;
• sharing a coupon code with a friend;
• referring your brand to friends;
• purchase and delivery.

Now you know when it’s a right time to ask for reviews. Then you need to get prepared to test and scale.

Make Up Your Model and Script

Prepare emails, messages, and request scripts to ask for customer reviews.

Draft a plan which conveys information about the following important parts:

• tools you’ll use to ask for the review;
• platforms for collecting reviews;
• who at your team is responsible for this part of work;
• the right time and context for the review;
• how much time is needed to leave a review;
• a clear and short step-by-step guide for the customer;
• what benefits the customer gets for their effort;
• what to write in your request message;
• how to work with objections;
• what to do in case of negative review, how to respond;
• how to thank the customer and add value

Prepare all this point beforehand and be ready for any cases. You should also include the means of communication to be used, whether by email, telephone, or social media. After you think out your plan, it’s time to combine it into a powerful script and take action.

Pro Tip: We found this online book very useful and helpful to prepare and effective plan and start collecting reviews, and recommend it to you:

Ultimate guide to Customer Reviews by Craig Stoss, Sarah Chambers, Yaakov Karda

 Encourage Giving Positive Reviews

Leaving a review must be simple and valuable for both sides. If it’s not, make everything you can do to help your customers and make it easy for them. Explain how simple it is to drop reviews for you and don’t forget to give incentives. Make it clear enough in the emails you send: give discounts, gifts, or bonuses for every review customers drop for your business. This way, you will motivate them towards leaving reviews for you, and grow loyalty to your brand.

Test on a Customer Focus Group

Running a test of your plan on a small group of customers will help to show how effective it actually is. The results gotten from this test running shows you areas that need improvement in your plan before testing it on a larger number of customers.

Automate the Process

The next stage after test running your plan is setting up people who will execute the plan. Asides from using people for this, you could automate the process. This will include the use of different tools that helps you to send emails and messages automatically. Tools such as Magento, Shopify, or review platforms such as Trustpilot.

Respond to Both: Positive & Negative

Treat every feedback you get from customers as valuable information. Negative feedback could influence your feelings, but it could be a true pointer to areas that need to be improved. Learn how to answer them quickly, thoughtfully, appropriately, and respectfully. Then, for happy customer review quotes you receive, give a quick response to them, and appreciate the reviewer concisely. Encourage them to refer people to your brand, sign up for a re-purchase, or find you on social media.

Sometimes Giveaway

This tip is not the typical one regarding the review. However, sometimes we should give more to get more. Make some unique touches and give personal presents to your loyal customers. Try to evoke their positive feelings. This way, one day, they will come by themselves and tell the world about your brand, and how genuinely kind and useful it is.

Be Responsible. Think Big

It is also not directly about reviews. But that counts for a lot. Nowadays, people, fortunately, stand for a responsible attitude to nature and resources, people and environment. As a brand, you should respect their values and share these values as well. Shared values and beliefs are keys to sympathy, trust, and a deep connection. As a result – you’ll get a lot of positive reviews organically.

Where to Collect Customer Reviews

On Google

Google allows you to collect reviews and helps promote local companies on Google Maps. All you need to do is to inform your clients about how easy it is to drop reviews. You could also request reviews using a short URL specific to your brand. Your reviews will be seen right near your listings in Maps and search helping your brand gain trust and stand out on search results.

For whom:

Local businesses and anyone who wants to grow brand awareness online and offline.

Pros:

• Allows genuine reviews to be posted;
• Adds visual rating on Google search results;
• It is a trustworthy platform;
• You can always respond to the review and also flag if necessary.

Cons:

• You can’t moderate or delete a review on your own. Be careful with unfair competitors, spammers, and highly unsatisfied customers.

Look at the example of London’ brand The Hummingbird Bakery. They have an offline store and a website, collecting reviews on Google:

On Amazon

Amazon is another giant platform for Amazon eCommerce merchants.

For whom:

eCommerce businesses that sell on Amazon.

Pros:

• Aggregates all of your product reviews in a central place for ease of viewing;
• Monitors review systematically and this way, you can quickly spot negative reviews;
• Helps you to identify the reviewer to sort out concerns related to negative reviews.

Cons:

• You can’t moderate or delete reviews (the same thing as with Google).

On Shopify

Shopify is the most popular eCommerce platform in the world, the choice of numerous eCommerce brands. It provides a number of cool marketing features for business, including collection of customer reviews.

For whom:

eCommerce brands on the Shopify platform only.

Pros:

• The Product Review app for Shopify is free;
• Has many automated tools and features that can be integrated with other review platforms;
• You can delete, manage, and reply to product reviews from the Shopify admin panel.

Cons:

• Reviews are manageable and this may evoke some concerns about their fairness.

Look how Package Free does this at its Shopify-based online store:

or

On Review Platforms & Social Networks

For whom:

Any type of business relevant to the focus of the particular review platform.

Pros:

• Platforms are famous and trustworthy;
• Additional promotion and lead-generation channel;
• Most platforms allow integration with eCommerce platforms, such as Shopify, Magento;
• Your brand stands out among the other brands collecting reviews on the same platform;
• Platforms carry out high-level verification process to detect spam or purchased reviews;
• Social media platforms request account login to leave a review;
• Other customers can see the personality of the reviewer and even turn to their personal recommendation by connecting with them.

Cons:

• In most cases, you can’t moderate and delete reviews.

List of The Best Platforms to Collect Review

You can use all these platforms or better focus the efforts on the one that has more trust of your target audience and aligns better with your marketing strategy.

Trustpilot

Trustpilot is a famous world review platform helping businesses proactively collect reviews from customers. It enables the user to send out emails to customers inviting them to send their reviews about the business. They also allow the customer to keep the reviews third-party verified by writing both the product and seller reviews.

TestFreaks

This platform also helps businesses to collect customer reviews and help to complement this by writing seller reviews for them.

Feefo

Feefo is one more great platform for your business. Their team values integrity and is dedicated to connecting great businesses with their customers.

Reviews.io

Pay attention to one more great platform designed for the eCommerce businesses and their customers who can share their reviews and experiences.

Instagram

Yes, our well-known and loved Instagram. It’s really a super-creative platform, especially for the eCommerce businesses. Besides being super-powerful in terms of product presentation, it also can be used to collect emotional and genuine customer reviews. What’s cool is that you can moderate them, create posts with them, collections of stories, and ask clients to tag you!
Look how this works for Swedish fashion giants, Tretorn:

How you can do this:

• check your DM’s for messages sent by their customers which could be reviews;
• track responses from customers to their brand’s Instagram stories;
• keep an eye on your comment section;
• keep track of how many users share their experiences with other followers especially when the brand is tagged/ mentioned in the comment;
• keep an eye on the Instagram page of their followers as some of them could express their views about your brand on their personal pages.

The only con is that your customers must use Instagram. But it’s hard to imagine people who now don’t use Instagram at least just for researching, inspiration, and shopping online.

Also, YouTube and TikTok are great platforms to get additional audience and video-reviews.

Pro Tip: Google your competitors to find out the platforms they use and pick the ones that work best for your business.