How Shopify Stores Utilise Online Sales Channels

You've got the ideal product, an intuitive Shopify store and a social media presence to die for, but things are still quiet. Sound familiar?

If the answer is yes, have no fear, Karmoon is here to lay out the reasons why store owners find cobwebs in the corners of their site after the essential steps to get a company off the ground have been taken.

So, if your company checks all of the boxes for ecommerce success but isn't generating the traffic it deserves, you might want to diversify the types of online sales channels that have been employed to sell your brand's products.

The first step is to head to the places where browsers hang out. For example, social media is one huge space on the net where many of us choose to spend our free time.

From scrolling through feeds and swiping through stories, the likes of Facebook and Instagram is where many of your store’s potential customers are hanging out.

Since consumers are voluntarily hanging out in these online spaces, it makes sense to take advantage of this marketing outlet and advertise to these audiences.

However, it’s not as easy as just setting up a profile and counting the dough.

For instance, let’s say you’ve already nurtured an Instagram business account that has generated a sizable and active following.

With every new product launch, your Instagram grid welcomes a new high-quality and on-brand upload.

As you’ve come this far, we guess that you'll have researched your way around Instagram demographics and media trends.

As a result, every upload pleases the algorithm, attracting attention and generating engagement from your audience. So, why are off-grid sales so slow?

Well, for consumers to be able to purchase a product from your store on Instagram, they must first head to your store's Instagram profile, click the link in bio and browse through multiple web pages to find the item that they’re looking for.

So, the answer to the question above is simply - make things easier. As we’re always saying here at Karmoon, if you want shoppers to purchase from your business, the key to generating orders is to make the sales process as simple as possible.

What if we told you that browsers would only need to tap twice to complete a transaction as opposed to tapping and swiping through several web pages?

How is this possible? By implementing Instagram as one of your store’s online sales channels.

Instagram is just one of the many ecommerce sales channels that merchants can add to their Shopify store and having many sales channels means fewer clicks to buy.

As we’re sure you’ve gathered, this example is just one of many that we could provide. So, for today’s guide, we are going to give you the lowdown on some of the greatest sales channels that are available to your business, their benefits and how to use them.

Avoid Fragmentation with Multiple Online Sales Channels

We know what you’re thinking, all sounds well and good on the surface, but managing your orders and inventory through Shopify alone is sufficient.

Why? Well, this way you won’t need to chase orders through the likes of social media platforms such as Instagram.

What’s our take? We couldn’t agree more! Understandably, merchants should want to take care of their store’s sales in one place, otherwise, things could get a little complicated, which is why we’re so happy to say that Shopify has got your back.

When merchants sell their goods through approved online sales channels, store owners can connect these channels to their store via Shopify apps and integrations.

As a result, this means that all of your store’s orders will go through the same inventory management system so that purchases and fulfilment statuses can be viewed within the Shopify Admin.

What’s more, Shopify provides unique dashboards for all ecommerce sales channels, meaning that businesses can consistently monitor channel analytics to analyse which platform is the most profitable.

The Options of Ecommerce Sales Channels

It's finally here, the moment that you’ve all been waiting for. See, every Shopify merchant has access to additional sales channels, ranging from large marketplaces to niche corners of the web such as Pinterest.

So, without further delay, here are a few of the most popular ecommerce sales channels across the web, beloved by online stores alike:

N0.1: Facebook Meta & Instagram

Price: Free to install (Optional ad spend).

Both Facebook Meta and Instagram make the task of selling Shopify products across the web as easy as pie. Within 15 minutes of adding the Facebook channel app to your store, we can guarantee that the Facebook Shop and/ or Instagram Shopping feature will be set up and ready to go.

In a nutshell, buyers will be able to purchase from your store without having to leave the application. In this event, all data and order information is sent immediately to the Shopify Admin.

N0.2: Buy Button

Price: Free.

The Buy Button channel app allows stores on Shopify to embed anything from a simple button to the equivalent of a full product page right into a blog post (or any other page type), with a little auto-generated snippet of HTML.

Buy Button supports individual products and collections, whilst offering shoppers a quick checkout option so that they won’t have to enter a store to complete their purchase.

N0.3: Shop

Price: Free.

With the help of the Shop channel tool, customers are not only presented with every order they've ever placed using the app, but are also provided with a highly personalised feed of shopping recommendations and offers based on their previous purchase history.

Additionally, brands tagged as ‘Favourites’ within the application will also flag up to users.

The following are some of the key advantages of connecting the Shop channel app with a store on Shopify:

• Shop Pay allows customers to check out faster.
• Order tracking that is both attractive and simple to understand is accessible.
• Merchants can customise their profile and products at any time with a ‘mobile storefront’.
• Shop channel product recommendations can stimulate rediscovery.
• Post-purchase offers are tailored to consumer preferences.
• Audience, checkouts and marketing metrics can be analysed in depth.

N0.4: Google

Price: Free to install (Optional ad spend).

Merchants can list products on Google for free, thanks to the Google channel app.

With this tool, stores on Shopify can make the checkout process a breeze for customers by implementing helpful Buy on Google buttons.

To increase the visibility of your store’s listings, we’d recommend using ‘Smart Shopping’ ads, which are essentially Google Ads campaigns for the products you'd like customers to view the most.

To make Google one of your store’s online sales channels, simply download the Google channel app, sync up your desired products to the software and set your daily budget so that Google can optimise and distribute the campaign with the most effective locations and times.

N0.5: Pinterest

Price: Free to install (Optional ad spend).

Pinterest, the mother of all mood board users, introduced Buyable Pins exclusively in cooperation with Shopify back in 2015, allowing businesses to turn every moment of visual inspiration into a soft selling opportunity.

Rich Pins (or Product Rich Pins) allow merchants to integrate up-to-date product data with Pinterest in just a few clicks.

This feature allows customers to verify product details such as pricing and quantity within the pin before clicking 'Visit Site’ before browsers are directed to a product page on site.

N0.6: TikTok

Price: Free to install.

While any merchant can download the TikTok application and create enthralling video ads for their store’s products, retailers on Shopify will need to request early access to make use of the Shopping feature specifically.

Want to know more? Here's everything you’ll need to know about TikTok Shopping, including why it might be your ticket to virality among Gen Z and how to join the first wave of merchants to implement the new shopping experience into their business.

Eligibility for Online Sales Channels

Different sales channels have variable eligibility requirements, so you might need to make changes to your store's settings to be able to make use of them.

If a sales channel shows as ‘Unavailable’ in the Shopify Admin, click ‘ I can't connect to this channel’ to uncover what adjustments need to be made.

So, what are your thoughts on our guide to how stores on Shopify utilise online sales channels? Reach out and let us know.

If you’re actively looking to work with a Shopify agency designer or developer to assist you with your business, we’d love to hear from you. Get in touch to get started!