If you're thinking, "I'm not getting sales, what do I do?", you're not alone. Some eCom Babes students face this problem when starting out - it's totally no big deal. The good news is, there's always a reason — and that means there's a solution.
However, it's important to shift your mindset away from feeling powerless. Frustration is natural, but it's also a signal that it's time to take action. Everything in business is cause and effect. If your store isn't getting sales, it's your job to find where the issue lies and focus on solving the actual problem. Progress comes from taking ownership and systematically addressing the challenges you face.
Think of this as detective work. Focusing on the entire picture as a whole can be overwhelming and not particularly useful. Instead, break it down, diagnose specific aspects of your store, and solve the smaller, manageable problems. This ability to focus and take deliberate action to find and fix the issues is what will separate those who eventually succeed from those who stay stuck. This guide takes you through a diagnostic flow, step by step, to help pinpoint the issues and fix them.
If a store's average conversion rate is 3%, that means on average you will get 3 purchases per 100 visitors. The less traffic you have, the more unstable the conversion rate is since it's not perfect. Meaning you may get zero purchases on your first 250 visitors and 9 purchases on visitors 251-300. If you're a complete beginner, your conversion rate might be even worse than that. It's important to know this to set proper expectations for diagnosing your problems. Take ownership, approach it step by step, and recognize that every issue has a solution if you are willing to dig in and find it.
There is an equation to making money in eCommerce and it looks like this
product selection + the traffic quality + the traffic volume + the store design + product page design + product pricing = you have a winner and you make money.
You can have everything BUT one of those things and your store won't work or wont work well. Usually we see its a combination of missing one of those elements that is the problem, it's usually not just one thing.
So if you aren't making sales you must understand its not because the eCommerce gods are against you, it's because you are missing a key part of the equation. It's your job to focus and figure out which one it is. So let's dive in.
Step 1: Check Traffic 🚗
Problem: Not enough traffic
How to Know: If you aren't consistently getting hundreds of sessions per week, you may not have enough traffic. Typically, 500-1,000 visitors without any purchases is a sign that traffic volume could be a problem.
Action Steps
Review Paid Ads: Make sure you are running ads exactly as laid out in the program. Quality traffic comes from properly targeted ads, not from boosting posts.
Leverage Affiliate Method: Use the affiliate method as taught in the program. Partnering with relevant influencers and affiliates can help increase traffic from credible sources.
Avoid Boosting Posts: Boosting Instagram posts may increase visits, but they are often low quality. Instead, focus on targeted ad campaigns as taught.
Organic Efforts: Work on organic strategies, such as consistent posting on social media, engaging with your target audience, and collaborating with influencers who align with your brand.
Step 2: Assess Traffic Quality 👀
Problem: Traffic quality is low.
How to Know: If you are getting 500-1,000 visitors but have zero purchases, poor traffic quality is likely an issue. Additional indicators include high bounce rates, low add-to-cart rates, and low average session times.
Action Steps:
Refine Ad Targeting: Make sure you are targeting the right demographics and interests. Poor targeting will bring irrelevant traffic.
Refine Ad Optimization Event: Make sure your ads are running for "conversions" not traffic. This is a common mistake we see.
Use Proper Affiliate Channels: Are you partnering with affiliates who align with your target audience? Make sure affiliates are reaching the right demographic to improve traffic quality.
Analyze Traffic Sources: Use analytics to see where your traffic is coming from. If most of your traffic is coming from non-targeted sources, you need to adjust your ad and affiliate strategy to ensure quality over quantity.
Step 3: Evaluate Store Conversion 💰
Problem: You're getting traffic, but it's not converting.
How to Know: If your conversion rate is consistently below 1%, or if visitors aren’t adding items to their cart, your store may have a conversion issue.
Action Steps:
Where are you sending traffic?: Send customers to a specific product page not a general home page
Improve Product Positioning: Ensure that your product descriptions are clear, compelling, and targeted at your ideal customer.
Check Pricing: Compare your pricing to competitors. If your product is priced too high or low, it may be affecting conversions.
Perform a Test Order: Go through the process yourself, on both desktop and mobile, to identify any potential pain points.
Focus on Add-to-Cart Behavior: Check whether users are adding items to their carts. If not, work on improving the attractiveness of your product offering through better descriptions, images, or pricing strategies.
Step 4: Optimize Store & Checkout Experience 🏦
Problem: Broken store or checkout process.
How to Know: If customers are adding items to their cart but not completing checkout, or if you've received complaints about issues during checkout, there may be technical problems. High cart abandonment rates are another indicator.
Action Steps:
Run Test Orders: Perform multiple test orders to make sure there are no glitches or friction in the process. Refund them when done.
Make Shipping Free: Start with free shipping if possible. Shipping costs are one of the main reasons customers abandon their carts. Reducing friction here can help increase conversions.
Step 5: Improve User Experience on Mobile 📱
Problem: Bad user experience on mobile.
How to Know: If your analytics show high bounce rates or very low conversion rates specifically from mobile users, your mobile experience needs attention.
