Pitstop with Sarah Levinger

In this replay episode of Pitstop, Anne Thomas talks about designing for a mobile website first.

An expert designer of Shopify add-ons and template packs, Toronto based Anne Thomas knows that the mobile user experience is the frontline for the modern consumer. While you never know how customers will be looking at and engaging with your site, an increasing number of users are navigating online over their mobile devices, some doing all of their shopping from the palm of their hand. An optimized, easy to navigate and enjoyable user experience over their mobile device will drive both increased brand engagement and sales overall, and Anne has three important rules for any Shopify user to follow to get the most out of their site.  

1. Not every smartphone or mobile device is equal. Some consumers will be using older devices, with slower processors or older operating systems. Some have larger screens than others, or details appear with less clarity. One easy trick Anne has for any mobile designer is to use the Chrome extension ‘Web Inspector’, which allows you to preview your designs on a wide variety of device screen sizes.
2. Be as careful optimizing your Shopify design packs and site features as you are optimizing to fit and function on mobile platforms. Some common and relied upon features, available across all mobile devices, may be limited un unavailable all together, such as pinch to zoom or swiping, depending on the template or design‘s programming. Always remember to test every aspect of your site, as you never know where an error may arise.
3. Regularly inspect and analyze your mobile experience. Mobile device companies, operating systems programs, app developers and browser technicians are always at work updating their product for the next step in technological evolution, and no matter how adaptive your mobile design is, eventually a platform will be released that doesn’t support it.

Pitstop is a tactical podcast for DTC/ecommerce/Shopify entrepreneurs to keep their store on the track and winning. Updated a few times a week, these short episodes get right to the point with none of the fluff. Hear real stories from operators and experts to get fast fixes and find free money.

Pitstop is presented by Mesa.

Mentioned in this episode:

Triple Whale - Whale Mail

Earlier this year, Death Wish Coffee Director of Ecommerce joined me for a few episodes of Pitstop. One thing we talked about was how they run their email list of over 70,000 subscribers!

Generating an active and dynamic business ecosystem that engages the customer as a community member, not just a source of sale.

• Use randomized leech-in options, like gift codes of varying amounts, to continue to drive incentivization and interactions with the brand.
• Stick to more tangible offered benefits, such as gift codes, that customerscan understand. A percentage off a purchase can be vague and distancing for the consumer, but a flat rate, such as $5 off, is more likely to drive engagement and purchases as it’s something more concrete and relatable.
• 10 or 10,000 visits or engagements a dayYou should be doing everything you can to encourage your customers to entrust you with their email or contact information, putting you in control of future engagements with those consumers. Anything you can do to capture first party data will generate future leads.
• Remain engaged and active with your leads throughout your business relationship, not just sporadically. Make contact as often as possible, in the form of product and brand updates, gifts codes and special offers, feedback requests and direct emails upon new purchases, to continue their engagement with your brand even after their transaction has been completed.
• Email is your primary and fundamental point of contact, but always drive further engagement from your lists to your other available content-options. such as SMS updates or offers using a tool like Omnisend or Privy.
• Reward those engagements. Provide unique offers through your various engagement mediums, not just the same offers repeated. Push them up your value ladder, from would be one time buyer to dedicated subscriber, one step at a time.
• Become familiar with the average timeline of product turnover for customers. If it takes a week to finish a bag of coffee, then a week after your system registers a purchase, reach out to that customer with an offer for their next purchase. This drives a sense of community and creates a special bond between the brand and the consumer.

Why continue to use email as a primary contact when we live in a world of social media and text messaging?

• Email remains the most cost effective and direct means for reaching out to your customers, while driving active engagements from the consumer back to your product.
• Automated email systems are by far the cheapest option for mass-contact, and can be randomized to avoid stale or repeating content.
• Customers can easily engage with your brand in return, providing valuable active and up to date feedback on your products, again with no extra cost beyond the initial price of the email campaign.
• Unlike SMS which can only appear as text or static images, or social media which requires the consumer to come to your brand constantly for updates, emails also allow for flyer-style marketing, turning your outreach into a storefront from which they can directly purchase product.

Mentioned in this episode:

Triple Whale - Whale Mail

While online marketplaces may be no further from a customer than the click of a mouse, most don’t want to take the time to travel even from one online store to another. Once you’ve gotten them through the digital door, make the most of it with curated collections, product combination suggestions and distinct, dynamic categories to encourage multi-item purchases, and maybe even change your customer’s shopping culture to your benefit.

• Tailor your general product categories and sections based on customer behaviour and specific lifestyles. Instead of, for example, His & hers Tops, group them based on the kinds of activities consumers can use the items for, like Winter Apparel, Active Wear or Business Casual. This can also help identify your brand with those activities, driving further interest and engagement from interested communities.
• Use dynamic combination suggestions that adapt based on your customer base’s buying behaviour. If someone buys a winter jacket from a clothing store, chances are they would be interested in a pair of gloves and a warm hat as well,  or a kitchen mixer purchase could be paired with a set of bowls, whisks and recipe books. Presenting these combo suggestions before they hit the final checkout can lead to some great last minute sales, and provide you with valuable information about your customer’s purchasing style.
• Curate special collections to allow for one-stop-shopping. Based on the information gathered from the previous suggestions, build specific collections of products to sell as complete packages, be it selling entire outfits, decore remodelling sets, home garden centres; regardless of the product, offer your consumer a ground floor total package that they can buy into a lifestyle with, instead of returning piecemeal. Even if provided at full price, customers will appreciate not having to go through the hassle of shop around, and will identify your brand with convenience and quality.
• Find out how people look for your products, and adapt accordingly. If consumers typically find the items you sell through more traditional catalogue searches, then keep with catalogues, but if word about new product is more often spread through blogs discussing and reviewing them, include a blog on-site, or pay for an affiliate blog to help drum up conversation and traffic for your store. Tailor the shopping experience to the consumer base’s liking as much as possible, for maximum engagement.

