"RuffRuff 予約販売" supports reducing the opportunity loss that occurs at times such as out-of-stock, before a new product launch, or while waiting for restock.
You can implement pre-orders on your own Shopify store surprisingly easily, registering unlimited pre-order items and accepting unlimited pre-orders. It also lets you restrict customers from ordering pre-order and regular items together, and send restock notifications when the arrival date is undecided.
It also offers many unique features not found in other pre-order apps, such as a "deferred payment" function that lets you collect payment before the product ships.
You've launched an online store on Shopify, but sales just aren't growing the way you'd hoped. Many store owners share this concern. One likely cause is that you aren't attracting customers effectively.
This article explains in detail how to attract customers to your Shopify store, Shopify apps that help with customer acquisition, and the importance of measuring results. Using this information can help boost your Shopify store's ability to attract customers and grow sales.
The Reason Your Shopify Store Isn't Selling Might Be a Lack of Customers
There are several reasons a Shopify store might not be selling, but one major factor is simply "no one is visiting your Shopify store" (a lack of customer acquisition).
Shopify is an excellent e-commerce site-building tool. But products don't start selling the moment you open your Shopify store. And they won't sell just because time passes. If you don't take action, your products will remain unsold.
A newly built Shopify store has low visibility and no customer acquisition power yet. You first need to understand ways to attract customers to your Shopify store, and take action.
The blog article below covers reasons a Shopify store might not be selling and concrete countermeasures. Please use it as a reference.
How to Attract Customers to Your Shopify Store Yourself, Without Spending Money
Here are ways to attract customers yourself without spending money.
We'll explain each in detail below.
SEO
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization.
It refers to efforts to rank highly or prominently in search results when a given keyword is searched on Google, Bing, Yahoo, and other search engines.
The benefit of SEO is increased traffic from search (organic search traffic). The higher you rank for frequently searched keywords, the more traffic you can capture.
For details on SEO you can do on Shopify, see the blog article below.
Blogging
Blogging is one important SEO tactic for increasing search traffic.Shopify comes with blogging built in as a standard feature.
Shopify's blog feature lets you create blog posts starting on the Basic plan.
It has all the features you need to write a blog post, and installing the Shopify app on your smartphone lets you write blog posts not just from a computer but from your phone too — making it easy to write during commutes or spare moments.
Running a blog on Shopify has many benefits beyond customer acquisition, such as building closer relationships with customers and providing supplementary product information.
The blog article below introduces the benefits of writing blog posts on Shopify and use cases for the blog feature. Please use it as a reference.
Social Media
If you can get people interested in your products and content on social media and grow your follower count, you can attract customers repeatedly and for free, without ad spend. Also, on X (formerly Twitter), content can spread on its own if users share it with each other.
However, social media carries the risk of backlash, so you need to be careful about what you post.
On a Shopify store, using Shopify apps lets you easily integrate with the following social platforms.
- TikTok
Gaining fans on social media can dramatically improve your customer acquisition efficiency, so please consider social media as part of your acquisition strategy.
The blog article below explains how to connect Shopify with Instagram. Please use it as a reference.
Google Shopping Ads (Free Listings)
Google Shopping ads are ads shown at the top or right side of search results, or at the top of the Shopping tab, when searching on Google.
Google Shopping also has a free listing option — as shown in the image below, you can list your own products for free in the red-boxed area of the Shopping tab in search results.
On a Shopify store, using a Shopify app lets you easily sync your products to Google Merchant Center, the tool used for running Google Shopping ads.
Even though it's the Shopping tab, this method can get you ranked highly in Google search faster than SEO, so it's worth trying.
How to Attract Customers to Your Shopify Store Using Ads
Here are ways to attract customers to your Shopify store using ads.
- Listing ads (search-linked ads)
- Google Shopping ads (paid listings)
- Display ads
- Remarketing ads
- Affiliate ads
- Social media ads
We'll explain each in detail below.
Listing Ads (Search-Linked Ads)
Listing ads are ads shown in the search results of search engines like Google, Yahoo!, and Bing.
Listing ads appear at the very top of the search results page, so they tend to be clicked often (i.e., they drive visits to your Shopify store).
You can also target specific keywords, so you can show ads directly to customers with high purchase intent. Because of this, ad efficiency is relatively high, and you can also keep ad costs low.
That said, be aware that for highly competitive keywords like credit cards, hair growth, or supplements, the cost-per-click can be quite high.
Unlike SEO, with listing ads, as long as you plan the ad content (mainly the title and description) and pay for it, you'll appear high in search results starting the day you launch the ad.
If you have ad budget to spare, using listing ads to quickly grow customer acquisition is one option.