Action Steps:
Optimize Layout for Mobile: Ensure the store is easy to navigate on mobile, with clear buttons, minimal text, and responsive design. Most of your traffic will likely come from mobile, so make it seamless.
Test Mobile Navigation: Regularly test your store on different mobile devices to ensure a smooth experience.
Step 6: Increase Store Trust and Aesthetics 💕
Problem: Store lacks trust or looks unprofessional.
How to Know: If customers are reaching your product pages but leaving without interacting, or if you receive feedback about your store looking untrustworthy, this could be a trust issue. Low time spent on product pages is another indicator.
Action Steps:
Add Trust Badges: Display trust badges prominently on your product and checkout pages.
Highlight Social Proof: Include customer reviews, testimonials, or ratings. This can greatly improve perceived trustworthiness.
Improve Store Design: Make sure your store looks clean, professional, and modern. Use high-quality images and cohesive branding.
Clear Policies: Make sure your return and shipping policies are easy to find and clearly stated. This can help reassure hesitant customers.
Step 7: Optimize Product Pages 🎁
Problem: Product page needs work.
How to Know: If visitors are viewing product pages but not adding products to their cart, your product page needs improvement. High bounce rates or low engagement on product pages are key indicators.
Action Steps:
Model Successful Competitors: Find competitors NOT on Amazon. Look at the Facebook Ad Library to see which ads are running consistently for similar products. Search Google to find the top sellers for your product type. Competitors who have been running ads for a long time have likely invested thousands of dollars into figuring out what works—use this to your advantage.
Analyze Their Product Pages: Observe how they structure product descriptions, the type of images they use, and how they position their product. Identify the benefits they emphasize and the language they use to address customer pain points
Use Their Strategies as a Baseline: Use successful competitors as a starting point. Model the way they talk about the product, including phrases they use and the emotional triggers they hit. Adjust and adapt this to fit your brand.
Enhance Product Descriptions: Write clear and compelling descriptions that explain not just what the product is, but why the customer needs it. Draw inspiration from competitor descriptions to see how they connect emotionally with their audience.
Improve Visuals: Use high-quality images and videos from multiple angles. Remove any chinese letters or logos from your product images in canva.
Remove "Ships from": Remove the 'Ships from' field in the product variant completely. Leaving it visible, especially if it indicates shipping from China, can deter customers and significantly reduce conversions.
Review Pricing Strategy: Compare your prices to competitors just to get a feel. Pricing should align with the perceived value you’re providing. DO NOT price yourself to the bottom. There can be big differences in conversion from certian price points. For example \$47.99, \$50 and \$40 will all yield different conversion rates. Look at top sellers to see what price points are resonating with customers and test them. Remember, its a game of testing over time.
Enhance Product Descriptions: Write clear and compelling descriptions that explain not just what the product is, but why the customer needs it.
Improve Visuals: Use high-quality images and videos from multiple angles. If possible, include lifestyle photos that show the product in use.
Review Pricing Strategy: Compare your prices to competitors. Pricing should align with the perceived value you’re providing.
Step 8: Analyze Key Performance Indicators 📊
Problem: No clear indicators of progress.
How to Know: If you’re not tracking metrics like conversion rate, add-to-cart rate, or conversion rate, you’ll have no way of assessing your performance. Consistently low metrics without improvement are also a warning sign.
Action Steps:
Track Conversion Rate: Shopify’s built-in analytics to monitor your conversion rate. Set goals for improvement. But remember conversion rate is made of all the different components listed above.
Summary
The key to diagnosing a store that isn’t getting sales is systematically identifying bottlenecks. Whether it's a traffic issue, poor product fit, lacking store aesthetics, or a glitchy checkout process, this guide helps you troubleshoot each step of the way. Start with assessing traffic, refine your audience targeting, and focus on optimizing each aspect until you see the sales coming in. Consistency and a structured approach are key to turning your store into a success.
If you are still stuck after going through this list and want help in the Facebook group, here are the requirements for making a post that is actually useful for getting help:
Include the following in your post:
Store URL: Provide the link to your store so others can review it.
Product Focus: Specify which product on your store you are driving traffic to.
Marketing Efforts: Describe your marketing efforts in as much detail as possible. Include specifics on what platforms you are using, ad creatives, targeting methods, etc.
Metrics Overview: List your store metrics for the last 7, 30, and 60 days, including visitors, conversion rate, add-to-cart rate, and any other key metrics.
Reviewed Diagnostic Guide: Confirm whether you have reviewed this diagnostic guide and made adjustments as suggested.
Audience Targeting and Ad Performance: Include details about your audience targeting and how your ads are performing. This will help others provide more tailored advice.
Mobile Experience Feedback: Let us know if you've tested your mobile experience, what you found, and any changes you’ve made.
Competitor Analysis: Share any competitor analysis you’ve done, including how you’ve tried to model successful elements from their product pages or marketing.
By providing these details, you'll give the community enough context to help you more efficiently without the need for a lot of back and forth. The more detailed you are, the more effective the advice you receive will be.
Remember, the quality of the answer is directly related to the quality of the question.