# How to Increase Sales on Shopify: 15 Ways That Work

> Learn how to increase sales on Shopify with 15 practical ways, starting with collection order, best sellers, sold-out handling and navigation before traffic.

Updated 2026-10-26

Canonical: https://awsmcollections.com/learn/how-to-increase-sales-on-shopify

To increase sales on Shopify, start with the visitors you already have. Show your best products first, push sold-out items down, make your menus easy to follow, add cross-sells and run tidy sale collections. Then fix product pages and checkout, and only after that spend on more traffic. Below are 15 ways to do it, in the order that usually pays off fastest.

## Before you start: find where sales are leaking

It's hard to know how to get more sales on Shopify until you know where shoppers drop off. Open your Shopify analytics and look at the path from sessions to added to cart, then reached checkout, then purchased.

- **Lots of visits, few add-to-carts:** the problem is usually discovery and merchandising. Shoppers aren't finding something they want quickly enough. Ways 1 to 10 are for you.
- **Lots of add-to-carts, few orders:** look at product pages, shipping costs and checkout (ways 11 to 13).
- **Healthy conversion, not enough visitors:** focus on traffic and repeat buyers (ways 14 and 15).

Write down your current numbers. You'll compare against them after each change.

## How to increase sales on Shopify with merchandising (ways 1 to 10)

Merchandising comes first because it costs nothing in ad spend. Every visitor who lands on a collection page sees the same first row of products, so getting that row right affects every session you pay for.

### 1. Choose a deliberate sort order for every collection

A lot of stores leave collections on whatever sort they were created with. Shopify gives you options such as best selling, price, newest, alphabetical and manual. Pick one on purpose for each collection:

| Collection type | Sensible default sort |
| --- | --- |
| Main category pages | Best selling |
| New arrivals | Newest first |
| Sale or clearance | Biggest discount or best selling |
| Gift guides | Manual, with a mix of price points |
| Budget or "under $X" | Price, low to high |

**Check afterwards:** look at the first row on mobile. Would a first-time visitor want to tap at least one of those products?

### 2. Put best sellers up front

Products that already sell well have proven they convert. Showing them first gives new visitors something safe to buy and builds trust in the rest of the range. Sorting by recent sales (say, the last 30 days) works better than all-time sales because it reflects what's selling now, not last year's hit.

Also add a dedicated "Best sellers" collection to your main menu. Many shoppers look for it.

**Check afterwards:** compare collection-page add-to-cart rate for the two weeks before and after.

### 3. Push sold-out products down (or hide them)

A sold-out product in the top row wastes your best spot. Shoppers tap it, can't buy, and often leave. You can sink sold-out items to the bottom, hide them, or keep them visible with a back-in-stock signup if they're coming back soon. Our guide on how to [push sold-out products down in Shopify collections](https://awsmcollections.com/learn/push-sold-out-products-down-shopify.md) walks through each method.

**Check afterwards:** scroll your top five collections weekly. No "Sold out" badges should appear in the first two rows.

### 4. Pin a few hero products, not dozens

Pinning lets you hold a product in a fixed spot, which is handy for a new launch, a high-margin item or a campaign product. Keep it to a handful per collection. Pin too many and you lose the benefit of automatic sorting. See [how to pin products in a Shopify collection](https://awsmcollections.com/learn/pin-products-in-shopify-collection.md) for when it helps and when it backfires.

**Check afterwards:** if a pinned product hasn't earned its spot after a couple of weeks, unpin it.

### 5. Simplify your navigation

If shoppers can't find a category in two taps, they often give up. Review your main menu:

- Keep top-level items to a short, scannable list.
- Name categories the way customers search ("Women's running shoes", not "Velocity range").
- Put "New", "Best sellers" and "Sale" where they're easy to spot.
- Remove empty or near-empty collections from menus.

**Check afterwards:** ask someone who doesn't know your store to find a specific product on their phone. Watch where they hesitate.

