I ruthlessly unsubscribe from almost all newsletters. Eric’s one of a select few that I look actually forward to opening because it has proven itself consistently valuable for Shopify merchants.
— Kurt Elster, Ecommerce Strategist, founder of Ethercycle, and a top Shopify Plus Expert.
Past issues
Shopify Dispatch Issue #211 - BFCM webinar series from Shopify
It's a noticeably lighter week this week for content. Everyone must be saving up their stuff for the holidays... BFCM Webinar Series: Marketing Strategies, Optimization Tips, Live Workshop ... though Shopify is launching a webinar series for Black Friday, Cyber Monday in November. It could have some useful tips, though...
Shopify Dispatch Issue #210 - Marketing attribution, List building
Marketing Attribution: Seeing the Customer Journey More Clearly Marc Weisinger describes a complex but important topic with online analytics, attribution. Online interactions are easier to track online than offline but they bring with them mountains of (often conflicting) data. Getting the attribution right will help you understand the difference between...
Shopify Dispatch Issue #209 - Portland Shopify meetup, Holiday fulfillment
Portland, Oregon Shopify Meetup Ilana Davis (my wife) just ran the inaugural Portland, Oregon Shopify meetup this last Monday to a full house. There were more Shopify stores in the area that I thought. Holiday Shipping and Fulfillment Strategies Andrea Wahbe writes about getting your inventory and fulfillment ready for...
Shopify Dispatch Issue #208 - Shopify backups, Customer retention
Does Shopify backup store data? Now is the time to take care of all the little things in your Shopify store, before the busy season starts. One thing many stores neglect are backups. Ilana Davis writes about how to backup parts your Shopify store, at least the ones Shopify gives...
Shopify Dispatch Issue #207 - Heat Maps
Heat Maps: What they are and how to use them Kelly Vaughn writes about how to use heat maps in your store to better design your pages for conversion. Click Maps have been especially useful for me and my clients to find conversion improvements. Plus they are simple to understand...
Shopify Dispatch Issue #206 - Content marketing, Coming soon pages
What content marketing means for eCommerce Content marketing is a huge topic with books and books about it (some good). Sam Greenspan adapts some of that generic advice and writes about how content marketing can work for ecommerce using examples from several well-known brands. Every Shopify store of any size...
Shopify Dispatch Issue #205 - Text-heavy emails, Email campaigns
How to succeed at email marketing with minimal design In this article Matt Maggiacomo goes through using text-heavy marketing emails and why they might be better for your Shopify store. These are the types of emails I've used for years with great success, I call them plain text-ish email. 10...
Shopify Dispatch Issue #204 - Shopify Chat, Bad banner UX
Shopify Chat: Close More Sales Through Real-Time Conversations Shopify released Shopify Chat, an on-site live chat service. It seems to require Apple's iOS for responding to messages so it might not be ready for every store. Mobile E-Commerce UX: Deemphasize 'Install App' Ads or Avoid Them Entirely The Baymard Institute...
Shopify Dispatch Issue #203 - Beeketing apps removed, Shopify as a platform
Beeketing and BoostFlow uninstall instructions and alternative apps Shopify is removing all Beeketing and BoostFlow apps from the App Store and from stores they've been installed to on August 27th. Shopify and the Power of Platforms Though it came out last month, this article has been making the rounds again...
Shopify Dispatch Issue #202 - Humor in marketing
How to employ humor in email marketing The most difficult part of marketing is getting noticed in the Sea of Sameness. Matt Maggiacomo writes about how to add humor to your email marketing to help it stand out, without having it backfire. Segment your customers for fun and profit (but...