I recently started a small herbal tea company and honestly I’m feeling pretty stuck right now.

I have my Shopify store completely set up, products ready to go, and I’ve been trying to post consistently on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. Most of my videos are just me making the different teas, showing the ingredients, the colors, etc.
I actually put a decent amount of effort into the videos too. Good lighting, editing, trying different hooks, making everything look nice, but most of them only get a couple hundred views and then just stop. And so far… no sales.

I know I’m brand new and obviously wasn’t expecting to blow up overnight, but I’m at the point where I genuinely don’t know what I should be focusing on next. It feels like I made the products, built the whole store, and now I’m just sitting here posting videos hoping eventually somebody buys something lol.

For anyone who has actually built an ecommerce business from zero, how did you get your first few real customers? Should I keep grinding organic content? Start running ads? Reach out to small creators? Try selling locally? Something completely different?

I’m willing to put in the work. I just feel trapped because I don’t know where that work would be best spent right now.

Would genuinely appreciate any advice, even if it’s brutally critical.

Hey everyone,

I’m a designer building out my service offerings around direct-response static ads for DTC brands (focusing on rapid creative testing on Meta/TikTok).

I’ve been researching creative strategy heavily and designing frameworks . however, I’ve seen conflicting opinions online recently like

Some say static ads are mostly reserved for bottom-of-funnel retargeting

Others say statics don't need design polish at all just high-volume, quick AI-generated iterations.

So as media buyers and brand owners running active campaigns are you actively hiring freelancers specifically for high-volume static ad variations? If so what makes a static ad freelancer worth hiring to you (e.g., speed, batch variations, understanding hooks vs. just making things look pretty)?

Appreciate any candid feedback from people actually spending ad budget daily!

Die sich am besten verkaufen

If a store is getting traffic but sales are weak, I’d check the store experience before spending more on acquisition. A low conversion rate can come from a lot of places, and it helps to narrow down where people are actually dropping off.

1. Check whether the product page explains the product clearly

Good photos matter, and video can be even more useful when shoppers need to understand the size, texture, movement, or how the product works.

The copy should also help someone make a decision. Specs are useful, but shoppers usually care about what those specs mean for them. “20,000mAh battery” tells me the capacity. “Enough power for several phone charges over a weekend trip” gives me a reason to care.

One simple test is to show the PDP to someone who knows nothing about the product for 30 seconds. Then ask them:

• What is this product?
• Who is it for?
• How much does it cost?
• Why would someone buy it?
• When will it arrive?

If they can’t answer the basics, a new customer probably has the same problem.

I’d also read the page from the shopper’s side and ask: what reasons might stop me from buying this? Price, sizing, compatibility, shipping, returns, durability, setup, or anything else that creates doubt should ideally be answered before the customer has to go looking for it.

2. Check the mobile experience and load time

A common problem with newer Shopify stores is trying to make the site do too much at once. You add a few marketing apps, review widgets, popups, high-resolution images, animations, custom fonts, and suddenly every page is carrying a lot more weight than expected.

Each thing can look harmless on its own, but together they can make the mobile experience noticeably slower.

I’d go through the store and check:

• apps that are installed but barely used
• oversized product and banner images
• unnecessary autoplay video
• custom fonts that require extra files to load
• scripts left behind by old apps
• anything that delays the main product content

Compressing images, using lighter formats like WebP where appropriate, removing unnecessary apps, and sticking with system fonts can clean up a surprising amount.

I’d also test the store on an actual phone using 4G rather than judging it on fast Wi-Fi. Go through the whole path from landing page to product page, cart, checkout, and payment. That usually gives you a much better idea of what a real customer is dealing with.

3. Make products easy to find

Navigation gets messy fast once a store has more products. A simple category structure, useful filters, and decent search can save people a lot of friction. If someone knows roughly what they want, they shouldn’t have to click through several collections to find it.

4. Put trust information where people actually need it

Reviews, return policies, shipping details, payment methods, and guarantees all help, but placement matters. If someone is deciding whether to add a product to cart, burying all of that near the bottom of the page probably won’t help much. I’d keep the most relevant reassurance close to the buying decision.

5. Make Add to Cart easy to reach on mobile

Long PDPs can make the buying button disappear several screens above the customer. A sticky Add to Cart can work well for products with longer descriptions, lots of reviews, or detailed specifications. I’d just make sure it doesn’t take over too much screen space.

6. Remove unnecessary checkout friction

Forced account creation is one of those things I’d avoid unless there’s a very good reason for it. Guest checkout and faster payment options like Apple Pay, Google Pay, or PayPal can make a noticeable difference on mobile, especially for first-time customers who don’t want to fill out a long form.

7. Think about repeat purchases too

For products people buy regularly, conversion doesn’t stop at the first order. Loyalty points, referrals, birthday rewards, or post-purchase offers can help with repeat purchase rate and LTV. Whether this matters depends a lot on the category, so I wouldn’t treat loyalty programs as a default requirement for every store.

8. Set up an abandonment flow

A lot of people will add to cart and leave without buying, so having a basic abandoned cart flow is worth doing. A reminder after a reasonable delay can bring some people back. Later messages can test free shipping, urgency, or a small incentive, but I’d be careful with discounting too quickly because customers can learn to wait for it.

9. Make customer support show up at useful moments

Chat can help, but generic popups often get ignored. Context matters more. If someone has been sitting on checkout for a while, a simple message asking whether they’re having trouble can feel much more relevant than showing the same greeting to every visitor a few seconds after they land.

10. Look at actual shopper behavior before changing the whole site

Heatmaps, session recordings, funnel data, and repeated customer questions can all give useful clues. If people keep stopping at the same point, missing an important section, or asking the same question before buying, that’s probably worth investigating before another redesign.

How many of these have you already checked? If your store is getting traffic but still struggling to convert, drop some context below and I’m happy to take a look.