7 Incredible Shopify Success Stories That Will Inspire You

Shopify Success Stories?

I mean; it’s okay to be skeptical.

After all, you’ve been trying to get your Shopify store up and running for a while now… but nothing seems to be working. You’ve tried writing a couple of blog posts to get Shopify traffic and run a few Facebook ads, but they didn’t give you those kind of ROIs usually written up in case studies.

You’ve actually even begun to wonder whether it’s all a lie.

Has anybody actually succeeded on Shopify before? What if it’s all a scam?

Trust me - I understand where you’re coming from.

But:

The truth is, It’s not a scam. There are thousands of Shopify stores that have succeeded, generating 6-, 7- or even 8 figures and beyond of revenue on their stores.

These are all catalogued under Shopify’s own Success Stories section, where you can browse through thousands of merchants’ stories, how they started and how they managed to succeed.

Ecommerce success relies on many factors,

I have selected a few of them below to highlight, and hopefully inspire you to Shopify and ecommerce greatness.

Enjoy:

(NOTE: Some of the retailers mentioned are using ReferralCandy as a marketing channel to drive more sales and revenue. If a referral program is something you want to experiment with and test for your online store, try it free here today).

Seven Shopify Success Stories

1. QuadLock

Quadlock, opened since 2012, is a ecommerce company that sells mounts that allows you to securely and conveniently attach your smartphone to your bike, car, or arm. This allows you to use your phone hands-free, and it makes it easy for you to use your Maps while cycling, or simply run with your phone without worries.

How Quadlock Began

Chris Peters, the founder of Quadlock had just moved to Sydney, Australia. New in the area, and an avid cyclist, Chris wanted to mount his iPhone to his bike so that he could use Google Maps and navigate around Sydney.

However, the solutions on the market displeased him.

He then decided to make his own mount, eventually funding it on Kickstarter in early 2012, later on launching on Shopify.

He never looked back.

Key Takeaway

Chris tells new store owners to get focused on selling products instead of obsessing over beautiful themes.

Average websites perform well - there’s no need to make it magically beautiful if you can’t afford to. Start with something standard, start selling your product, track everything you do and optimize from there.

(NOTE: QuadLock Case uses ReferralCandy to run their referral program!)

2. Leesa

Leesa is a mattress company founded with a simple goal: to help people sleep better. The idea behind Leesa was to reimagine the sleeping experience -- a three-layered mattress that is made entirely out of foam that could roll up to fit in a box a bit bigger than a large suitcase.

How Leesa Began

David Wolfe, the person behind Leesa was one of the many people that had trouble sleeping at night. He had tried all sorts of mattresses and gimmicks, but had found them to be all sales-talk.

Later on, he met a friend, Jamie Diamonstein, who was a mattress industry veteran and asked him, “if you could redesign the mattress and reinvent the sleep experience, what would you do?”

Jamie said, “I’d simplify it and take out everything that the mattress industry has been added for years to justify higher prices.”

That gave the impetus for David to redesign a mattress for better quality sleep and start Leesa.

Key Takeaway

Focus on two things - building a high-quality product and customer experience. This was entirely what Leesa focused on as they wanted to own a piece of their customers’ life - the entire experience from thinking of going to bed to getting up.

Did it work?

In its first full month, Leesa did $800,000 in sales, and later on generated nearly $30 million in 2015.

(NOTE: Leesa uses ReferralCandy to run their referral program!)

3. BestSelf Co.

BestSelf Co. is a company that sells productivity products. One of their most popular products - the Self Journal - is a planner that puts you in control of your day every day.

How BestSelf Began

Cathryn and Allen met when they both joined The Foundation, a mastermind group for people who want to start their own online business.

At that point of time, they were running their own businesses separately - Cathryn was selling graphic prints and Allen was consulting on digital marketing - and they were also collaborating on a business together.

Because they were running so many projects at the same time, they needed a planner to hold themselves accountable throughout the day. It was then they designed a planner for their own use and thought it would be something that could exist for other people as well.

They started a Kickstarter campaign, raised funds and the rest is history.

Key Takeaway

To ensure that their Kickstarter would succeed, Allen and Cathryn decided to build out a community that would support them when they launch, aka an email list.

The main method they used was writing epic content and then encouraging people to opt-in into their email list using content upgrades. It worked extremely well.

If you’re having trouble building your email list, consider using this tactic (it’s still very powerful today.)

4. Premier Estates Wine

Premier Estates Wine is a wine company that tries to keep things simple for anybody who wants to get into wines. Wine experts working for Premier Estates Wine source award-winning wines all around the globe and sell them at everyday prices - so their customers don’t have to worry about learning how to select wine.

