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E-commerce Strategy: Store driven, or story driven?

Sully1994

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Opening up an e-commerce store in the mental health and wellness niche. My product is a mood boosting supplement pill made from various natural Ayurvedic herbs. Just finalized ingredient ratios and am in the process of getting the beta version produced for friends, family, and whoever I can find to try the product out for free.

Currently browsing Shopify website themes, and I'm debating whether to choose one that is product driven, or more content/ story driven.

I plan to blog pretty heavily, as well as add a forum to the site where members can talk about their own experiences with depression and anxiety- and encourage each other through the often tumultuous and crazy journey we call life ( this won't be tied to the product, anyone can join for free)

So my question to you, oh wise members of the Fastlane Forum: in your experience, should an e-commerce site with a single product be product driven, or story driven? Which should you smack people in the face with first? A product page, or a blog and forum? What would entice you more as a consumer?

I'm creating this company because I believe success starts with your mindset -a cliche- I know. However... I am dead convinced there is no way in hell to reach your full potential when you are down and feeling sorry for yourself. Where there is no passion, there is no possibility to surmount the obstacles that we will inevitably face as entrepreneurs, and as humans in general.

Would sincerely appreciate any advice on this. Love ya'll.

-Sully.



 
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Sully1994

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amp0193

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I'd go story-driven for what you're describing. It'll work well for most things in fact. Illustrate how you can solve someones problem.

Have a read of this case study, it'll help you a lot IMHO: Ecommerce Advertising | Facebook, Google, Instagram, Pinterest

Damn, that article was so good.

It was literally a step by step plan to kick major a$$.

I love ezra firestone.
 
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PureA

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I'm creating this company because I believe success starts with your mindset -a cliche- I know. However... I am dead convinced there is no way in hell to reach your full potential when you are down and feeling sorry for yourself. Where there is no passion, there is no possibility to surmount the obstacles that we will inevitably face as entrepreneurs, and as humans in general.

I agree, but is the answer in a bottle of pills?

p.s. be aware that you won't be allowed to use stripe for your payment gateway (due to your industry)
 

Sully1994

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I agree, but is the answer in a bottle of pills?

p.s. be aware that you won't be allowed to use stripe for your payment gateway (due to your industry)

I agree, there's no singular answer to all of life's problems. In fact, there's no singular answer to overcoming anxiety. Too many variables at play. However I do believe it will play a very important part when combined with other good decisions ( excercising, eating right , eliminating negative people in your life etc). This is based off my own personal experience with these herbs. If I thought it was bullshit, i wouldn't be selling it. Everybody's body is different - I recognize that my product won't work for everyone with anxiety and depression related symptoms. There will be a one month money back guarantee.

Anyhow thanks for the heads up on the payment gateway. I'll start looking for workarounds!
 

jcvlds

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Hey @Sully1994 just found this thread. Having been almost a year ago, I wanted to ask if you cared to share what you ended up going with and what your results looked like + lessons learned.

I'm currently entering eCommerce as well and have been debating this same question you posed in my head for several days now. I'm trying to break into the baby/kids industry in a niche I found I think I could have a chance.. but at the moment thinking of only launching with 1 product and was thinking if my site would be better as one of those 1-page-long copy product page (nicely designed and modern) with company info/story stuff in other tabs/URLs... or if the main page should be story-telling and appealing to emotional factors.

Thanks in advance and happy to connect and discuss these sorts of things!
 
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TKDTyler

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Sully1994

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Wow, time sure does fly.

Long story short- I came to the realization that I did not have enough capital to do this business properly.

Reasons included

liability insurance ( avoiding anything consumable / medical in the future)
Costs to research and create something truly unique and proprietary.
High up front mass production risk ( factories aren't exactly fans of "test batches" )
Advertising costs in a highly saturated market

I got great feedback on the demo version- but found there were other similar products that did just as good a job.

Conclusion: I decided to not waste my time creating a product that I did not have the resources to do properly.

I'm currently focusing on my career as a freelance copywriter. Once I'm generating more income from that- I'll start exploring new business ventures.

Hey- gotta pay rent!
 

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