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EpochBG is a Registered Shopify Expert.

Please review below the Shopify and Amazon services we provide.  

Whether you're just starting or can't seem to achieve online traffic and sales EpochBG can help.

What EpochBG resolves setting you up on Shopify:

• Which base Shopify subscription model to chose from and why.
• Which Shopify template to use, setup, and why.
• Setting all Shopify's back-end account settings.
• Setting up SEO and Backlinks.
• Setting product variants properly.
• Optimizing call-to-action and minimizing click-to-cart. 
• Setting all the sales channels properly.
• Which Shopify and 3rd party apps to use and why.
• Customize Shopify font and color schemes to match your customer demographics.
• How to tweak the Shopify .liquid files and why.
• When to embed photo/video and when to link photo/video.
• How to become integrated with Amazon FBA.
• Setting up Google Analytics and Webmaster on Google's back-end properly.
• Setting up on Google Merchant Center via Shopify to Enable Google Shopping.
• Setting up Social Media (fb, Pinterest, etc) stores and Social Media Buy Buttons.

Not having the above done in a competent and professional manner will just result in a website that does not generate sales even if it does generate traffic. Most e-commerce sites, whether on Shopify, Squarespace, GoDaddy, etc suffer from this.

And importantly we can provide marketing and advertising services after your Shopify store is up and running.

Contact Us for more information

How Long Does it Take to Build a Shopify Store?

After you fill out our questionnaire, a basic store can be completed is roughly a half of day.  A basic Shopify store is a landing page, about us page, contact us page, Privacy page, Terms of Service page, Returns Page and blog.  Google Analytics, Search Console (google webmaster tools) and a google merchant account are all set up.  Payment systems are set up.  Total time to set up a Shopify store is highly dependent on the number of product SKU's you have and how you want to organize those SKU's.

So I just reviewed 549 Shopify stores over 3 days and here are the common problems I encountered during this informal survey. 

As a Registered Shopify Partner, I am constantly asked to review stores and give feedback to help increase conversion rates (sales). 

To become a more valuable consultant I conducted this informal study and offer my results to you for free.  The more complex issues hindering profitability of your store is what you should retain me for not these easily fixed issues.
 
The most common issues were:

• Store Contact Information (or Lack Thereof)

• Non-Existent or Broken Social Media Links

• Basic Presentation Issues

• Shipping Costs

Here are my observations to the general online store owners out there:
 
Store Contact Information (or Lack Thereof)
How come there is no “contact us” page on your store?
 
How come there is no business address or phone number?  Would you operate a brick and mortar store in the same fashion?  Is this a real business? How come you won’t give directions on how to get to your business?
 
How come on the “contact us” page there is no contact form?   This form is automated by Shopify and so easy to set up (Select page.contact when setting up the page).  Or, on the “contact us” page, there’s a contact form but there’s no text that states “we want to hear your thoughts” spiel, no email address, no phone number, nothing…. it’s just a contact form.   That’s so not professional or even polite.
 
Why is your email contact address a Gmail or Yahoo account?  Seems fishy that your official business contact email is not the same as your domain.
 
It would seem that a lot of store owners don’t run their online enterprise the same as they would run a brick-and-mortar store.  If you ran a brick-and-mortar store would you hide the mailing address to that store?   If you ran a brick-and-mortar store would you hide the phone number to the store or the directions to the store location?
 
Non-Existent or Broken Social Media Links
Why are the social media links are broken or do not exist at all?  Why would I buy from an e-commerce site that doesn’t work?   It's like going to a restaurant where the chef can’t cook or the auto mechanic can’t fix cars.
 
Why on the Facebook page don't you have an email contact address?
 
Presentation
Why is the text font is either too lite or too small or of some weird shape?  This makes it hard for the potential customer to read.
 
Why are so many stores going with a grey colored text on a white or black background?  Are these stores owners purposefully making the customer strain to read about goods or services offered?

Why is there pop up after pop up on the landing page? It’s annoying.  One pop up is fine but multiple pop-ups on the landing page truly distract the customer from actually making a purchase.  How do you know these pop-ups are doing something positive in terms of making an actual sale?
 
Why are so many online store menus confusing?  Menus should be as simple and of few words as possible.  
 
Make collections of your products so it's easy to find what the customer is searching for such as price ranges, colors, sizes, etc..  Collections work great on landing pages.  Use them.  Don’t show 500 products… Customers don’t have the patience.
 
The online store’s presentation should not be an art project.  If you want to know what I mean just look at Amazon‘s page.  Or Nordstrom’s.  Or REI’s. It needs to be simple, easy and quick-to-checkout-to-use, with quality images and error-free text.  

Apparently proofreading is not a high priority for a lot of store owners.
 
How is it possible in this day and age that you could have a website that is not responsive to different size screens or devices?  Again, this is an automated function on Shopify.  Why are so many stores stuck in the 1990’s?
 
Shipping Costs
Online retailing reality is that free shipping has become the norm in the US.  US Consumers now see shipping charges as a slap in the face.  Not having free shipping (at the very least at some dollar value) is a disadvantage for an online store.
 
Now every business has different economics but there has to be a way to (1) absorb the shipping costs to get the sale, or (2) adjust the item price to account for the shipping costs.  It's my experience that most store owners failing to address this issue simply do not understand the economics of their business. There are always exceptions to the rule but for the majority of consumer products free shipping of some form is a must.
 
