Starting a Shopify store has never been as easy as it is today. It doesn’t cost nearly as much as a brick and mortar business, and Shopify takes care of the technical aspects of running it.
However, success doesn’t come overnight. And to truly make your mark on the industry, you need to look at your intentions and how they align with the needs of the marketplace.
Consumers can now see through any business owner who’s out to make a quick buck.
As a result, while the eCommerce space grows and evolves, there's a trend that consistently keeps showing its face.
The most successful Shopify businesses seem to emerge as a result of monetizing a passion.
When a brand is born out of passion, and not monetary desire, the effects are clear as day. Love and care are reflected in every aspect of the business. And the response comes in the waves of customers who observe and value that love and care.
In addition, entrepreneurs find themselves tripling down on their what they’re good at and enjoy, rather than wasting time and energy on their weaknesses.
These strengths and weaknesses exist in us all, and are inherent from birth.
In fact, this idea was finally given context when consultant and best-selling author Tom Rath released an interactive book called StrengthsFinder.
His research surmised that:
- Each person’s potential for growth is in the area of his or her greatest strength
- Each person’s talents are enduring and unique
- We can reach our maximum potential only by using our individual strengths
But strength and passion are not the same right?
In fact, the two can be inherently tied.
Think for a moment, about being praised for your ability to paint from a young age. The constant reinforcement encourages you to continue painting, developing into a passion. Most of us enjoy what we excel at, right?
But more importantly, if this is the case, should you be selling 64-bit microprocessors online?
Chances are, that’s not where your strength and passion converge, and you’ll need to output 3x as much energy to achieve the same result selling something you love and relate to.
But your strengths and passions can be discovered much later in life too.
This is how Botanic Organic came to be, the unique Shopify success story that went through an organic evolutionary process from hobby to business.
After Nancy started creating her own natural skincare for herself and her family, she became obsessed with the chemistry of these remedies, and found the process of a healthier skincare routine to be pure bliss.
“Botanic Organic was born out of that bliss”.
Today we’ll be looking at Nancy’s Shopify store, Botanic Organic, and seeing what we can learn from her success.
Starting a Shopify Store - Botanic Organic Homepage Insights
#1. Congruent logo and Shopify store design
When it comes to showcasing your professionalism as a brand, it's important to be congruent in your Shopify store design (Check the PageFly Team curated Best Shopify Stores list). Botanic Organic have a simple logo that reflects their brand purpose. It sits neatly against a background of neutral tones, representing the same stripped back simplicity their products have.
When it comes to logo design, the simpler the better. You can easily make a similar logo yourself with Canva, or hop over to Fiverr to get one on the cheap. But please, don’t go spending $200 on one if you’re just starting out in eCommerce.
#2. Hero image
In case the logo, motto and design flew over your head, the hero image and the caption with it further solidifies the brand and what its about.
It’s important to make it abundantly clear who you are and what you do at first glance. Botanic Organic makes great use of the area “above the fold” (the area visible before scrolling) with striking photography and a carousel of images that call to action.
Note: The jury is still out on whether image carousels actually benefit your site or not. Studies seem to suggest that the impact is negative, providing a lower click through rate and user experience than a static image.
#3. Social proof on the Shopify homepage
Trust is the most valuable asset in eCommerce. Reviews and testimonials are just one of the ways to build this trust and credibility as an industry leader.
Botanic Organic have chosen to feature their reviews on the homepage. This is quite attractive as someone who isn’t familiar with the brand. The total number of reviews looks impressive, and clicking through the carousel offers insight on the quality of the products.
Note: If you’re using this method on the homepage, it’s important to provide as much information about the customer as you can. Name, image and even location are ideal. Remember, anyone can fake a review, but with more personal details the testimonial instantly has more credibility.
#4. Brand and product transparency
The text snippet briefly explains their commitment to organic ingredients, with an option to click through and learn more. When clicking through you’ll find an extensive list of ingredients including their benefit. The dense amount of information brings value to the reader, again building credibility and increased conversions through trust gained.
When it some to natural skincare, or running any online business for that matter, it’s important to practice being transparent and honest. Organic Botanic understand that to gain trust from their target audience, people need to know exactly what they’re putting on their skin.
