Will Physical Stores Ever Become Extinct?

We Must Do A Better Job If We Want To Increase Sales

The more we can replicate the physical experience of shopping, the more successful your Shopify store can be.

Which means changing your mindset from just listing a bunch of products on a website…

And thinking about how the visitor browses and interacts at every step in the journey:

1. Problem Aware: “I want more vegan protein to build muscle”

2. Solution Aware: “I see there are a lot of vegan protein shakes and bars on the market”

3. Brand Aware: “I resonate with X brand because they share my values”

4. Product Aware: “This chocolate vegan protein powder could taste nice”

5. Offer Aware: “I get a 10% discount if I order today”

So your vegan Shopify store must act like an expert salesperson to guide your visitor through this journey (no matter which page they land on).

Step 1 - Brand Aware

The first step of your sales process is for your brand to make a promise to your ideal customers.

This means promising that your brand will be able to solve the problem they’re facing using one of your products.

Sometimes you have an overall brand promise like “we make high quality vegan supplements” and your products will solve more specific problems like “our chocolate protein powder tastes great”.

But it’s important to clearly articulate what your brand stands for on the homepage and throughout the store.

Step 2 - Product Selection

Your Shopify store needs to act like an expert retail assistant that helps the visitor select the right product for them.

This means using your collections page to clearly categorize your products and lead customers in the right direction.

If they’re looking for vegan protein, perhaps they could get it from both your powder or bars.

Think about why you would recommend a specific product to solve their problem.

Step 3 - Product + Offer

Once you’ve guided your visitor to a potential product, your virtual salesperson now needs to explain why it’s the right product for them and why they should take action now.

This means having all the information they need on the product page and you can use links to other areas of your website if needed.

For example, you might want to mention the 9 amino acids your protein powder contains and why that’s important by linking to an article (that opens in a new tab and leads them back to the product so they don’t get lost).

Then you should have an offer that gives them a reason to act now, for example “save 20% until Friday”.

Recreate The Ideal Shopping Experience

If you’re selling vegan supplements, then imagine what your ideal store experience would be like with the most amazing sales assistant.

What would you want to know about your ideal customer's goals, desires, and challenges?

How would you answer all their questions and guide them to the right product to solve their problem?

When you think of your Shopify store as a helpful sales assistant, it helps reframe how you present all the information on your website.