Shopify & Ecommerce Ramblings

A blog about building and extending awesome Shopify stores

Hope Is Not A Tactic - Take Action!

Hope Is Not A Tactic - Take Action!

by Ross Allchorn 3 min read

While hope can be a valuable motivator, relying on it as a strategy for success can be dangerous. Without action, hope can quickly turn into wishful thinking or even complacency. It is not enough to simply hope for a better future - we must actively work to create it.

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Survival of the fittest - Adaptability is key

Survival of the fittest - Adaptability is key

by Ross Allchorn 2 min read

In the ecommerce landscape, technological advancements are crucial to the success of a business. Companies that fail to keep up with these changes risk falling behind their competitors. The introduction of smartphones and tablets, for example, led to the emergence of mobile commerce. Ecommerce businesses that didn't optimize their websites for mobile devices lost out on a huge customer base.

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How hot tubs make the case for feature-rich REVIEWS.io

How hot tubs make the case for feature-rich REVIEWS.io

by Gabi Falanga 7 min read

REVIEWS.io’s Rich Ball talks about hot tubs, the benefits of video reviews, and how to handle negative and fake reviews.

What do hot tubs have to do with customer reviews? Quite a lot according to REVIEWS.io’s Rich Ball. Rich introduces himself as the brand’s marketing and brand manager, even though his email signature claims he’s a senior front-end developer. Turns out, he’s a man of many talents filling both roles.

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We’re just Shopify Experts, standing in front of aspiring (multi) millionaires, asking them to…

We’re just Shopify Experts, standing in front of aspiring (multi) millionaires, asking them to…

by Daniel Connor 2 min read

...build their Shopify store on a solid foundation.

Disclaimer: This article was written in the month of loooove, which is the motivation behind the theme herein. We are not marriage counselors nor do we provide professional dating services. We are Shopify Experts and only our advice on things ecommercey in nature should be taken seriously.

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Ecommerce in the metaverse… MetaCommerce?

Ecommerce in the metaverse… MetaCommerce?

by Daniel Connor 4 min read

The Facebook company is now called "Meta" and they are creating the metaverse. One thing’s for sure: Wherever consumers are… online, offline, or in the metaverse, there will be commerce. MetaCommerce WILL be a thing. It kind of already is.

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Shopify Ecommerce Store Teardown #1 - Kincaid's is Music

Shopify Ecommerce Store Teardown #1 - Kincaid's is Music

by Ross Allchorn 1 min read

Kincaid's is Music was the winner of our survey competition held in late 2021 and with so many musos on our team, their story really "resonated" (huh, see what I did there?) with us.

One of the prizes was a teardown video by me and also $300 credit with TaskHusky. The video is on the other side of the jump, and I hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed making it.

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Festive season readiness: How to get everything ‘wrapped’ up before Christmas

Festive season readiness: How to get everything ‘wrapped’ up before Christmas

by Gabi Falanga 4 min read

Jingle bells, analytics sells! Christmas is only a few weeks away and of course, you want your online store to attract and maintain customers during this period. Shopify and Google each offer analytics that will help you to understand how shoppers use your store and where it needs to be improved.

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Setup your ecommerce calendar checklist or die...

Setup your ecommerce calendar checklist or die...

by Daniel Connor 3 min read

...a little inside every time you miss an opportunity.

Setting up your online store’s calendar checklist, then acting on it timeously, is a strategic mindset that can boost conversion rates throughout the year. Ok, it won’t kill you not to, but that’s bordering on double negative. If you’d rather hit your targets… Follow me!

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How Buffer adds sparkle to social media marketing

How Buffer adds sparkle to social media marketing

by Gabi Falanga 6 min read

Amanda Marochko is the head of strategic partnerships at Buffer – which offers a set of social media marketing tools. She talked to ShopCreatify about how ecommerce merchants can integrate Buffer with their Shopify stores to easily plan, create and execute content marketing strategies. Marochko worked at Shopify for three years before moving to Buffer early in 2020. She was ShopCreatify’s partner manager and had met founder and CEO, Ross Allchorn, during her visits to South Africa.

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Prepare your store for Black Friday

Prepare your store for Black Friday

by Gabi Falanga 6 min read

Being well-prepared for BFCM means that your site will be ready for the subsequent Halloween and festive season gifting period when you’ll no doubt want to maintain high quality of customer service while coping with the influx of sales. Knowing that your platform is sound and optimized to convert the maximum sales, and that your marketing strategies have been working hard for you in the lead up to BFCM, will allow you to focus your energies where they’re needed on the big day.

