70% of Shoppers Read Reviews — Here Is What They Want to Know

Shopify Growth Newsletter #111

Why Shoppers Read Reviews, Shopify Checkout Deadline, and How to Maximize Your Exit Value  

Every time your mind attains a deeper level of understanding of your customers, new high ROI actions, opportunities, & investments reveal themselves.

Most online sellers don’t have a deep enough understanding of what their customers want to know before they buy from you.

(Much less have an understanding of how to turn first time buyers into loyal customers for life….)

I today’s Deep Dive, we’ll share 11 ways you can better understand your potential customers

And what you can add with that understanding to boost conversion rates on your product pages….🚀

Also in this issue for you:

  • Shopify’s New Checkout: When Should You Upgrade?

  • $0.07 USD More on Packaging Created This Store’s LTV Forever

  • How to Maximize the Amount You Eventually Sell Your Business For

  • Gary Vaynerchuk Approved Way For Kids to Learn Entrepreneurship

Let’s get into it.

 The Pulse

”Brilliant” - Gary Vee “I bought a dozen copies” - Russell Brunson
If you are a parent of a child ages 6 - 12, you can give your child access to an interactive online guide that creates a safe (but exciting!) way for them to explore entrepreneurship & basics of smart money management. (Things unfortunately NOT taught by most of our schools)
SPONSORED BY Kidpreneurs



The New Shopify Checkout: Should I Upgrade Yet?
Shopify is doing a major overhaul of its checkout. After August 13th, 2024 stores will no longer have access to checkout.liquid. Shopify scripts is already being deprecated. To help sellers prepare, a top ecommerce strategist shared his advice on when to upgrade.

Investing $0.07 USD Into Packaging Made This DTC Brand A Huge ROI
In a recent interview on eCommerce Fuel, the Founder of Sleekform.com shared how she made a small investment to optimize packaging. To her surprise, this investment created a massive impact on customer experience, customer retention, and word of mouth referrals.
Her biggest takeaway? “Focus on what customers actually touch.


Set Yourself Up Now For A Bigger Exit Value…

No matter how much you love your ecommerce store(s) — at some point you are likely to want to sell at least a piece of the business.

Never a bad idea to “cash out” on a lil on a good idea that was well executed through a lot of hard work & good fortune (enough of the time at least).

How you begin to set up for your eventual exit now can translate into hundreds of thousands of dollars more from earned in the sale.

[Sponsored Message From ExitDNA.com]

The Deep Dive

Before buying a product, up to 70%+ of all potential shoppers read at least some reviews

What kind of information are they really looking for?

Despite what you might think, they are NOT hunting for proof that your product is everything your page has cracked up to be.

The star rating is usually enough proof of quality for most potential buyers.

Instead, every shopper has questions about your product.

They want to know if it’s the right product for them.

Until their most important questions are answered, they can’t justify buying it.

They want your product to be the one so they can make their purchase and move on with their life….

….but the internet is a big place.

If they aren’t sure your product checks their key boxes — they know a bit more searching will lead them to another store. One that does answer their questions

More often than not, when potential customers check reviews, they’re looking for answers.

Luckily, most shoppers questions fall into the same smattering of categories.

Once you are aware of these, you can help make the answers to these questions clear and easy to see for all visitors to your product pages.

That way no one has to scan through pages of customer testimonials to find their answers.

You have the power to display key answers prominently on your store.

Here are 11 answers you should provide and where to display them:

  1. The Pain It Solves

Every shopper comes to your store with a problem (or a desire). Their first mission is to find the product that can fix it (or fulfill it).

This is why one of the first statements in your product description needs to describe what the product does for your ideal customer.

And then really, most of the rest of the page works to support, prove, and elaborate on the benefits of that statement.

  1. Its Size

Display product dimensions in the description, including the height, width and depth. Show them in both metric and standard.

If you can, provide a photo or two that shows visual comparisons to everyday products. For example, if you’re selling buttons, you can show a picture of one of the buttons next to a nickel.

You can even “do a silly one” to try get a chuckle out of your visitors.

Or, probably even better, include a comparison photo that includes some other product(s) you sell to help better upsell and/or cross sell to a higher percentage of your buyers.

  1. Common Use Cases

Clear product descriptions help your potential customers envision how they will use your product.

For example: This model of our backpack can fit laptops up to 15”

You can also include photos of models using your product in its most common ways.

  1. Specific Use Cases

Some products require more detailed design specifications.

Especially if it is an item that might get travelled with; specific size dimensions as well as if it can be in a carry on or if it has to be checked are important.

Whether it is weight or age recommendations or even a warning for specific ways to NOT use the product….

….these can often be stuck in right after the ‘Common Use Cases’

  1. Shipping Costs and Times

Display the shipping costs and delivery times as early as possible in the buying process. Even if it is just a standard (or a “generous”) estimate; adding it to your product pages in a modest way will help.

Notice how Amazon now displays this information right under the purchase button.

  1. How to Set It Up

For products that require any sort of set up, provide a demonstration video.

If your product comes with a manual, provide a downloadable version on your product page.

Not everyone is that handy or technical. Give them confidence that they can do it if they buy it.

  1. What It Looks Like

To minimize returns, display multiple product images. Vary the angles and perspectives.

Help shoppers see what your product looks like as much as possible. The more accurate a representation you can share of your product; the fewer disappointed buyers you will have.

And that means less refunds & less bad reviews : )

  1. What the Technical Definitions Are

In your main listing of technical specifications, provide jargon free “layperson” definitions and explanations.

Use tooltips (typically the “i” or “?” icon) or a collapsable section to share deeper technical definitions and attributes.

  1. Release or Manufacturing Date

If you sell any sort of tech hardware or “internet of things” type of products, they often come in versions that are released over the years.

It is important to be clear on the page to share which version they would be purchasing.

If it is not the newest version you offer, mention that on the page and link to the latest version for them to consider.

  1. How It Compares to Similar Products

Comparison charts that display details of a variety of similar products help consumers decide which product is best for their situation.

Show details of similar products such as sizes, materials, and prices.

  1. Other Answers

The best way to make sure you answer all consumer questions is to display a Q&A section.

Allow consumers to post questions and reply with your answers.

You can do it lean and start it with email, social media, or live chat on your site. And add the most frequent questions as they come in.

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Wrapping Up (And Why Sam Walton Went To Jail In Brazil….)

These 11 ways can help you optimize your store’s design to answer the majority of the questions your potential customers have.

There is no limit to how detailed you can go with store design. You just gotta find the right balance between add more info without overwhelming visitors.

Don’t believe me when I say “no limit”?

Consider this:

Sam Walton (founder of Wal-Mart) was in a supermarket in Brazil and was arrested when he was spotted behaving strangely by a few policemen.

It was an easy arrest for the police because he was already lying on the ground when they approached him.

His friend who bailed him from jail asked him about the incident.

Sam replied that people seemed to love their time in the store because they didn’t feel stressed or cramped in the store.

I was measuring the distance between the aisles. It matters to shoppers…even if they don’t consciously realize it.”

This level of attention to detail to delivering on things their customers care about is one of the reasons Walmart became the largest supermarket on the planet.

Unfortunately, we can’t lie down on the floors of our Shopify stores to gain deeper understanding of our customers.

But there are other ways we can experiment with our store design to welcome in more sales.

The 11 listed above are a good place to start 💯

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