Sourcing: Reddit Author: Gibbinthegremlin
Mistakes to Avoid When Building Your Store!
As a dropshipper who has worked with Shopify suppliers and reviewed multiple stores, I’ve seen a number of mistakes repeated by beginners—even those who’ve launched several stores. Here’s my guide to help you avoid these common mistakes when building your Shopify store, particularly when working with fast delivery dropshipping suppliers and setting up your products efficiently.
1. Not Filling in Your Policies
A fundamental mistake that many new Shopify store owners make is not filling out their store policies. Shopify provides templates for a reason, but you must complete them. These templates are not just placeholders—they guide you through the legal requirements for shipping, returns, and privacy policies.
Why is this important for dropshippers? When working with Shopify suppliers, it’s essential that you include clear policies on shipping times, returns, and exchanges. If you're working with suppliers who offer fast shipping dropshipping, make sure your policies reflect those fast delivery times accurately. This builds trust with customers and ensures you’re compliant with e-commerce regulations.
2. Overusing Bright Colors
Second on the list: using excessively bright colors. I get it; you want to make your store pop, but colors like neon yellow or bright red can be overwhelming. Not only is this hard on the eyes, but it can detract from the customer experience.
If you’re working with Shopify suppliers who provide fast shipping options, you want your website to have a clean, professional look that reflects the speed and efficiency of your service. Avoid flashy colors that distract from your products. Choose more neutral tones and strategic accents that make the shopping experience smooth and pleasant.
3. Poor Product Selection and Organization
A big mistake I see is randomly picking products and grouping them together, calling it a “store” or a “brand.” This will not work in the long term. Even with a general store, your product selection needs to make sense.
Make sure your products are organized by category, especially if you have more than five products. Categories like "Home Fitness," "Beauty," or "Tech Accessories" make it easier for customers to navigate and find what they’re interested in.
Also, Shopify suppliers offer a wide range of products—some of which may be ideal for your niche. When you pick products, ensure they’re relevant to your target audience. For example, if you’re focusing on health and wellness, partnering with fast delivery dropshipping suppliers who offer fitness products can improve your conversion rate.
4. Using Supplier Titles and Descriptions Without Modifications
Don’t just copy and paste the product titles and descriptions from your Shopify suppliers. This won’t differentiate your store from others.
Make sure your product titles are compelling and SEO-friendly. Include keywords like "fast delivery dropshipping" or "dropship agent Shopify" when possible, and ensure your titles are between 60-75 characters in length. Product descriptions should provide value, explain the benefits of your product, and address a pain point your customers may have.
For instance, if your Shopify supplier offers fast shipping dropshipping on a particular product, make sure to highlight that in the description. Mention how it saves your customers time and ensures quick delivery. Your meta descriptions should also be concise, under 175 characters, and include keywords relevant to your products and services.
5. Lack of Content on the Front Page
Another mistake is making the front page of your store look like a product catalog. Many dropshippers place only products on the homepage with little to no additional content or context. This doesn’t engage visitors or encourage them to stay on your site longer.
Instead, use the front page to communicate your brand's story, provide value, and explain why your customers should trust you. For example, if you work with Shopify suppliers offering fast delivery dropshipping, you can highlight this feature on the front page to show customers they can rely on your quick shipping. This reassures them that they’ll receive their products without long waits, which is a key differentiator in a competitive market.
6. Not Understanding Your Target Market
The most important mistake to avoid is not understanding your target market. You can’t just throw products together and hope they sell. Know who you’re selling to, their needs, and what they’re looking for.
By working with the right Shopify suppliers who provide fast delivery dropshipping, you can ensure that your customers get the products they want, quickly. Doing this research can guide you in selecting the right products to promote and how to market them effectively. Consider pain points like long shipping times and offer solutions like fast delivery dropshipping to alleviate those concerns.
Final Thoughts
Avoiding these common mistakes can set you up for success as a dropshipper using Shopify suppliers. Remember, creating a well-organized, customer-friendly store with clear policies, SEO-optimized product titles and descriptions, and engaging content can lead to more conversions. When working with fast delivery dropshipping suppliers, always communicate the speed and efficiency of your service to your customers. With these strategies in place, you’ll be on your way to building a successful Shopify store that attracts and retains customers.
Comments:
C1
Site speed and SEO are very important. Plug-ins can affect site speed which diminishes SEO ranking. Don’t add plug-ins unless you absolutely need them.
C2
-Why product desription between 150 to 300 words? -What about peoduct images layout? Carousel or columns or something third?
OP
Th reason for 150 to 300 words is that your target market is a bunch of AHDD squirrels that have been double fisting energy drinks all day and have suddenly found themselves locked in a peanut factory, and that is on a good day! The 150 gives you just enough space to hit at least one pain point, 300 gives you enough space to hit 5 pain points without losing the attention of the squirrel er customer of yours. Product layout really depends on your brand and theme, personally I am a fan of carousels when possible.
So I looked up this "pain points" term and I think I understand that pain points are aspects of your product/service that the customer may be uncomfortable with. Something you identify that may prevent your customer from purchasing. Right?
And what do you mean exactly when you say to "hit at least one pain point"?
Paint points are “pains” that your audience experiences which your product solves.
