Increasing sales in a Shopify fashion shop comes down to two main points: driving targeted traffic and increasing conversions. To implement these goals, online vendors need to plan a holistic and data-driven marketing strategy. This is the most effective and efficient way to understand how to increase sales on Shopify and improve profits.

In this article, we have created a list of marketing tactics for you to try.

They will definitely help your business achieve its revenue goals. Now let’s put them under our microscope one by one and see which one fits your business best.


1. Get them where they are

With over 1 billion people using Instagram at least once a month and 81% of Instagram users using their feed to discover new brands and look for inspiration on what to buy, how can you monetize the trend? 

The easiest and most direct way is to turn your Instagram into a Shoppable feed.

While the feature is still relatively new, it has become indispensable for e-commerce owners. 

Thanks to Instagram Shoppable Posts, you can have a free showcase on one of the main social channels used in the world, with the opportunity to increase sales of their products without having the user leave the Instagram environment. 

Using apps like Snapppt, you can turn your Instagram feed into a store that can handle shopping from within Instagram, as Snapppt will turn your link in the bio (the only link you can make active on Instagram) into an interactive feed that will allow your users to purchase products on the social network. Not bad, right?

2. Let them do the marketing for you

The best marketing strategy, meaning the one that always works to get more customers, is word of mouth. After all, people only spread the word if they are satisfied with your products: and who does not trust the advice of friends and family? To say this another way, based on data:

  • Consumers are 4 times more likely to buy when they get referred by a friend/family member – Nielsen
  • 81% of U.S. online consumers’ purchase decisions are influenced by their friends’ social media posts, versus only 78% who are influenced by the posts of the brands they follow on social media. – Market Force
  • 84% of consumers say they either completely or somewhat trust recommendations from family, colleagues, and friends about products – making these recommendations ranked highest for trustworthiness. – Nielsen

Well, in the face of this good news, there is, however, one less positive thing you should know about. Despite the fact that many satisfied customers would like to tell their friends about your product or service, the truth is that very few of them actually do. Why?

Because your customers are forgetful, have no drive, or no strong motivation to actually do it. 

This is exactly why you should act on it, and give them that little extra push by developing your own referral program.

In fact, a referral program can deliberately influence the word-of-mouth process by incentivizing customers to share your products with their friends. In turn, when their friends become your customers, they will be further encouraged to share your product with their friends, building a sort of endless viral loop that continues to send traffic and sales to your store.

Like a loyalty program, setting up a referral program is easy. You can quickly set one up using a Shopify app like ReferralCandy to start your own referral program. Good luck!

3. Conversion rates, the realm of A/B 

Why did I start by mentioning A/B testing? Because when we talk about CRO, we should test, test, and test some more.

After bringing users to your website, the second most important step is to get them to purchase. Instead of making assumptions, let data do the talking for you. Here are some elements you definitely need to test:

  • Titles and product descriptions. You’ll need to make sure they clearly promote your main products.
  • Different offers/discounts. Find out how effective they are and how you can best present them on your website. 
  • Long sales pages versus short ones.
  • Images and videos. Change and try different videos and images to highlight your products.
  • Page navigation and layout – here usually simpler is better.
  • Call-to-actions and buttons. Test the size of buttons and the visual arrangement of call-to-actions. For example, for a younger audience, a ‘get it now’ button text could work better than an ‘add to cart’.
  • Different logos, icons, colors and fonts.

Testing for conversion rates optimization is a never-ending process. But it’s easy, fast and always a good option to learn useful insights and train your creativity. 

4. We are social animals 

Understanding what ‘tribe’ means, is an important step in building a community around your brand. It means that a group of people are totally dedicated to your messages and products. They identify with them and feel part of your brand family.

Finding a way to convey and generate this sense of belonging to your followers and customers can be the key to increasing your value and make your brand more appealing. By turning yourself into the leader of the tribe, you’ll develop a special relationship with the people who already follow you and make you more appealing to others who may want to join the community.

Building a community around your brand is beneficial for sales and also helps with research, marketing, customer support and the overall strength of your online presence. Engaged users will show a higher likelihood to advocate for your brand and, ultimately, will purchase more and more often.

How to actually do it? Here are some tips:

  • Define who you are: what are your values? Understanding and stating clearly what your mission and vision is will help you to target the right type of users. Remember that your customers are not just purchasing a skirt, but buying into a lifestyle.
  • Get them to talk to each other: the difference between a community and a brand page is the following: while the communication of a page is focused on the brand and the product and is usually “pushed” to followers, in a community there is a mutual exchange, which leads to deeper involvement and therefore to user retention.
  • …and talk about them: ask your users to post pictures of them wearing your items, start a competition ‘who wore it best’, skip those pushy ‘salesy’ posts and in general switch the focus from the brand to your users.
  • Recruit a few key people and encourage them to act as ambassadors to spread your brand message. As your business grows, key group members will take on a more important role in recruiting new members and organizing initiatives.

5. Keep returns at bay

If you work in fashion, you are very aware of the plague of returns, and how badly they can impact your business. 

The uncertainty around getting the right size slows down the purchase flow and kills conversion rates, and handling returns is expensive. To give your fashion e-commerce a sales boost, try to implement a full sizing solution like Sizefox. With a 15-minutes set up and completely free of charge, it might be the quickest (and cheapest!) way to increase your sales in Shopify.

6. Increase Average Order Value

We are all aware that competition in the advertising space is on the rise and getting a customer to land on our e-commerce page is getting more expensive by the day. For this reason, once you have managed to capture the attention of a shopper, you want to make sure that their purchase is a substantial one. Increasing AOVs is an art, but not black magic. 

From offering product bundles to upselling, to discounts and VIP programs, there’s plenty of strategies to test. As in life, balance is important. You don’t want to give your user the feeling they ended up on a spammy website by overdoing it. If you want to learn more, read the pro tips for increasing your average order values or take a look at our reviews of the best Shopify Apps for clothing stores.

7. Verified Payment Systems, Trust Seals and Free Shipping

Good relationships are based on trust. Building trust is a great way to improve online sales. You can do this by displaying trust seals and working only with well-known payment systems. This small detail can make a huge difference in building trust between you and your leads.

There are a number of case studies that also highlight the benefits of adding verification seals, such as VeriSign and Symantec SSLs. People want to feel secure when shopping online. Blue Fountain Media reported a nice 42% increase in sales simply by adding the VeriSign seal to their checkout page.

Shipping costs can also have a huge impact on your conversion rates. A survey conducted by Forrester found that high shipping and handling costs are the number one reason for cart abandonment.

Most users are looking for the most trustworthy offer from the most convenient source, and having a free shipping policy will most likely give your shoppers that extra push. 

Increasing sales is about finding what drives people to your Shopify fashion shop, what they are looking for, and how they behave. Knowing what’s blocking customers from purchasing by evaluating user interactions on your website can help you find points of improvement. Finally, knowing your users’ fears and concerns before they make a purchase, as well as what ultimately persuades them to make a conversion, are great ways to improve user experience and ultimately get more sales on Shopify. To support you with this, there’s plenty of apps to increase sales to be found on Shopify.

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