Not selling on Shopify? Causes and Solutions Summary

Conclusion: Priorities for Improvement

This article is based on practical experience. I am aware that what I am saying differs from typical articles, but I have compiled it in the order that has the highest reproducibility in the field.

The problem of "not selling" exists across a wide range of stores, from those with monthly sales of tens of thousands of yen to those with hundreds of millions.

To conclude, the priorities for improvement are as follows:

1. Increase CVR (Conversion Rate)
2. Confirm if the average order value is viable for the business
3. Increase traffic

In this article, I will explain specific measures in line with these priorities.

Sales Formula

Sales = Traffic × CVR × Average Order Value

Everyone knows this formula, but the measures needed will vary completely depending on where the problem lies. And some things can be improved, while others cannot.

1. Increase CVR (Highest Priority)

CVR is the metric that should be improved with the highest priority. There are two reasons for this.

First, CVR can be improved by how products are presented and communicated. While traffic depends on advertising costs and average order value is influenced by market prices, CVR can be increased through our own efforts.

Second, increasing CVR expands the range of advertising options available. A high CVR allows for a higher CPA cap, enabling advertising on more ad platforms and for highly competitive keywords.

Here are some key points for improving CVR:

Product Page

• Catchphrase ★★★
• Quality of product photos ★★★★
• Number of product photos ★★★★★
• Product description ★★★★★
• Presentation of price ★★
• Presence and presentation of reviews ★★

The product page is essentially the First Landing Page (FLP) on an e-commerce site. There is no end to how products are presented and sold, and simply copying other companies will not differentiate you. It is important to be original and carefully explain parts that other companies haven't fully described.

Whether to create a clean or unique page, the product page alone defines the brand image of your store. It is not uncommon for sales to jump with just one catchphrase.

We often see Shopify stores that "just add reviews and call it a day," but e-commerce savvy companies also include sales results.

Overall Site

• Page load speed ★★★
• Mobile responsiveness ★★★
• Navigation design (category structure, searchability) ★

Page load speed is often overlooked, but it affects SEO, advertising, and CVR. If this is handled poorly, no matter how good your product is, customers will be stressed and go to other stores.

Trustworthiness

• Company profile / Specified Commercial Transactions Act page ★
• Payment options ★
• Clear display of shipping conditions (days, fees) ★★
• Clear display of return policy ★

It's often said to "increase trustworthiness," but honestly, its priority is low. If you haven't yet clearly displayed shipping conditions, it will be effective. For other items, if you are doing what is standard on Shopify, there are no particular problems. Regarding payment methods, if you don't have post-payment options, definitely introduce them.

Sales Promotion

• Coupon strategies ★★★★
• Free shipping threshold setting ★★★
• Sales events ★★★

The quickest way to increase CVR is through discount promotions. Shopify offers standard blog and discount features. There's a reason for this.

Also, seasonal events (sales, campaigns) are highly effective motivators for purchase.

Checkout

• Optimize checkout settings ★

Shopify updated its customer accounts in January 2023. While the goal is enhanced security and B2B support, the new accounts require activation, meaning customers need to enter a one-time password before shopping. For B2C stores, this only leads to abandonment, so careful setting is required. While hearing "traditional" might make you uneasy, if you're doing B2C in Japan with Shopify, use the traditional customer accounts.

Also, regarding the choice between 1-page and 3-page checkout, try 1-page for low-priced items and 3-page for high-priced items.

2. Confirm Average Order Value

Average order value is something to "confirm," not "improve."

It is fundamentally impossible to control average order value through sales techniques. Each product has a market-driven price range (sweet spot), which is also affected by economic conditions. For example, T-shirts tend to sell well for under 2,000 yen—that's the general market price. It's a different story if you have brand power, but there's no end to that discussion.

What needs to be confirmed here is whether the business can be sustained with that average order value.