### 6. Build collections around how people shop

Your product types are only one way to slice the catalog. Shoppers also browse by:

- **Occasion:** wedding guest, back to school, holiday gifts
- **Use or problem:** sensitive skin, small spaces, beginners
- **Price:** gifts under $50
- **Style or material:** linen, minimalist, vintage-inspired

These collections give shoppers a shortcut, and they make great landing pages for ads and emails.

**Check afterwards:** each new collection should have enough products to look full but not so many that it feels like the whole store again.

### 7. Add filters to large collections

Once a collection grows past a few pages, filters by size, color, price and availability help shoppers narrow down instead of bouncing. Shopify's Search & Discovery app lets you set up storefront filters, and most modern themes support them. An "in stock" filter is especially useful for apparel and footwear.

**Check afterwards:** test each filter combination on mobile and make sure none return zero results.

### 8. Add cross-sells and upsells

Raising average order value is one of the quickest ways to grow revenue without more traffic. Ideas that work for most stores:

- "Complete the look" or "Goes well with" on product pages
- Small add-ons in the cart (care kits, batteries, gift wrap)
- A free-shipping threshold just above your typical order value
- Bundles of products that are often bought together

Keep suggestions relevant. A random product in the cart feels like noise.

**Check afterwards:** track average order value and the share of orders with more than one item.

### 9. Run focused sale collections

Discounts sell more when they're easy to shop. Instead of sprinkling sale badges through your catalog, group discounted items into clear sale collections ("Up to 40% off", "Last chance", "Under $25"). Sort them by discount size or by sales so the best deals show first, and set an end date so expired offers don't linger. For big events, our list of [Black Friday sale ideas](https://awsmcollections.com/learn/black-friday-sale-ideas.md) has plenty of formats to borrow.

**Check afterwards:** make sure sale collections only contain items that are actually on sale and in stock.

### 10. Keep collections fresh

Returning visitors want to see something new. Stale collections with the same products in the same order for months give them no reason to browse.

- Keep a "New arrivals" collection limited to the last 30 to 60 days.
- Retire seasonal collections when the season ends (or redirect them).
- Rotate a "Trending now" collection based on recent sales.
- Remove collections that have shrunk to two or three products.

**Check afterwards:** put a monthly reminder in your calendar to review every collection in your main menu.

## Fix product pages and checkout (ways 11 to 13)

### 11. Make product pages answer every question

A shopper who reaches a product page is interested. Don't lose them to doubt:

- **Photos:** several angles, scale or on-model shots, and a close-up of texture or detail.
- **Description:** lead with benefits, then specs. Use short bullets.
- **Shipping and returns:** show delivery times and return policy near the Add to cart button.
- **Social proof:** product reviews, if you collect them.
- **Size guides** for anything where fit matters.

**Check afterwards:** compare add-to-cart rate on your top 10 product pages before and after.

### 12. Remove friction at checkout

Surprise costs are a common reason shoppers abandon a cart. Show shipping costs or a free-shipping threshold early, ideally on the product page and in the cart. Turn on the express payment options available to your store so returning shoppers can pay in a couple of taps. Keep discount code fields from tempting people to leave and hunt for codes by running clear on-site offers instead.

**Check afterwards:** watch the "reached checkout" to "purchased" step in your funnel.

### 13. Recover abandoned carts

Some shoppers who leave will buy if you remind them. Shopify can send abandoned checkout emails, and you can customize the timing and wording. A simple sequence:

1. A reminder within a few hours, showing the items left behind.
2. A follow-up the next day answering common doubts (shipping, returns).
3. Optionally, a small incentive later, used sparingly so customers don't learn to wait for it.

**Check afterwards:** track the recovery rate of abandoned checkouts each month.

## Grow traffic and repeat sales (ways 14 and 15)

### 14. Help collection pages rank in search

Collection pages often target the broad searches shoppers use ("linen shirts", "dog beds for large dogs"). Give each important collection:

- A clear, keyword-led title and URL handle
- A custom SEO title and meta description
- A short intro paragraph that helps shoppers, not just search engines
- Internal links from menus, related collections and blog posts

Avoid creating lots of near-identical collections that compete with each other. One strong page beats five thin ones.