How Premier Estates Wine Began

Budge Dhariwal, the founder was originally a cab driver who was sick of putting in the miles. Fancying a career change, he decided to pick up an off-license and become an independent wine retailer.

However, because he was unable to compete with large supermarkets during holiday periods, he decided to sell his off-license and go all out with a wine company.

He then flew around Europe on cheap flights, and walked into major wineries and tried to convince them to supply his independent wine company with wine.

It worked.

Key Takeaway

Have great customer service, then leverage the delightful customer experience by encouraging them to refer their friends. By using ReferralCandy, Premier Estates Wines have been successful in driving extra sales and revenue through satisfied customers and word-of-mouth.

What does a Referral Program do?

A referral program rewards your happy customers for sharing, and encourages them to share their positive experiences. Recommendations build trust for new customers to make their first purchase.

Word of mouth is social, trusted, and more compelling than other forms of advertising. (Don't take our word for it -- check out our hundreds of 5-star reviews.)

Since 2009, we've generated $100,000,00 in referral sales and counting. Get ReferralCandy for Shopify today and get set up in minutes.

5. TomboyX

TomBoyX is an underwear company that makes boxer briefs originally designed for curvier bodies and women. They were also the first company to make boxer briefs that were not designed for men.

How TomboyX Began

TomboyX started when Fran, the founder wanted a cool shirt for herself. She wanted a cool, button up shirt for women that had fun features.

After raising $76,000 in Kickstarter, they decided to expand into different ranges, and started to put their logo on some briefs they found. It quickly turned out to be their bestseller, resonating with thousands of women who work in blue collar where traditional womens’ underwear don’t work.

After taking copious notes and designing their own boxer briefs, they struck gold.

Key Takeaway

Focus on solving the most important problems for your customers. Although TomboyX started off as a T-shirt company, Fran and Naomi quickly realised that they were the only ones that could uniquely solve the underwear problem.

They doubled down on it and grew their business 3X.

6. Barbell Apparel

Barbell Apparel is a store that sells premium denim, chinos and shorts engineered for performance with a tailored athletic fit.

How Barbell Apparel Began

Hunter was a regular gym-goer and did a lot of weightlighting. All of these exercises made Hunter’s legs bigger than usual -- and as a result, he couldn’t find anything that fit him.

He decided to solve the problem by tackling the larger offender - denim. He made it to fit athletically built legs, and decided to launch it on Kickstarter after a few iterations.

Key Takeaway

Hunter had no experience in the apparel industry when he started. How did he circumvent that?

He emailed experts.

Remember - it’s easy to find someone’s email and email them on the Internet today. Don’t let your fear hold you back - if you need help, identify someone who can help, and ask.

(NOTE: Barbell Apparel uses ReferralCandy to run their referral program!)

7. Brilliant Business Moms

Brilliant Business Moms is a community-driven business that provides resources, guides and courses for mompreneurs.

How Brilliant Business Moms Began

Brilliant Business Moms was originally a community started by Beth Anne and her sister. They had a podcast series where they were interviewing one mompreneur every week.

Then, when they did a survey of their audience to ask them for their biggest challenge, their community asked for some way to organize their time better.

This resulted in a book called Time Management Momma and their very own planner.

Key Takeaway

Don’t guess what people want, ask them. Brilliant Business Moms succeeded because they successfully built a community filled with their target audience, and then asked them what they wanted.

You can do the same by creating content - filming videos, hosting a podcast, writing blog posts - and then building up a community.

When the time is ripe, survey them and build products for them.

7 Amazing Shopify Success Stories To Motivate You

There you go.

Seven Shopify success stories selling all sorts of products to motivate you.

Is it hard to succeed on Shopify?

Of course.

Is it impossible?

No.

Success can come to anyone on Shopify. No one mentioned is “special.” They are all just like you, people who had a dream and decided to chase for it.

The only difference is that they worked super hard to make it work.

And hopefully, after reading their success stories, you’re inspired as well to make your Shopify store work, and succeed.

Psst. Want more? You should check out what Shopify's COO had to say about 12 marketing tactics used by the top Shopify stores.

ReferralCandy: The Best Referral Program on the Shopify Store

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(we also support other eCommerce platforms like Magento, WooCommerce and more!)

Hey! Before you head off, why not see how you can boost your Shopify store's traffic through good SEO practices. We explain how here in our Step-By-Step Shopify SEO Guide (For Real People).