Different technology. Same basic principles of retailing.
One of the biggest mistakes we can make with an online store is thinking that because it's on the internet, it's somehow completely different from a bricks-and-mortar shop.
It isn't.
The technology is different, but most of the basic principles of retailing are exactly the same.
Imagine you've just opened a physical shop.
Before a customer even walks through the door, they need to know what you sell.
If the sign above your shop simply says JACK'S SHOP, that doesn't tell someone walking past very much.
But if it says JACK'S OUTDOOR GEAR — CAMPING, HIKING & TRAMPING EQUIPMENT, people immediately have a pretty good idea what's inside.
Your Shopify homepage has much the same job.
When someone arrives, they shouldn't have to work out what your store is about. Your name, heading, images and the information on your homepage should make it obvious what you sell.
Help People Find Their Way Around
Now our customer has walked through the door.
Imagine a large department store with no signs.
No departments. No directions. No indication of where anything is.
You ask someone where the camping equipment is and they reply:
“Oh, it's around here somewhere.”
Not particularly helpful.
A physical shop uses departments, aisles and signs to help customers find what they're looking for.
Your Shopify store uses collections and menus to do exactly the same job.
If someone has to hunt through your website trying to find a product, there's a pretty good chance they'll eventually give up.
Just because customers can't physically walk around your online store doesn't mean they don't need clear directions.
Let Them Look at the Product
Suppose our customer finds a pair of hiking boots.
In a physical shop, they can pick them up. Turn them around. Look at the soles. Feel the material. Try them on.
And if they want to know whether they're waterproof, they can ask someone.
Your online customer can't do any of that.
Your product images and description have to do it for them.
If seeing a product from several angles would help someone make a buying decision, show several images. If there's an important detail they'd normally examine in a shop, show it.
And your description should answer the questions a customer would probably ask if they were standing in front of you.
Think of your product page as your shop assistant, display and merchandise all rolled into one.
Your Store Is Never Finished
Here's another strange difference in the way people sometimes think about physical and online stores.
Nobody opens a physical shop and thinks:
“Excellent. That's finished. I never have to touch it again.”
Shops are constantly changing.
New products arrive. Displays get moved. Old stock is removed. Signs are replaced. Things get cleaned and tidied. If part of the shop isn't working particularly well, you change it.
And every now and then, the place gets a refit.
Your Shopify store needs exactly the same attention.
Add new products. Improve old ones. Replace poor photographs. Update descriptions. Check and improve your collections. Check your menus and make changes if necessary. Remove things that no longer serve a purpose.
And if your store has been running for years and you discover that something wasn't done particularly well in the first place, you don't necessarily need to tear the whole thing down and start again.
Give that part of the store a refit.
Would You Do This in a Real Shop?
This is one of my favourite tests for an online store.
Imagine doing exactly the same thing to a customer standing in front of you.
Someone walks towards your physical shop.
They put one foot through the door and before they've even had a chance to look around, you leap in front of them holding a clipboard.
“Hello! Can I have your email address?”
I'd probably turn around and walk straight back out.
Yet visit some online stores and that's exactly what happens.
The website appears and — BANG! — before you've even worked out what they sell, half the screen disappears behind a pop-up asking for your email address.
There's nothing wrong with asking an interested visitor if they'd like to join your mailing list.
But at least let them get through the bloody door first.
Give them a chance to look around. Give them a reason to become interested in your business before asking them for their email address. And maybe do it discreetly, not in their face.
The same applies to the instant:
“BUY SOMETHING! HERE'S 10% OFF!”
Would you shout that at everybody walking into a physical shop?
Probably not.
Technology makes it possible to do all sorts of things to people visiting your website.
That doesn't mean it's a good idea or that you should do it.
There's One Big Difference
So far, our physical shop and Shopify store have been remarkably similar.
But there's one enormous difference.
A physical shop has a street outside.
People walk past.
They drive past.
They see your sign.
They look in the window.
Someone might not have known your shop existed five minutes earlier, but there it is in front of them.
Your Shopify store doesn't have a street outside.
Nobody happens to drive past your website on their way home.
Nobody walks past it on the way to the dairy.
You could have the most beautifully designed Shopify store in the world, filled with fantastic products, wonderful photographs, perfect descriptions and brilliant navigation.
But there could still be one rather serious problem.
How does anybody find the front door — or, for that matter, any door into your store?
Welcome to Google Street
Think about what happens when someone searches Google for something they want to buy.
Google presents them with choices.
One store appears. Then another. Then another.
The customer looks at the titles and descriptions and decides which result looks most likely to have what they're searching for.
They're effectively window shopping.
Except instead of walking down a physical street looking into shop windows, they're travelling along Google Street looking at search results.
And every search result is another potential shopfront.
Suddenly, those things we call SEO start making a lot more sense.
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation.
That's a rather complicated way of saying you're improving your website so search engines can better understand it and people can find it.
Your product title helps Google understand what's sitting in your shop window.
Your description provides more information about what you're selling.
Your images help both Google and your customer understand the product.
Your collections help organise related products.
All those seemingly little things help Google understand what your store contains and when one of your pages might be useful to someone searching.
The better Google understands your store, the better chance you have of being found by the people looking for what you sell.
Good Retailing Is Still Good Retailing
The internet hasn't changed everything.
Customers still want to know what you sell.
They still want to find things easily.
They still want enough information to make a decision.
They don't want to be confused.
They don't want to be hassled.
And your store still needs regular attention, tidying and the occasional refit.
So next time you're considering doing something to your Shopify store, try a very simple test:
Imagine the customer standing in front of you in a physical shop.
Would what you're about to do be helpful?
Or would it seem confusing, annoying, rude or downright stupid?
If you wouldn't do it to someone standing in front of you, putting it on a computer screen probably doesn't make it a good idea.
Different technology. Same basic principles of retailing.
There's just one difference.
Your physical shop already has a street outside.
With your Shopify store, you have to earn your place on Google Street.
Want to discover how more people can find your Shopify store on Google?
Click here
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