**Check afterwards:** watch impressions and clicks for collection URLs in Google Search Console over a few months.

### 15. Sell more to customers you already have

Repeat customers already trust you, so they're usually cheaper to win than new ones. Build an email list from day one with a signup offer, then send:

- New arrival announcements linking to your "New" collection
- Restock alerts for popular items
- Seasonal edits linking to occasion-based collections
- Post-purchase emails suggesting products that pair with what they bought

Only once all of this is in place does paid traffic really pay off. Every ad click lands on a store that's ready to convert it.

## What to check after each change

Change one thing at a time where you can, so you know what worked.

| Area | Metric to watch | How often |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Collection order and sold-out handling | Collection add-to-cart rate | Weekly |
| Navigation and filters | Bounce rate on collection pages | Monthly |
| Cross-sells and bundles | Average order value | Weekly |
| Product pages | Product page add-to-cart rate | Bi-weekly |
| Checkout | Checkout completion rate | Weekly |
| Abandoned carts | Recovered checkouts | Monthly |
| SEO | Search clicks to collection pages | Monthly |
| Email | Revenue from returning customers | Monthly |

## A simple 30-day plan

1. **Week 1:** record your funnel numbers, set sort orders on your top collections and push sold-out items down.
2. **Week 2:** clean up the main menu, add a best sellers and new arrivals collection, and add filters to big collections.
3. **Week 3:** add cross-sells and a free-shipping threshold, and tighten up your top product pages.
4. **Week 4:** review checkout, set up abandoned cart emails, and write SEO titles and intros for your main collections.

Then compare your numbers with week 1 and keep going with whatever moved them most.

## How Awsm Collections helps

Awsm Collections keeps the merchandising steps above running without manual upkeep. It builds rule-based collections that update as products are added, sell out or change, sorts them by recent sales, margin or discount, can push out-of-stock products to the bottom, and lets you pin hero products. On Pro and Enterprise, the Smart sort ranks in-stock products by recent revenue weighted by margin, and the [AI Merchandiser](https://awsmcollections.com/docs/ai-merchandiser.md) flags issues like sold-out products near the top. Start with [building a rule-based collection](https://awsmcollections.com/docs/build-a-managed-collection.md). Plans start at $299/month with a 7-day free trial.

## FAQ

### What is the fastest way to increase sales on Shopify?

Usually it's improving what visitors see first. Put best sellers at the top of your collections, push sold-out products down and make navigation simple. These changes cost nothing in ad spend and affect every visit you already get.

### Should I spend on ads before fixing my store?

It's usually better to fix merchandising, product pages and checkout first. If your store converts poorly, more traffic just means more people leaving without buying. Once conversion is healthy, every ad click is worth more.

### Does product sort order really affect sales?

It can, because most shoppers only look at the first row or two of a collection. Showing proven, in-stock products there gives them something they're likely to buy straight away. Test it by comparing collection add-to-cart rates before and after a change.

### How do I increase average order value on Shopify?

Add relevant cross-sells on product pages and in the cart, offer bundles and set a free-shipping threshold a little above your typical order value. Keep suggestions closely related to what the shopper is already buying.

### How often should I update my Shopify collections?

Review your main collections at least monthly, and check top collections weekly for sold-out products near the top. Retire seasonal collections when the season ends and keep new arrivals limited to recent products.

## Related docs

- [Build a rule-based collection](https://awsmcollections.com/docs/build-a-managed-collection.md)
- [Self-optimizing collections (smart sort)](https://awsmcollections.com/docs/self-optimizing-collections.md)
- [The Autonomous AI Merchandiser](https://awsmcollections.com/docs/ai-merchandiser.md)