Google Shopping Ads (Paid Listings)
As mentioned above, Google Shopping ads are ads shown at the top or top-right of search results, or at the top of the Shopping tab, when searching on Google.
Paid listings show up in the first view of search results or at the top of the Shopping tab, giving them a higher click-through rate (better customer acquisition) than free listings.
Products highly relevant to the keyword are shown, so you can attract users with relatively high purchase intent, making this one of the more cost-effective ad formats.
Display Ads
Display ads use images and video, and can appear in ad slots on websites, blogs, and news sites.
They can show relevant ads based on a user's interests while that user is browsing a particular site.
Because users see ads for the genre they happen to be interested in at that moment, they're more likely to click.In addition, display ads can convey products accurately using visuals like images and video, not just text.
By accurately identifying your Shopify store's target customers and carefully selecting the websites where you display ads, you can succeed at customer acquisition.
Remarketing Ads
Remarketing ads show your ads on other platforms to users who have previously visited your Shopify store.
Someone who has visited your Shopify store once has already shown interest in your products, and can be considered a likely future customer (a prospective customer). Because you can re-approach these prospective customers, you can expect to attract users who are more likely to purchase, making this one of the more cost-effective ad formats.
However, note that when a Shopify store first launches, few users have visited it yet, making remarketing ads harder to use effectively.
Affiliate Ads
Affiliate ads are a format where affiliates promote your company's products on their own websites or social media.Typically pay-for-performance, where you pay a commission when a product is purchased through an affiliate's media or social channel. Because of this, they tend to be cost-effective. You can also expect increased awareness from being featured by affiliates.
The blog article below introduces the pros and cons of using affiliate ads on a Shopify store, plus recommended affiliate apps. Please use it as a reference.
Social Media Ads
Social media ads run on platforms like Facebook,X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and TikTok.
Social media ads let you target users based on demographic and interest data, so you can improve ad effectiveness by delivering ads to users likely to buy your products.
In recent years, Apple has strengthened user privacy protection on iOS devices, making it harder for social platforms to leverage personal data. As a result, some social media ads have seen reduced efficiency compared to before.
Recommended Shopify Apps for Customer Acquisition
Here are recommended Shopify apps for customer acquisition
- SEO Manager
- Plug in SEO
- Page Speed Booster
- RuffRuff Table of Contents
- RuffRuff Product & Blog Tags
- RuffRuff Author Profiles
- Facebook & Instagram
- TikTok
- Google Channel
- Marutto Syukyaku
- Affitch
We'll explain each in detail below.
Recommended Shopify Apps for SEO
SEO Manager
SEO Manager is a popular SEO app among Shopify apps.
Using SEO Manager streamlines SEO work like selecting keywords to target, optimizing titles and meta descriptions, and finding and fixing errors.
Pricing: From $9/month
Plug in SEO
Plug in SEO is another popular SEO app among Shopify apps.
It surfaces SEO issues and suggests solutions.
Pricing: From $29.99/month
Page Speed Booster
A Shopify app that improves your Shopify site's load speed.
It can be installed without any coding and supports every Shopify theme.
Pricing: Free
Recommended Shopify Apps for Blogging
RuffRuff Table of Contents
Free to use, with a no-code setup in just 2 steps. You can customize the wording, design, scroll on/off behavior, and where the table of contents appears. It can also automatically display a table of contents not just on blog posts, but on product pages, collection pages, and pages created with Pages.
Pricing: Free~
* A paid plan is required to hide the branding (RuffRuff App by Tsun). See the Shopify App Store for pricing details.
The blog article below explains the benefits of showing a table of contents on your Shopify blog posts. Please use it as a reference.
RuffRuff Product & Blog Tags
"RuffRuff Product & Blog Tags," released in December 2022, is a Shopify app that makes it easy to display a tag list on your Shopify site. It's free to use, and can be set up with no code on OS 2.0-compatible Shopify themes.
It can display tag data attached not just to blog posts, but to blogs, products, and collections, as a tag list. Recommended for improving user convenience and SEO through internal linking.
Pricing: Free~
* A paid plan is required to hide the branding (RuffRuff App by Tsun). See the Shopify App Store for pricing details.
The blog article below explains the benefits of showing a tag list on your Shopify blog posts. Please use it as a reference.
RuffRuff Author Profiles
"RuffRuff Author Profiles" is a Shopify app that supports building trust in your Shopify store. Using this app, you can register unlimited authors and display author information on your blog posts — not just the author name, but a profile photo, bio, title, and more. It's also easy to set up with no code.
Pricing
Free~
The blog article below explains in detail the benefits of showing author information on your Shopify blog posts and how to display it. Please use it as a reference.
Recommended Shopify Apps for Social Media and Social Ads
Facebook & Instagram
The Facebook channel is a recommended Shopify app for using Facebook Shopping and Instagram Shopping.