Finally,
All of the above issues lead to a break in trust from a potential customer.  That’s why the customer will leave your site and go to a more trustworthy site, probably Amazon or the like, and ultimately not make a purchase from you.  Are you aware that 84% of all US online consumers check Amazon before making a purchase?
 
Hopefully, the above observations may help you fine tune your online store.

We can help fix all of these issues. And if you're starting from scratch we can help you with that too.
 
Contact us for marketing solutions to bring traffic to your store.

NEW!  Download Our Outside Amazon Marketing Program!

 

Do you know 54% of USA online shoppers start first by searching Amazon before searching anywhere else?  And that 84% of USA online shoppers will check Amazon before finally making a purchase?  So if you're not on Amazon, and NOT doing well as a seller there, chances are you are not going to achieve the goals you have set for yourself.

Amazon now controls over half of all online sales in the USA.

We grew out of a successful internet business focused on a more traditional business model of purchasing inventory and reselling on Amazon, eBay, and other marketplaces. What we found was a wide variation in the execution and ultimate success of merchants selling on Amazon themselves. This led to inconsistent sales for manufacturer’s products, driven primarily by less than ideal product listings, presentation of feature – benefits, media (photos – videos), marketing within Amazon, and product pricing.

In discussions with numerous small to mid-sized manufacturers, a business need was identified to provide a more effective infrastructure for presenting and selling products on the marketplaces. The manufacturers were not in the business of retailing their products, and even if they were the inherent channel conflict (they sell to distributor and wholesale - retailer accounts who are not keen on competing with the manufacturer) presents an obstacle. The missing piece was a solution to provide a professional approach to the sale of products on Amazon – one that doesn’t expose them as the retail seller. It also solves the typical issue of selling directly to Amazon which exposes the manufacturer to the whims and arbitrary approach of Amazon.

The solution was an infrastructure to allow the manufacturer to present their products on Amazon in the best possible way, sell more product and keep a higher share of the profit than selling to the traditional distributor or wholesale (retailer) channels while offering a better value proposition to the consumer.

Roles & Responsibilities

EpochBG's Responsibilities

• Build sales by designing and implementing:
• Effective product listings with rich “feature – benefits” detail
• Enhanced product listings with high-resolution photos and media
• Advertising programs to drive traffic from competitive products to our listings
• Grow brand and individual products by:
• Ensuring a uniform “look and feel” across all product listings
• Soliciting and managing positive product reviews and feedback that informs Consumers

Manufacturer Responsibilities

• Provide Inventory that is stored at Amazon warehouse(s).
• Inventory is always available to fulfill Amazon sales.
• Ship Inventory directly to Amazon master warehouses 
• Providing image files & copy content
• Assisting in escalated customer complaints and questions

Work Flow

 Process

EpochBG Will handle:

• Building product listings
• Managing keywords & ad campaigns
• Monitoring inventory levels
• Resolving escalated complaints & questions
• Soliciting feedback & reviews
• Completing shipment information
• Providing you with labels for shipment
• Reconciling shipments with Amazon
• Reviewing & providing reporting
• Directing remittances to your bank
• SKU Analysis
• EpochBG will review the manufacturer’s products on:
• Amazon
• Other Marketplaces
• Mono-line eCommerce sites
• The Manufacturer’s direct website
• EpochBG will review:
• Product attributes to establish competitive position
• Pricing
• Assuming Manufacturer products are already on Amazon, EpochBG will review:
• Images & Media
• Bullets
• Summary
• Keywords
• Reviews
• EpochBG will match up existing Amazon attributes to:
• Our known KPIs
• Amazon’s database
• Establish known deviation from standards to address
• Competitor Review
• EpochBG will review Amazon’s database to identify competitor’s products:
• Pricing
• Attributes
• Images & Media
• Bullets
• Summary
• Keywords
• Reviews
• Rankings & Sales

Amazon does:

• All warehousing
• All customer-facing tasks:
• Customer Service
• Credit Card / Payment Processing
• Shipments - Returns
• Most customer complaints
• Reporting results & remitting cash

Features & Benefits

Product Management

• Features & Benefits consistently and thoroughly presented
• Images entertain, inform and hold attention
• SKUs featured prominently on Amazon
• Build rankings and rating to:
• Get more views
• Sell more products

Brand Management

• Consistent “look and feel” throughout
• Position brand to target market
• Pricing control at retail

Channel Management

• Face to Public is a third party retailer – lower channel conflict (no direct sales by Amazon or in your name)
• Professional marketplace program
• Lower risk than selling directly to Amazon

Contact Us with Any Questions

Need help getting the business you want to start up and running?

Need start-up capital?

Need to develop a crowdfunding campaign?

Do you have a small business and would like to grow revenues and profits?

An accurate, viable business and/or financial plan is needed to explain what your plan is to banks, credit providers, investors, etc. to secure financing.

What we offer is a No Fee guarantee: There is no fee if the work product we develop for you does not produce results.

Our clients are all long term and we believe in long-term business relationships.

After a free consultation, we can develop a work product (business plan, financial proposal, etc.) specific to your unique business at a reasonable price.

Free consultation, no upfront fees and no catches.

Contact Us with Any Questions

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