5 Ways To Differentiate Your Client’s Shopify Store From The Competition

Let’s face it, making an ecommerce store stand out in today’s increasingly cluttered online landscape isn’t always as simple as it seems. There are somewhere in the region of 12-24 million ecommerce sites up-and-running around the world today, and in 2022, the number of new Shopify stores increased by around 200%!

The good news for developers and Shopify designers is that this increased competition is pushing business owners to seek out extra help from the experts. Today’s ecommerce leaders know they’re going to need to deliver an amazing online experience if they’re going to capture more sales. Often, this means working with a Shopify store creator who knows their way around UI/UX.

The bad news is that actually delivering the results your clients want means you need to constantly work on finding new ways to transform the stores you build. Fortunately, we’ve got some great ideas to share on how you can separate your client’s store from the competition.

1. Personalize the Shopping Experience

36% of today’s online shoppers say companies should be providing them with more relevant, and personalized shopping experiences. Most customers today don’t just want the same old online experience that everyone else gets, they want to see evidence that the store they’re buying from understands their needs, interests, and expectations. 

In the past, creating a personalized experience for every customer would have been practically possible for an ecommerce site creator. Today, however, it’s much easier than you’d think. As a Shopify developer, you can experiment with a range of different strategies to make interactions feel more unique to your target audience. 

For instance, you could integrate your Shopify store with your CRM to help create marketing and promotional plans for your client which send specific offers to individual customers. You can also use Shopify store apps and add-ons to send personalized recommendations to customers when they’re browsing through each store, based on their previous purchases or activity. 

There are even chatbot apps that can automatically send messages to customers when they’re shopping on a Shopify store, letting them know about great deals, or suggesting certain items based on the products they’ve already viewed. 

2. Make Your Product Pages Stand Out

A lot of Shopify designers and store owners alike focus a lot of attention on driving customers to product pages, but they forget to optimize the experience for when the customer actually clicks on a product. Remember, ecommerce customers can’t physically see or interact with a product, so they’re reliant on your ability to deliver an informative and engaging product page. 

Start by making sure all of the information your client’s customer needs to make the right decision is clearly visible on every device. You should be providing plenty of details on product benefits, size options, variations and more. Next, ensure the product page comes with plenty of pictures of the item, from multiple angles, and in different contexts. 

If you really want to make your client’s Shopify store stand out, you could consider adding product videos to each page, or 360-degree AR-style videos which allow customers to view the item from a range of different angles by tilting their phone. Other ways to enhance the product page include:

• Show bundles and recommended cross-sell products on every page.
• Highlight the credibility of the store with reviews and testimonials. 
• Help your customer visualize your product in use with human-centered photos

3. ‍Help Merchants Highlight their Brand Story

Customers are making choices about which companies to buy from more carefully these days. In the midst of an impending recession, you’re more likely to convince clients to buy by showing them a company shares their values, and interests. With this in mind, it’s important to ensure your client is highlighting their brand story wherever possible. 

Transform the “About” page on your customer’s Shopify website with insights into the growth over the years, and real quotes from individual members of the team. Show photos of different employees from the store to make the company feel more human, and use videos to engage viewers. 

You could even create a dedicated sustainability page to demonstrate a company’s commitment to eco-friendly practices. Remember, nearly half of customers chose to buy specifically from environmentally-friendly brands in 2021, and the trend is growing. 

Make sure you’re highlighting the key aspects of the company’s personality through every page on the store, from the home page to the checkout. Your client’s brand is a key part of ensuring they can build a meaningful relationship with their audience.

4. Consider the Full Customer Journey

In the past, many Shopify store owners have made the mistake of focusing all of their attention on simply getting customers to the checkout page and convincing them to buy. However, as the ecommerce market becomes more competitive, it’s becoming increasingly important to think about the full customer journey, from start to finish. 

For Shopify designers and developers, this means thinking first about how you can attract people to the Shopify store in the first place, through integrations with social media, online advertising platforms, and blogs for SEO. Next, consider every potential interaction the customer will have with the store when they’re browsing through products. 

How easy is it for clients to navigate through pages, compare different products, and make changes to their cart when they need to? How many options do they have when they’re ready to checkout. Can they pay for products as a guest, or do they have to go through a complicated sign-up process. How many payment options do they have to choose from?

Finally, think about the post-purchase relationship too. How can you keep your client’s customers coming back for more? Could you set up a loyalty or reward system that gives free gifts to customers who purchase a certain amount? Could you sign consumers up for a newsletter that lets them know about great deals, or automatically reminds them when they might need to stock up on their favorite products? Think about how to attract, engage, and retain each customer.

5. Empower Clients to Deliver Amazing Customer Service

Finally, one of the most important factors determining whether a customer chooses to buy from an ecommerce store today or not, is whether they believe they’re going to get an excellent level of customer service. As a Shopify designer or developer, there’s really only so much you can do from this perspective. You can’t handle customer service on your client’s behalf, but you can empower them to make each interaction a little smoother. 

Start by discussing ways you can make the customer journey easier with simple design changes. For instance, can you let your customers calculate shipping rates on the product page, so they don’t have to get a nasty surprise at the checkout? Can you use pop-ups to let your customers know when they’re approaching eligibility for a deal, like a free gift or free shipping?

What kind of Shopify apps can you install to streamline the customer experience? For instance, you might install an app which allows you to help your customers make the right choices about what to buy with quiz questions from a bot. You could also use built-in chatbots to quickly answer customer questions about delivery times, return options, and other factors 24/7. 

When designing the store, make sure it’s easy for customers to find ways for contacting the business too. Clients who can’t see a simple way to get in touch are less likely to trust the brand they’re buying from. 

Differentiate your Stores in 2023

With more competition in the ecommerce market today than ever before, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for Shopify store owners to ensure their websites really make the right impact. The good news is there are a variety of things you can do as a Shopify site builder to help your clients out. 

The tips above will assist you in driving new sales and opportunities for your clients, which means they’re more likely to recommend your services to other companies, and give you more opportunities for work in the future too. 

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