Texas Ayumi, representative director of Dot Miso Co., Ltd., which runs a Shopify store, candidly shares the realities of running a Shopify store solo — sales figures and all — in this series, [Shopify Seven Falls, Eight Rises], aimed at growing the store.
In this second installment, we reveal everything we did for the long-term pop-up we hosted in Hokkaido in 2024, along with the offline special-event site we ran alongside it. I'd love to call it an "OMO strategy" to sound cool, but really it was all just hands-on, unglamorous work — and I'll share every bit of it, tactics and results included.
The long-term pop-up held at Tsutaya Bookstore in Ebetsu, Hokkaido
Hosting the Largest Miso-Only Long-Term Event Yet, Both Offline and Online
Hello, I'm Texas Ayumi. I run Dot Miso, a nationwide select shop for miso based in Tokyo. My main business is selling through an online site built on Shopify, but I also set up shop in all kinds of places, from small markets to department store events, selling my own miso products and miso from all across Japan.
Now, as the culmination of our offline efforts, from September 21 to October 27, 2024 — about a month and a week — we poured all our energy into hosting our largest-ever miso pop-up at Tsutaya Bookstore in Ebetsu, Hokkaido.
Over that one-month run, we carried out all kinds of tactics both offline and online, and in this series I'd like to record what I actually did on our Shopify site, along with the tactics and results.
Listing Every Tactic We Used for the Pop-Up. The Sheer Volume Is Something.
First, let's list out everything we did during the one-month pop-up period, and before and after it, in bullet-point form.
① Overall Pop-Up Tactics
Strategy: Working Out the Specifics of the Pop-Up
- Set the purpose of the pop-up and decide on a target sales figure
- Decide to run the online site and in-store sales simultaneously
- Run the pop-up spin-off project, "MISO PEOPLE'S VOICE"
Advertising: Running Ads Before and During the Pop-Up
- Run light Google Ads throughout the period
- Run Shopping ads using Google Merchant Center's free listings
- Run light Instagram ads throughout the period
- Run Meta ads during the on-site workshop
And then, with two weeks left in the event, we made the call to stop the ads.
PR: Doing PR Before and During the Pop-Up
- Issue a press release via PR TIMES 5 days before the event
- Individually contact 13 media outlets we especially wanted coverage from, timed with the press release
- Send individual DMs to 18 influencers around Sapporo
- Send individual DMs to the personal accounts of people involved in Sapporo TV programs (such as announcers) we wanted coverage from
② Tactics We Ran Online
Things We Did Across Both Our Own Site and Social Media
- Run the spin-off interview project "MISO PEOPLE'S VOICE"
- Run a weekly rotating special sale
- Share recipe information for the miso products we sell
- Put everything into fast, courteous customer service
Things We Did on Our Own Site (Shopify)
- Create a pop-up special-event site
- Build out product pages thoroughly
- Send 19 email newsletters
- Create the "MISO PEOPLE'S VOICE" content.
Things We Did on Social Media
- Post 229 times in total across feed, reels, and stories
- Set up highlights
- Change our profile to push the pop-up front and center
X
- Aim for at least one post per day on our personal account
- Change the banner to pop-up visuals
- Align our profile with the pop-up
- Outsource management of our official X account
③ Tactics We Ran Offline
Building Out the Sales Floor
- Design a display that conveys a clear world view
- Make Village Vanguard-style recommendation pop displays
- Create a pop-up guide booklet
- Change the large in-store pop display midway through and again on the final day
- Hand out the booklet on the final day
Going On-Site to Promote
- Host two tasting events during the run
- Host a workshop twice — on the first day and midway through the run
Tactics Outside of Shopify, and the Event's Actual Financial Results
Details of our offline tactics outside of Shopify, and the event's overall actual financial results, are in a paid note article. Feel free to check it out if you're interested.
Looking Back, the Effort I Put Into Shopify Itself Was Surprisingly Small
Looking back over the tactics, it's striking how few and simple the Shopify-specific tactics actually were. That said, it's not that I was slacking off — since Shopify tactics tie directly to sales, I have to admit that, in my pre-event planning, I should have worked out more detailed strategy to drive even more sales.
During the one-month pop-up period, I was actually on the ground in Hokkaido for about 8 days. The rest of the time, I was executing tactics from our office in Tokyo. In terms of how I spent my time during the event, roughly, it broke down like this:
Conducting interviews and writing articles 40% / Social media 25% / Sending newsletters 20% / Shopify improvements 10% / Ordering and shipping-related work 5%
For reference, here's how it ranked in terms of mental difficulty:
Shopify improvements > Social media > Sending newsletters > Interviews and article writing > Ordering, shipping, invoices, and other tasks (but this last one is actually the most confusing)
I Managed to Put Together a Pop-Up Special-Event Site, But It Didn't Sell at All, So I Made Improvements Mid-Run
I normally run our own Shopify site basically by myself, day in and day out. So while there are certainly things I can do quickly, there are also things I can't build out, such as elaborate designs or system integrations.
Given that, with the period fixed and my available hours limited, I focused on choosing tactics that would actually translate into results — that is, sales.
First, I built a special-event site as a landing page using the default page feature.
