Social Proof Shopify: Tips & Best Practices to Boost Conversions

A number of factors influence conversions on Shopify online stores. One of the most compelling is social proof. When potential customers see what other people think, they'll feel more compelled to make a purchase. It's important to keep this in mind if you want to maximize your sales. In what follows, we'll talk about the best social proof shopify tips and best practices to help your online storefront succeed. 

Many of these methods of implementing social proof strategies are simple, but every business is different. At UserLoop, our ecommerce experts can help you through this process step by step to increase your storefront's conversions. 

What is Social Proof? 

Before we can begin implementing social proof shopify solutions, we need to understand the theory first. The concept was first coined by psychologist Dr. Robert Cialdini. He proposed that the thoughts and opinions of others are major influences behind human decision-making. This is why high engagement posts on social media draw so much attention. It's the driving force behind the bandwagon effect. 

As a result, many businesses take advantage of resources like reviews, testimonials, as well as referrals from experts, professionals and influencers. There are four broad categories, 

1. Popularity: thousands of people have engaged with this post on social media, so I will too.
   
2. Public Praise: positive reviews and user-generated content are big motivators for purchasing choices.
   
3. Endorsement: high-profile faces in the community like experts, professionals, and influencers can generate a lot of conversions.
   
4. Proof of demand: if you show statistics on how many people are buying your product, it can add to your legitimacy. This can lead to more conversions. 
   

A commonly quoted piece of advice from Cavett Robert is that "95% of people are imitators and only 5% initiators". As a result, being able to take advantage of all of these social proof methods is important for the success of your Shopify storefront. 

Share Sales Statistics

One of the most compelling ways to drive more Shopify social proof conversions is with statistics about your sales, your product, and its effect on consumers. For example, boasting that you sold 100,000 units of your magic stove top cleaner over the past year will positively influence potential buyers. Buyers will realize that your product is in high demand.

This is especially true if your stock is limited. If you combine this proof of demand strategy by warning them that stock may be limited, they'll be more likely to make a choice sooner rather than later. 

An easy way to help with this is to add dynamic metrics to your storefront. A counter that shows how many products you've sold can increase transparency and encourage more sales.

Even if the numbers were low in the past, customers will admire your honesty. In fact, if numbers were low in previous years, showing that sales have increased will enhance the effect. 

Reviews

Reviews are generated by users and are displayed on a product page, both good and bad reviews are available to shoppers

This is one of the most powerful tools at an ecommerce store's disposal. Reviews are very useful for helping customers compare products. You can boast all you want about how useful your product is, but customers still may not trust you. However, they'll be more likely to trust their peers.


Here’s a sobering statistic: 90-95% of consumers never leave reviews, but 97% of shoppers say reviews influence them. This is a major problem for ecommerce sites in particular because the vast majority of their customers never bother to give their feedback, good or bad.

Businesses have to be extremely proactive if they want to get consumers to leave reviews. However, there is a way out. 

Actively engaging with buyers can increase the likelihood of someone leaving a review.

UserLoop partners with ecommerce storefronts to tackle this problem with targeted surveys. This is accomplished through embedding these surveys into the Shopify checkout and through email campaigns.

If you need tips on how to set up gift cards on your Shopify store, follow this tutorial to get started.

Customers are encouraged through these surveys to leave reviews as well to help other shoppers. 
Testimonials

Testimonials are selected by businesses and displayed on their website.

Similar to reviews, testimonials are a bit more about presentation. Reviews are all about naturally asking users for their feedback and displaying it organically to the customer. However, a testimonial is all about selecting the best feedback you can find that showcases your product and putting it on your storefront for others to see. 
Since you are putting more care and attention into testimonials, reach out to some of your customers and ask them for their story.

About three or four testimonials on your site can benefit the social proof of your Shopify store. 

Endorsements

Some pages on social platforms are entirely dedicated to a single brand, run by an influencer or fan. 

One of the most important social proof tools in getting attention to your ecommerce store on social media is the attention of influencers. These are people who have a significant audience on social media websites. Some influencers may not have a very large audience, but they have a great deal of engagement from the audience they have. There are a few ways to go about this,

1. A single endorsement from the influencer.
   
2. An ongoing partnership. 
   

A single shout-out, ad read, or endorsement from the influencer may be the spark that your business needs to succeed. It also has a low entry cost depending on who the influencer is. However, it may not be sustainable for your business.

Partnering with the person and maintaining an ongoing relationship may be more expensive, but it may net enough profits to pay for it.

This strategy is helpful for reaching those in your target audience who have never heard of your brand. Since they've never heard of you, they'll be more likely to trust their favorite influencer to give your product a try. 

If you work with Collaborators for your Shopify store, the new CollabPay app is a great way to calculate payouts and manage the relationship with your collaborators.


Engage With Your Users

Of all the options listed, reviews are some of the most useful social proof Shopify tools. With UserLoop's embedded surveys and automated email follow-ups, you can also get more feedback that can help you improve your online store and offerings.

If you are looking to keep your storefront competitive in an ever-changing market, check out UserLoop's survey and automation tools. You can get started improving your conversions for free!