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Pitstop is a tactical podcast for DTC/ecommerce/Shopify entrepreneurs to keep their store on the track and winning. Updated a few times a week, these short episodes get right to the point with none of the fluff. Hear real stories from operators and experts to get fast fixes and find free money.

Pitstop is presented by Mesa.

Mentioned in this episode:

Triple Whale - Whale Mail

How do you juggle running a business, without depleting your best resource? Ryan Maltbie is back to talk about the importance of finding and harnessing your creativity.

Mentioned in this episode:

Triple Whale - Whale Mail

How do you manage starting and growing a business, your health, and family life? Ryan Maltbie, founder of BBQgrills.com joins me once again to share strategies that can help you protect your mental health.

Pitstop is a tactical podcast for DTC/ecommerce/Shopify entrepreneurs to keep their store on the track and winning. Updated a few times a week, these short episodes get right to the point with none of the fluff. Hear real stories from operators and experts to get fast fixes and find free money.

Pitstop is presented by Mesa.

Mentioned in this episode:

Triple Whale - Whale Mail

When I first contacted Ryan Maltbie to come on the podcast, I thought we'd talk about about BBQs. He had a much better idea -- talking about our mental health as founders. When you start feeling burnt out, or even the highs, it's time to take a step back. He's also a second generation ecommerce entrepreneur.

In this episode, we discuss.

• Burnout is a huge thing, and not enough people talk about it. It's hard to celebrate when you're feeling down.
• Celebrating when you're down, to remind yourself who you are. You can't let your mental thoughts control your emotions. One of the best things to do is not let the highs get too high, and not let the lows get too low.
• Responding to dopamine hits too hard can turn you into an addict.
• Finding happiness from shipped orders and reviews vs orders and revenue .
• What depression can feel like as an entrepreneur.
• The importance of taking time off and time away.

Pitstop is a tactical podcast for DTC/ecommerce/Shopify entrepreneurs to keep their store on the track and winning. Updated a few times a week, these short episodes get right to the point with none of the fluff. Hear real stories from operators and experts to get fast fixes and find free money.

Pitstop is presented by Mesa.

Mentioned in this episode:

Triple Whale - Whale Mail

Parker Olsen, founder of Forij is back to share packaging hacks he uses to keep shipping low.

• Ship with a mailer instead of a box to avoid height charges.
• Warehousing in shipping zones near your customers.
• USPS is best for heavy and small.
• UPS is always best for big and heavy
• FedEx is always best for fast

Pitstop is a tactical podcast for DTC/ecommerce/Shopify entrepreneurs to keep their store on the track and winning. Updated a few times a week, these short episodes get right to the point with none of the fluff. Hear real stories from operators and experts to get fast fixes and find free money.

Pitstop is presented by Mesa.

Mentioned in this episode:

Triple Whale - Whale Mail

Parker Olsen, founder and CEO of Forij is back talking about organic content creation, the gift that keeps on giving.

In this episode we talk about

• The Rise of Tik Tok and how content
• The impact of attention spans dropping, especially for ads
• Less polished content performs and resonates better
• The ability to go viral from your phone
• Update content to fit your rapidly changing and growing business

Pitstop is a tactical podcast for DTC/ecommerce/Shopify entrepreneurs to keep their store on the track and winning. Updated a few times a week, these short episodes get right to the point with none of the fluff. Hear real stories from operators and experts to get fast fixes and find free money.

Pitstop is presented by Mesa.

Mentioned in this episode:

Triple Whale - Whale Mail

Parker Olson, CEO and Founder of Forij, after closely monitoring what he ate and how he felt. He also lives and works out of his van.

In this episode of Pitstop, we talk about:

• Taking back your life by controlling what you eat.
• The speed of how fast you can put a business together.
• Advantages of living a mobile life, including being able to show up.
• Break rules while you're an early stage company

Pitstop is a tactical podcast for DTC/ecommerce/Shopify entrepreneurs to keep their store on the track and winning. Updated a few times a week, these short episodes get right to the point with none of the fluff. Hear real stories from operators and experts to get fast fixes and find free money.

Pitstop is presented by Mesa.

Mentioned in this episode:

Triple Whale - Whale Mail

Claudia Goldfarb is back, and we talk about the importance of getting packaging right on the first go. In this episode we talk about.

• The cost of mislabeling packaging, and getting your write slapped by MSC.
• The importance of the water test.
• Making smart choices to reduce packaging cost that meets your needs

Pitstop is a tactical podcast for DTC/ecommerce/Shopify entrepreneurs to keep their store on the track and winning. Updated a few times a week, these short episodes get right to the point with none of the fluff. Hear real stories from operators and experts to get fast fixes and find free money.

Pitstop is presented by Mesa.

Mentioned in this episode:

Triple Whale - Whale Mail