Paolo Vidali has a suggestion for merchants looking to add advanced features to their ecommerce sites: Be careful. Focus first on profitability, he says, and solve the basics of product returns, customer service, and free shipping.
Paolo is a developer and marketer who launched Hidden Gears, an ecommerce agency, in 2014. It’s now a Hawaii-based Shopify expert partner with a varied client base: wholesalers, physical retailers, and D2Cs. His second site, SuperBuilt, offers vetted developers for hire.
In our recent conversation, he shared pointers for new and seasoned merchants, video tactics, inspirational sites, and more. Our entire audio is embedded below. The transcript is edited for length and clarity.
Eric Bandholz: What do you do?
Paolo Vidali: I’m the founder of Hidden Gears, a 12-year-old ecommerce agency and a Shopify expert partner. We focus on designing, building, and marketing beautiful web experiences for growing brands. Many of our clients make the goods they sell. Some are wholesale, some have retail locations, some are online-only, and others are omnichannel.
I also have a web dev sourcing agency called SuperBuilt, a portal for hiring vetted web developers.
I’m a developer and a marketer by trade, a hybrid background.
Bandholz: Say I’m a new entrepreneur with my first product. What sort of site should I launch?
Vidali: It’s easier than ever to start something on Shopify. I would encourage you to launch a store on that platform. We’ve worked with WordPress, Magento, and BigCommerce, but Shopify’s admin experience is much better.
We have a “no Squarespace” rule because its code, shipping, and tax tools are terrible.
I would advise you to stick to the default setup. Don’t go crazy with apps. There is an app for everything, but that doesn’t mean that you should have 30 apps on your store. Stay lean and nimble at first.
I tell merchants to visualize coming to an interior page of their site for the first time — not the home page but a collection page or a product page. They’ve never heard of the brand until then. What is their impression just by looking at that page?
It’s important because shoppers can discover the site in any number of ways — an external blog post, an Instagram link, an ad, you name it. They may never see the home page.
Plus, most visitors will be on mobile. Merchants should always view and test their sites on phones, not the big desktop screens we all use for daily work.
Bandholz: What about successful brands looking for advanced features?
Vidali: Shopify is rolling out many AI tools to help with new capabilities. But be wary of relying on AI and how it affects your brand positioning.
Always focus on profitability before bells and whistles. You’re going to struggle if you have a lot of returns and customer service requests, and you can’t charge for shipping. You might be achieving sales, but it’s going to be an uphill battle.
Bandholz: What are the best ways of implementing video on-site?
Vidali: We definitely encourage product videos, but they’re difficult to create. You need a talented video person, which is hard to find. You need a lot of product on hand, the edits take forever, and it’s expensive.
But a good 15- to 30-second product video can make a big difference in conversions. We recommend using MP4s and deferring JavaScript loading to improve site speed. Avoid GIFs, which are bloated and don’t work well.
YouTube is the common choice for longer offsite videos, such as product walkthroughs or technical explanations. There are downsides to YouTube, however, such as the crap at the end of the video, which cannot be turned off.
Vimeo is the highest quality provider with superior streaming.
For homegrown videos, invest in a good mic. Viewers can tolerate poor resolution or a shaky view, but poor audio is a nonstarter. It will generate negative comments and kill the attraction to your brand.
Bandholz: Give us examples of well-executed ecommerce sites.
Vidali: Wolf Ceramics in Hood River, Oregon, makes beautiful products, and its ecommerce site reflects the brand. It’s friendly, accessible, and playful. The footer expands around pottery for joyful people, joyful living.
Another one is Ode to Things. It’s a luxury, minimalist home goods site. It’s crisp and refined, and everything has its place, and that’s exactly the type of person who is going to buy things from this store. The design reflects Japanese and Danish influences.
I follow the work of Jeff Sheldon, the founder of Ugmonk. He’s a product designer who makes and sells beautiful desk accessories. He just relaunched the site with an impressive new look and vibe.
Bandholz: How can people follow you and reach out?
Vidali: Follow me on LinkedIn. Our sites are HiddenGears.com and WeAreSuperBuilt.com.
