How to increase revenue on an eCommerce Platform without a bricks and mortar store in ten simple steps
The top ten things that merchants can implement to increase revenue on their eCommerce platform, even without a bricks-and-mortar store.
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Online-only retailers have an uphill battle convincing customers to trust them without a physical store, especially with the rise of eCommerce stores on the web, with platforms like Shopify and AI Stores providing Drop Shipping.
With no physical store or showroom, communicating your brand story and ethos to customers can be challenging. Consumers are naturally suspicious of a new brand and need further convincing that this brand is the one to spend their hard earned money on.
According to a Capital One Shopping study in 2026, 60% of shoppers prefer in-store for the experience of testing products, and in part to seek advice and/or reassurance. Consumers naturally appear to fall back into their reptilian state, and need validation before a purchase.
So what are the top ten things eCommerce brands can do to create online stores that compete without the physical ones consumers crave?
Build Trust from the first visit
A study from PowerReviews found that 97% of consumers use reviews to inform their buying decisions, with 88% trusting them as much as personal recommendations, so one of the most important things a brand can do is showcase its real-life reviews from customers.
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Use Social Media to build Social Proof
French Bedroom, who has a strong, loyal fan base of customers who have bought into the entire lifestyle of the brand, use social media to showcase their furniture purchases in their customers’ own homes. They leaned into this invaluable marketing opportunity, and we created them a bespoke “Designed by us, Styled by you” module providing customers with strong social proof.
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Show how your products respond in real life
Similarly, on FlipFlop Shop they use videos to show their Flipflops worn by influencers to bring them to life. Seeing them at the beach showcases the lifestyle they sell rather than the traditional static images, and shows the movement and quality of the products.
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Tell a Story, don’t just sell the product
When consumers buy from an online store, the ideal is for them to be able to visualise the product in their hands and in their home. We are incredibly tactile as a species, and we put a lot of emphasis on how a product makes us feel.
This is why thinking about how a customer feels about your product from start to finish is so important. By helping customers visualise not just a product, but a complete room and lifestyle, we transform the experience from transactional to aspirational, driving both engagement and meaningful commercial growth.
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Product Samples and Appealing to the Reptilian Brain
For brands selling their own goods direct-to-consumer, the customer takes much more of a risk without seeing the craftsmanship before purchasing.
Providing samples lets customers see the materials first, allowing customers to activate their reptilian brain, and gives consumers the chance to build a level of trust in the quality of the product, without the responsibility of a large purchase.
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Show the finer details
In a shop, you can look closely at every tiny detail of a product to make sure it's right for you, but so often online the images are low quality making it hard to see the detail.
High-quality imagery is essential to replicate this, and build that trust with customers that what their purchasing is exactly what they want.
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Make your pages as unique as your products
Building sites uniquely tailored to the user's needs is critical to getting customers to trust and purchase from your online store.
When purchasing flipflops, the sole and the top are equally important to customers to make a decision. Rather than expecting them to click on each product to go through the photos, changing the standard grid to show both at the same time gave customers a much faster journey to choosing the right flipflop, and helped FlipFlopShop stand out in a crowded market.
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Know your customer
Brands tend to focus on the details of conversions, and average order values rather than remembering the customers on the other side of the screen. Merchants need to create a world for the customer that feels warm, and personal, speaking directly to them.
Talking to customers as you would in the real world is important; so invite them to join your newsletter as opposed to demanding it for discounts, write your own product descriptions in-house, carefully tailoring your brand voice, thinking about who your customers are, adjusting your distinct tone of voice to them, thinking about gender, age and location.
Speak directly to your customers using thoughtful language from start to finish. For brands purely on eCommerce, you need to build reassurance and trust with your customers from the outset, with your clear brand identity screaming through the screen.
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Don’t be vanilla, use a pop of colour
Building sites uniquely tailored to the user's needs is critical to getting customers to trust and purchase from your online store. Having a clear defined colour palate for your brand is so important, and can really help communicate a message to your customers.
For FlipFlop Shop we utilised the colours of summer to evoke the messaging of holidays, to give customers the feeling of sunshine. For Sandal Shop we used a warmer more natural palette to evoke the feeling of adventure, and outdoors, for customers who enjoy outdoor leisure persuits.
These differences help distinguish between the two similar brands and make them both stand out individually.
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Use the right Agency
The agency you pick should understand your brand and respond to your unique requirements that are fit for your specific business.
If you want to learn more about how Wind & Kite could help build your brand story into your eCommerce site, get in touch with us below.