Like Google Channel, this app automatically syncs your Shopify product data to Facebook and Instagram.
Pricing: Free
Pinterest may not be very familiar in Japan, but it's a visual search engine used by over 619 million people worldwide (as of Q4 2025).
Data source: Pinterest Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Results
A recommended app if you want to promote your products on Pinterest. This app automatically syncs your Shopify product data to Pinterest.
Pricing: Free
TikTok
You can also integrate TikTok Shop, which fully launched in Japan, with Shopify. The blog article below clearly explains how to connect TikTok Shop with Shopify, the benefits, costs, and key points to know before setup. Please use it as a reference.
Recommended Shopify Apps for Advertising
Google Channel
Google Channel is a recommended Shopify app if you want to run Google Shopping ads.Using this app syncs your Shopify product data with Google Merchant Center (the Google service used to run Google Shopping ads).
Pricing: Free
Using the Google Channel app also lets you set up Google Analytics (GA4) on your Shopify store.The blog article below explains how to set up GA4 on your Shopify store using the Google Channel app. Please use it as a reference.
Marutto Syukyaku [Affiliate]
An app that connects with a wide range of external customer-acquisition channels (primarily used in Japan). It's free to use, and can integrate with major Japanese affiliate networks (ASPs) like ValueCommerce, A8.net, and Access Trade. Beyond ASP integration, it can also connect with other external channels such as Google Ads, Facebook/Instagram Ads, LINE media, and AmebaPick.
Pricing: Free
The blog article below introduces Marutto Syukyaku's main features, benefits, and setup. If you're considering adopting Marutto Syukyaku, please use it as a reference.
Affitch [Affiliate]
An app that lets you build your own affiliate program on your Shopify site.
Recommended if you want to grow sales through affiliates but don't want an ASP taking a cut. Being a Japan-developed Shopify app, you also get Japanese-language support when you need help.
The blog article below introduces Affitch's main features, pricing plans, and setup. If you're considering adopting Marutto Syukyaku, please use it as a reference.
Measuring Results Is Key to Customer Acquisition
Whenever you run a customer acquisition initiative on your Shopify store, it's important to measure the results.
Without measuring results, you can't judge how well your customer acquisition efforts are working — for example, whether SEO is paying off relative to the time invested, or whether ads are paying off relative to the cost.
Plan your customer acquisition initiatives with results measurement in mind from the start.
Tools That Help Measure and Improve Customer Acquisition Results
Here are tools that help measure and improve the results of your customer acquisition efforts.
- Google Analytics 4 (GA4)
- Google Search Console
- Clarity
- Shopify's store analytics feature
We'll explain each in detail below.
Google Analytics 4 (GA4)
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is a web analytics tool — the new version of Google Analytics released in October 2020.
It automatically collects events from users who visit your Shopify store, and automatically tallies metrics like page views, users, events, and orders. You can also view data by dimensions such as age, gender (estimated data), traffic source, or page. It's an essential tool for visualizing the current state of your Shopify store.
The blog article below explains the basics of GA4 and how to set it up on Shopify.
Google Search Console
A free Google service that helps you monitor, manage, and improve your site's ranking in Google search results.
For Shopify stores focused on SEO-based acquisition, this is a must-have service for running an effective Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle on your SEO efforts.
Clarity
A free behavior analytics tool provided by Microsoft. Completely free, it enables "session analysis," "heatmap analysis," and "recording analysis" for your own Shopify site
As mentioned earlier, acquiring users isn't the end goal — getting them to purchase is what matters. You can use Clarity to see where users are getting stuck along the path to purchase, and make improvements.
The blog article below explains the basics of Clarity and how to set it up on Shopify.
Shopify's Store Analytics Feature
Shopify comes with a store analytics feature built in by default. On the dashboard, you can check not only sales, but also session counts and sessions broken down by traffic source.
You can access the store analytics feature from "Analytics" in the Shopify admin.
In Closing
Attracting customers to your Shopify store is essential to business success. Use the various acquisition methods and Shopify apps introduced in this article, keeping the following points in mind.
1. Choose acquisition methods that fit your products and target customers
2. Combine multiple acquisition channels, such as SEO, social media, and ads
3. Regularly measure the results of your acquisition efforts and run a PDCA cycle
4. Focus not just on acquisition, but also on improving your conversion rate
5. Keep an eye on new acquisition trends and tools, and adopt them as appropriate
Customer acquisition doesn't always pay off overnight, but with sustained effort and the right strategy, it will produce results. Use the information in this article to boost your Shopify store's customer acquisition power and grow your business.
Beyond customer acquisition apps, the blog article below introduces a wide range of recommended apps by category — such as growing sales, improving conversion rate, and expanding your blog. Please use it as a reference.