Here's what I kept in mind while building the special-event site:
・Make the aim and overview of the event clear ・Make the date, time, and location clear ・Make the latest event information clear ・Make the products clear ・Make it purchasable ・Include related content
At first, I thought I'd packed everything in and nailed it, but the content ended up so chaotic that visitors to the site didn't take any action — in other words, I realized it just wasn't selling at all.
Changing the Landing Page to One That Actually Converts
Because of that, I turned the special-event site into an entry point for things like press releases, and for the actual purchase action, I built out a product listing as a "product collection," with a focus on making it as easy as possible to buy. That's the product listing below.
The product listing, too, was at first organized rigidly by category — "rice miso, barley miso, soybean miso…" — a breakdown that would only make sense to miso professionals or a handful of enthusiasts, and it completely failed to resonate with the customers I actually wanted to reach. It didn't sell at all.
After that, I got to the point where I honestly couldn't figure out why it wasn't selling on my own, so I got advice from someone who has supported our Shopify operations since our founding, and made the following key improvements during the run.
What We Improved on Shopify
| Target area | Tactics implemented |
|---|---|
| Product listing page | ・Create easy-to-choose sets for beginners, intermediate fans, and enthusiasts ・Use tags that speak to the heart. Example: "Miso you have to try at least once in your life" ・Give the thumbnails an event-themed look |
| Individual product pages | ・Split the product page template by product and build out each page individually ◯Feature recommended recipes ◯Feature interviews with people from the miso breweries ◯Individually select and feature related products ・Detailed updates: thumbnail changes, title changes, changes to thumbnail image display size |
| Order confirmation emails, abandoned cart emails, and other notification emails | ・Add an event announcement banner ・Show a pop-up banner that changes weekly |
| Site-wide | ・Change the main visual (from a heavily design-oriented image to a highly visible one featuring actual product photos) ・Add a chatbot to the site |
Inserting Individually Optimized Banners on High-Traffic Pages
Also, since Dot Miso has been writing miso-related blog articles since our founding and gets a lot of search traffic, we created and placed banners tailored to the content at the top of our 10 highest-traffic articles.
(The banner placed at the top of the camping-food article)
This was a tactic where the effort we put into making the banners paid off — the banner click-through rate rose by about 10%, which we could clearly attribute to actual results.
Always Do a Purchase Test Yourself Before an Event.
Here, I'll admit something embarrassing. From the event's start on September 21 through September 25, we actually had zero orders. The reason was a mistake in the shipping-fee setup for the event's products, which meant no one was able to complete a purchase at all.
Specifically, it was a mistake in the regional zone settings for shipping rates. There was an overlap between the region selections for our normal shipping-fee setup and the special event shipping-fee setup, so an error occurred no matter which region in Japan the order came from, and the shipping fee was never added, meaning purchases could never be completed.
Even though items were being added to the cart, checkout wasn't completing — I knew that much, but I had no idea why, and I completely missed that crucial early momentum as a result.
I only noticed when a customer I knew messaged me saying they couldn't complete a purchase. If I'd just looked at the error message being displayed, the cause would have been obvious immediately.
It was an embarrassing, basic mistake. I've taken it to heart: from now on, whenever I change something, always run a purchase test.
During a Limited-Time Pop-Up, Sales and Events Are Simply Powerful
I made small improvements to Shopify throughout the event, but it still wasn't translating into sales. So, to connect directly to sales, I planned a weekly rotating SALE.
(In the latter half of the period, we planned a weekly limited-time SALE)
The SALE titles were a little quirky, but the content itself was fairly standard — things like a discount for buying in bulk, or a gift with purchase over a certain amount. Above all, I focused on creating a sense that there was always something to gain and that it was easy to buy. We announced these on Instagram and X as well.
(The SALE content we planned for the latter half of the event)
Sales Finally Picked Up in the Latter Half
Since we ran multiple tactics simultaneously, I can't say for certain which one hit the mark, but below is how Shopify sales trended during the period. Starting September 21 and ending on the final day, October 27, we went from days with zero sales at all in the first half to a steady upward climb.
(Sales trend during the period)
Meanwhile, store traffic stayed roughly flat throughout the period. This really drove home the point that, during a pop-up period, boosting sales requires focusing your efforts on tactics that actually drive conversion.
(Overall store pageview trend during the period)
Why Didn't It Sell as Well as Expected Online?
We ran all sorts of tactics, but over the course of the one-month event, sales on the site actually dropped significantly compared to usual.
The reasons it just didn't sell are only my own analysis, but here's what I can think of:
・We wanted to build a track record of "it sold at Tsutaya Bookstore," so we emphasized driving people to visit in person ・People assumed it could only be bought in person ・We haven't built up much day-to-day connection with customers, so one month wasn't enough to see explosive growth ・We didn't run paid advertising
These, and other factors, seem to be at play. In short, I really feel that our advance preparation fell short, and that there was a lot we simply didn't fully carry through on.
If You Want the Synergy of Offline and Online, Shopify Is the Only Platform to Choose
Sales from our Shopify site for this pop-up were tough. That said, I can say with certainty that the fact we achieved these numbers at all, and that we were able to carry out our tactics as fully as we did, is precisely because of Shopify.
I once again realized that, even with limited time and staff, there's a huge amount you can do — and it's a place where you can express what you want to do.
Shopify Seven Falls, Eight Rises. I took a big fall, so now all that's left is to get back up in a big way. Fellow Shopify merchants, let's keep hopping, stepping, and jumping together this year too!