For example: let’s say I sell automotive dent repair kits. Why would anyone be interested in this product instead of going to an auto body shop? Money, it costs less to repair a dent yourself as opposed to paying a body shop. So the pain point is money, cost savings, etc.; the product description could mention how my dent repair kit is a more affordable alternative to taking my vehicle to the local auto body shop.
C3
Great advice, most sites here are shit. Taking my time to create one. Have you had success with ecommerce then?
OP
I have but its a side hustle as my main thing is im a free lance marketer at least one of my fancy degrees has come in handy lol
C4
Another mistake people tend to make is gathering a lot of apps to the extent where some of the same functionalities would even be clashing with one another. I always advise people especially when starting up that they only really need three apps when they’re kicking off on Shopify. Ideally, one for email marketing (eg Klaviyo), one for bundles and discount packages (eg the bundler app), and an extra one for a completely different purpose. After this, anything extra should be managed in quantity.
C5
Trust! Show customer reviews on your front page. Don’t just write stuff! Actually link to Google/trustpilot etc.
Show your socials. Show YouTube vids, show Facebook posts. Show people you actually exist!
C6
Great advice. I appreciate your efforts. I've also noticed that creating a responsive design is crucial. A website should look great on both mobile devices and desktops.
OP
Yep as we move towards more phone usage the more your site has to look good on both
C7
8th mistake- Not using line space in between big paragraphs 🙂
C8
Great advice. What would you and the community suggest in relation to titles and descriptions and any impact to copyright and trademarks? How do you and this community desk with this the best way possible? Are there tools used? How does everyone deal with avoiding these possible issues?
OP
copywrite and trademark issues are easy to avoid, called commonsense (which i swear is becoming my super power!) Do not sell anything that is branded. I am talking things in the disney realm, and all those big named brands with out a reseller's license, dont even mention them. Don't steal other peoples work and these so called copywrite and trademark issues are null and void.
C9
3 is one I see people screwing up all the time!
Just for clarity: could you list all the policies needed? Terms of Services, tracking, returns… what else?
OP
Privacy, shipping, 14 day return policy if you are selling in the uk, dont sell my info op out for callifornia
C10
I mean thanks for taking the time to write this but man the presentation is making my brain do a flip. Needs bullet points at the very least!
OP
Yeah was a copy and paste job from another forum i posted in as i was running short on time lol
C11
"...there are a few common mistakes that everyone makes on their first, honestly through third store set up."
If you want to come across as competent, run all your advice through some AI or spell-checking first. Also, make use of spaces between your paragraphs.
Can you provide evidence that you are a successful e-commerce entrepreneur? I read that you review people's websites, but I'm wondering what value you offer and what experience you have.
OP
Was a straight copy and paste from another reddit im on and im not really worried about formating. and i did this early morning with no coffee lol, experience wise i work with start ups, small mom and pop stores and had the pleasure of working with a family run sail maker once, true pleasure to work with them before covid hit and they ended up shutting the brand down ( covid was one reason other was no one else in the family wanted to continue the business as its a hard business) take from the post what you want and dont get hung up on making things look pretty when it comes to info
C12
Who's the best dropshipping mentor to hire?
So i'm saving up some money to start my dropshipping journey, i've already took some courses i know product research, setting up a website, meta ads, creative strategy, creative design, spying, i can say i'm pretty skilled because i currently work as a freelancer in the social media content creation space and i worked as a digital marketing manager before... I set up my LTD and i have stripe and wise account and i'm taking this very seriously, i want to change my life with dropshipping in the next 2 years.
My question is: who's the best and trusted dropshipping mentor that i can hire to guide me through this journey, as you all know droshipping requires many skills and knowledge, i want someone who's done big numbers before to guide me and show me the way so i can shortcut my mistakes and drive insane results. I feel like i'm made for this, i'm skilled to do it i just need some guidance along the way.
I've heard of someone named Jad Kantari so i started following him, then he disappeared lately from instagram, he has very small youtube presence and once he was pushing his mentoring program too much to th point that it was suspecious, i want your opinion on that guy. Also feel free to drop some names that i can contact and your past experiences with any of these mentors. Thank you!
OP
The "best" mentor is the one that fits you. I do a mentorship program myself, but i have turned people down and I have had people turn me down. The reasons are varied, some times its they do not have the money, which is fair, some times I feel that they are either not in the right place, or the last person i turned down was desperate, I wont take on a person that is desperate for money as when you are desperate you make stupid mistakes with your money. One person turned me down because they did not like me. The best one though was simply because we could barely understand each other's accents we were laughing so hard for an hour, even her husband got in on the call we were in stitches!
Before you sign up for a mentorship program TALK to the person see if they have something to offer YOU. It is your journey your money. If they want to charge you for the first half hour or hour don't go with them. You both need to feel each other out , see if you gel because if you don't your just wasting your money and worse your time.
Thank you man those are very valuable tips, and yes it totally makes sense!
OP
common sense aproach and don't go off how much money they show you they are making or fancy cars or any of that bullshit that can be rented, talk to them see if they know their shit or not
Adding on to what Gibb suggested on finding a mentor, I also recommend checking out references/reviews if you can.
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Mistakes to avoid when building your store!
byu/Gibbinthegremlin inshopify