#5. General testimonials
A little further down are some testimonials to the brand, and not specific product reviews. These testimonials are also transparent and personal, with the customer explaining her breast cancer journey and how Botanic Organic has impacted her life.
This is an incredibly smart move, as the raw, openness of the customer testimonial is exactly what the brand tries to embody with its organic and transparent ingredients.
When it comes to spending habits, we need emotional triggers to help us make buying decisions. The words of a cancer survivor can probably resonate in the hearts of the majority of us, in one way or another.
#7. Value added through blog content
Botanic Organic feature snippets from articles on the homepage, catching attention with a topic relevant to them. If you have blog content you’re proud of, don’t just hide it away in your header or footer navigation.
Featuring snippets wherever its relevant is more likely to warrant a click.
The power of a great blog is undeniable. It can drive traffic, educate the reader and convert into sales with the right incentive. But an important part of having blog content is positioning it to help your site visitors make a purchase decision.
#8. Tying socials to your website
Twitter remains one of the most widely used (and preferred) social platforms for many. Being present on social media gives users a space to share your products and their feelings towards them.
It also ads to your credibility as a brand. Botanic Organic must find it worth their while to stay active on Twitter and link it on their homepage. With 784 tweets and over 300 followers, it’s a decent effort that’s probably yielding some conversions.
#9. Content-rich footer
Footer’s are vital to any eCommerce store. Even if we don’t actively look at them as consumers, they verify a site’s safety with payment badges and legal pages.
But, they can also convert it many ways.
An email sign up can lead to conversions through a strong email campaign down the line.
A free shipping incentive can sway us towards making a purchase.
A cruelty-free badge can be the final piece needed to allow us to feel comfortable supporting the brand.
If your site visitor can’t find the information they need, the footer is the last place they’ll look for it before bouncing to a competitors site. Make it worth their while.
Botanic Organic Product Page Impressions
Simplicity reigns supreme
Staying true to their theme of simplicity, Botanic Organic product pages minimal with a focus on social proof and bringing value to the consumer.
From top to bottom, we have the product title, star rating, price and product information tucked away in tabs. This keep the page clean, giving users the option to click and expand for more info.
In the past, Google demoted tabbed content, which meant bots wouldn’t crawl the content and the result was harmful to your SEO practices.
Now it seems otherwise, with Gary Illys from Google stating on Twitter: “we index the content, its weight is fully considered for ranking, but it might not get bolded in the snippets. It's another, more technical question how that content is surfaced by the site. Indexing does have limitations."
There’s still lots of debate among SEO enthusiasts surrounding accordion and tab elements, and whether Google actually index them or not. But one thing is clear: if tabbed content offers your visitors a better experience, don’t be afraid to use it.
Tip: Use PageFly to drag and drop Accordion and Tab elements onto your Shopify product page to replicate a similar layout to Botanic Organic.
Unique approach to product reviews
I love it when brands approach eCommerce with a mindset of giving before taking. And I say this because there is huge value to be gained by the customer with this fresh approach to product reviews.
Reviewers can use sliders to rate specific aspects of the product they enjoyed or loathed, such as smell, effectiveness and potency.
It simplifies the review process, but also gives any prospects sitting on the fence more insight to make a purchase decision.
In this case they’re using Okendo Reviews from the Shopify app store, but considering the hefty price tag of $99/month, you could look into Loox Photo Reviews (free for Shopify developers).
Loox and Okendo let you offer a reward system every time a customer leaves a positive review on your Shopify site.
Valuable information over media diversity
From homepage to product page, there’s a common thread that ties all parts of this botanical skincare site together.
Images and videos are kept to a minimum, while descriptive and informative text is emphasized.
This might seem to contradict every eCommerce guru that claims images and video are the only way to increase engagement and user attention on your site. But, it just goes to show that depending on your niche and business model, you can find success by truly understanding what your customers need and providing it to them in a digestible format.
In Botanic Organic’s case, an essential part of this lies in educating the reader to follow better skin care habits by breaking free from chemicals and adopting nutrient rich ingredients.
What do you need to do in order to provide the most value to your audience?
Are you the guy that sells 64-bit microprocessors? Then you’ll likely need to devote more content to technical and spec related copy.
Or perhaps you’re in the business of homewares? Image and video rich content showcasing the beauty of your ornaments on display will probably yield more conversions.
Further Reading:
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