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Troubleshooting a low conversion rate

Troubleshooting a low conversion rate

by Gabi Falanga 4 min read

Your store might have a lot of traffic, but that’s no use if it isn’t converting into sales. There are many reasons this might be happening. We take a look at how to diagnose conversion rate issues and what some of the most common problems are. There are various tools you can use to figure out why your store isn’t converting and once you’ve established what the problems are, you can make changes yourself or employ conversion rate optimization specialists to assist you.

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Creating key pages for your Shopify store

Creating key pages for your Shopify store

by Gabi Falanga 4 min read

There are a few pages that are essential to have when you create an online store, such as the home, about, contact, frequently asked questions (FAQ), and policy pages. These give your customers information about your business, how to get in touch with you, and why they should trust you. These pages might not change much (like product pages do) but it’s important to use them to portray a professional image.

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Keeping customers post-Covid

Keeping customers post-Covid

by Gabi Falanga 5 min read

Online shopping exploded during the coronavirus pandemic as customers started shopping online more. Some stores reported unheard of increases in business. The vaccine rollout in the US might see the return of some semblance of normality. So what will merchants do to retain new customers from the past year? We look at ways to sustain this growth and make sure that short-term customers become long-term ones.

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Automate your emails, save yourself a ton of time.

Automate your emails, save yourself a ton of time.

by Gabi Falanga 6 min read

Email automation for strategic gifting season marketing

In the mad rush to get everything done, automation can give you back some time. One simple and effective step is to automate your emails.

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Taking risks and accepting failures: Grip6’s journey to success

Taking risks and accepting failures: Grip6’s journey to success

by Gabi Falanga 6 min read

BJ Minson, founder of Grip6 inspecting his product made in USA

Taking risks, accepting failure and doing things himself are all part of Grip6 founder BJ Minson’s recipe for success. The American belt manufacturer, and ShopCreatify client, sold 350,000 belts in 2019. BJ Minson talks belt flaps, Chinese manufacturing, and marketing mess-ups.

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Why you should be focusing on BFCM right now

Why you should be focusing on BFCM right now

by Ross Allchorn 7 min read

Focus on BFCM
Photo by Kevin Ku

BFCM and the subsequent gifting season is the period when many merchants see the lion’s share of their annual sales in the year, and could be the much needed monetary relief that many are relying on. While we cannot predict how things will be for merchants during this holiday season, it does appear that it could be a favorable one for ecommerce again. 

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Ecommerce booms in face of Covid-19

Ecommerce booms in face of Covid-19

by Gabi Falanga 4 min read

Roddy Smith - Spently

According to Roddy Smith, Director of Sales and Partnerships for Spently, many of the latest changes in ecommerce will last well after the virus has been overcome.

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Tips to using your time wisely during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Tips to using your time wisely during the COVID-19 Pandemic

by Ross Allchorn 6 min read

Working from home during COVID-19 Pandemic

Photo by Roberto Nickson

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses are left with an uncertain future. Many brick and mortar businesses have closed their doors indefinitely (some will reopen, others not so lucky), and retailers are looking to ecommerce to secure their brand a future.

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Primer on Ecommerce Automation

Primer on Ecommerce Automation

by Ross Allchorn 6 min read

Ecommerce Automation

Shopify store automation apps free up your time, prevent errors, and create a better customer experience.

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Get your Ecommerce Store Black Friday ready

Get your Ecommerce Store Black Friday ready

by Ross Allchorn 6 min read

BFCM 2019 Shopify

The question on the minds of everyone running an Ecommerce business at this time of year is ‘Am I ready for Black Friday?’. As Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Halloween, and the Festive Season are looming, you need to be absolutely sure you can cope with the influx of sales without compromising on the quality of your customer service. You also need to have all your marketing ducks in a row to capitalise on this phenomenal opportunity to boost your online sales.

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Use real data from heat mapping to tweak your website for better conversions

Use real data from heat mapping to tweak your website for better conversions

by Ross Allchorn 6 min read

Do you know what areas of your home page get clicks?  How about what pages nobody scrolls down?  Heat maps help you make the most of your store layout.

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