Shopify & Ecommerce Ramblings

A blog about building and extending awesome Shopify stores

Customer reviews, the secret weapon to boosting your conversions

Customer reviews, the secret weapon to boosting your conversions

by Ross Allchorn 6 min read

Customer reviews are a valuable asset to any online store for a number of reasons (which we will be discussing); but so many stores don’t leverage them properly, or are too afraid to open themselves up to the possibility of bad reviews. We’d like to run through why reviews are absolutely crucial to your online store, how to get them, and what to do with them - the good and the bad ones.

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A quick primer on Shopify integrations

A quick primer on Shopify integrations

by Gabi Falanga 4 min read

Found in translation: What you need to know about custom Shopify integrations. Shopify does a great job at straightforward Ecommerce. However, there are times when you will need to integrate with another system, be it an accounting package or an inventory management tool.

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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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The pandemic’s effects on ecommerce - survey results + video teardown

The pandemic’s effects on ecommerce - survey results + video teardown

by Daniel Connor 4 min read

Teardown a store, dissect a pandemic… break an egg.
You can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. So that’s what this article is about. We’re going to dissect our ‘pandemic’s effects on ecommerce’ survey and do a video teardown of our winner’s online store.

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The inside scoop on how to migrate your online store to Shopify

The inside scoop on how to migrate your online store to Shopify

by Gabi Falanga 4 min read

Outdated software, lack of integration, slow loading speed and limited features. These are just some of the reasons you might want to migrate your store to Shopify from a different Ecommerce platform. Migrating or ‘replatforming’ can potentially be complex, even if your store is basic, with limited products.

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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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Do you need a custom Shopify app for your store?

Do you need a custom Shopify app for your store?

by Gabi Falanga 4 min read

Shopify has everything a merchant needs to get their store up and running straight away. That includes an app store full of apps with various functionalities, which merchants can install on the platform to help meet their business’ needs. However, some merchants have unique requirements, which is why they might consider custom Shopify app development.

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Is a custom designed Shopify store worth it?

Is a custom designed Shopify store worth it?

by Gabi Falanga 5 min read

Shopify has a vast array of theme options which offer varying levels of customizability. Despite this, many merchants choose to have a fully custom designed store. This might be because they want it to look or function in a very specific way. Or perhaps they want more control over how it performs. The customization options are endless. 

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Mobile matters for conversion optimization

Mobile matters for conversion optimization

by Gabi Falanga 3 min read

Your customers’ experience of your Shopify store while on a mobile device is crucial to conversion optimization. Why is mobile so important? Mobile commerce was predicted to beat traditional ecommerce and in-store shopping in 2021 and to have the biggest retail sales growth of 12.2%, according to Shopify. It is estimated that 187.5 million people will shop via their smartphone in 2024: that’s 64% of all mobile device owners.

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Announcement — ShopCreatify and Realm Digital Join Forces

Announcement — ShopCreatify and Realm Digital Join Forces

by Ross Allchorn 1 min read

Ecommerce merchants around the world can now get the best of both worlds with the hyper-focused specialist approach on Shopify of ShopCreatify and the deep technical abilities and scale of Realm Digital.

With the Realm group currently consisting of Realm Digital, a software development & consulting operation, Snapplify, an edutech company originally incubated within Realm Digital, ShopCreatify will be the third entity under the umbrella.

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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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Powerful BFCM optimization on a budget

Powerful BFCM optimization on a budget

by Gabi Falanga 3 min read

ShopCreatify is offering Shopify merchants the chance to beef up their stores in time for (BFCM).There are a bunch of small enhancements we can do for you that will have massive gains. With a starting investment of around $6,000 we will scope your store to identify what will have the most impact in the available time and discuss how to implement it. Read on to get an idea of what we might land up working on with you.

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Our quick turnaround enhancements for BFCM

Our quick turnaround enhancements for BFCM

by Gabi Falanga 6 min read

We advise against tackling a project as big and complicated as a redesign so close to BFCM. However, there are several ‘smaller’ improvements we can make to your site  within a relatively short period of time to turn it into a big, mean, earning machine for BFCM. These tactics will lure new customers to your store for the big event, will make the most of existing customers, and will encourage shoppers to make the most of your fantastic deals.

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Shopify: Balancing automation with humanized digital connections

Shopify: Balancing automation with humanized digital connections

by Gabi Falanga 4 min read

We recently caught up with Shopify’s Hain Joubert who told us about exciting new Shopify features, gave sage advice for merchants, and discussed how the global pandemic has changed ecommerce, probably forever. Joubert was eager to reveal improvements and changes that are underway at Shopify. The platform’s fulfilment network is being revamped with better software and features that give merchants more control and flexibility in managing their orders. 

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What is a good conversion rate for my online sales?

What is a good conversion rate for my online sales?

by Jess Henson 3 min read

Every online business wants to go big. There's lots of competition. The conversion rate is a powerful way to beat it and build your business. But what is a good conversion rate and how do you improve on it? Remember that a conversion rate keeps rising with strategic, consistent, and incremental changes. Learn more about conversion rates, how to work them out and how to improve them on your online store.

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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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PODCAST: Why You Can’t Always Use Customer Journey Buying From Day One

PODCAST: Why You Can’t Always Use Customer Journey Buying From Day One

by Linda Lynch 1 min read

ShopCreatify founder, Ross Allchorn, returned to the Unprepared Podcast with Chase from Honest Ecommerce. This time they discussed the benefits of customer journey buying, how you can compare it with cross-selling, upselling, and bundling, attributions of sales and more. 

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“Should I use Shopify or Magento?”

“Should I use Shopify or Magento?”

by Daniel Connor 3 min read

Merchants looking to grow business online have a number of ecommerce platforms to choose from. Two of the most popular ecommerce platforms are Shopify and Magento. So, should you choose Shopify, or Magento?

Short Answer: There’s no best or worst platform. It’s about which ecommerce platform is best for YOUR business. And we’ve done the groundwork to help you decide…

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Use subscriptions to retain customers and improve revenue

Use subscriptions to retain customers and improve revenue

by Gabi Falanga 3 min read

There are many benefits to offering subscriptions in your ecommerce store. It provides financial and inventory predictability to your business and helps retain customers. Shoppers benefit from the convenience of repeat orders along with discounted products and services.

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