Example Calculation

• CVR is at most 2-3%
• Access required to acquire one purchase: 30-50 people
• If the purchase unit price is 3,000 yen and the advertising cost ratio is 30% → CPA cap is 900 yen
• Even with a CPC of 30 yen, 30 people bring it right to 900 yen

If the purchase unit price is 5,000 yen

• Purchase unit price 5,000 yen, advertising cost ratio 30% → CPA cap 1,500 yen
• Dividing by 30 people, the CPC cap is 50 yen
• When it was 3,000 yen, the limit was a CPC of 30 yen, but now up to 50 yen is acceptable

With a CPC of 30 yen, the ads displayed daily are limited, but if you can spend 50 yen, the number of impressions can jump several times depending on the keywords. This means that increasing the average order value has the potential to multiply sales several times over.

Rather than fighting by cutting advertising costs for low-priced items, it is a better path for growth to increase the average order value and create a structure where you can invest in advertising.

Low-priced products inevitably require a high level of operation. If CVR and CPC are not managed strictly, the business will fail.

If this calculation shows that it's not profitable, it's a quicker route to consider bundle sales or switching to higher-priced products.

3. Increase Traffic

Traffic is the last priority because it can be controlled as much as you want as long as you have advertising budget. If you're willing to accept a loss, you can increase it today. That's why, unless you first optimize CVR and average order value, you'll just be pouring money into advertising.

Your own EC store is forced to rely on advertising

For initial stores without brand recognition or stores with small sales, it's not realistic to attract traffic without advertising. Unlike marketplaces, your own EC site has almost no organic traffic.

SEO and SNS are important as medium- to long-term strategies, but they don't offer immediate results. I understand the desire to "sell without using ads," but the conventional approach is to first generate sales with ads and then invest those profits into SEO and SNS.

Choose advertising media based on the product

Advertising has its strengths and weaknesses, due to the level of purchase involvement.

SNS ads aim to drive purchases by making people "want to see" the product. However, products with high purchase involvement (high price, requiring consideration) are not impulse purchases, so they are not very compatible with SNS ads.

Products purchased with a purpose → Search Ads (Google Search)

These are products that people search for and buy when they have decided "I want ○○." This category includes most products like interiors, home appliances, PC accessories, and miscellaneous goods. Search ads are the main battleground. For low-priced items, there is also the option of adding SNS ads.

Products purchased based on image → SNS Ads (Meta, TikTok)

These are products that make people "want" them upon seeing them. Apparel and cosmetics are prime examples. Sales won't grow as expected with search ads. SNS ads are the main battleground.

Determine which is the main battleground for your product.

Expand while maintaining ROAS

The advertising strategy for an initial store is simple: maximize sales by continuously running ads as long as they generate profit. That's all there is to it.

ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) is a metric that indicates "how much sales were generated relative to advertising costs." The formula is "Sales ÷ Ad Spend × 100." For example, if ad spend is 100,000 yen and sales are 500,000 yen, the ROAS is 500%.

Many stores decide that their "advertising budget is up to ○ yen per month," but this stems from two misconceptions. One is treating advertising costs as a "cost." If the ROAS is good, ad spend is an investment that generates sales, and increasing it will increase sales. The other is taking seriously the sales pitches from ad agencies and media owners like "Let's start from ○ yen per month." They have their own agendas, but that shouldn't be the basis for your company's budget.

If the ROAS is good, there's no need to set a cap on advertising costs.

Therefore, it is important to increase CVR and maintain ROAS. When CVR increases, CPA decreases, allowing you to acquire more purchases with the same advertising cost. As a result, ROAS improves, creating room to further expand advertising.

Summary

For improving Shopify store sales, the ironclad rule is to tackle it in the order of CVR → Average Order Value → Traffic.

CVR is the most controllable metric through your own efforts, and an increased CVR expands the range of advertising options. Start with what you can do, such as refining product pages, optimizing page load speed, and implementing coupon strategies.

Average order value is something to confirm, not improve. Calculate whether your current average order value can cover advertising costs and if the structure is profitable. If it's not, it's a quicker route to consider bundle sales or switching to higher-priced products.

Traffic can be increased as long as you have advertising budget. That's why you need to optimize CVR and average order value first. As long as ROAS is good, there's no reason to set a cap on advertising costs.

Turning "not selling" into "selling" is not about flashy measures, but about the accumulation of steady improvements.