Step-by-Step Guide to Build Your Vitamin and Supplement Ecommerce Website on Shopify

Today, more people than ever are health conscious and choosing to make healthier choices to live better, longer, and healthier lives. 

The market for vitamin and mineral supplements in the United States is expected to grow to a whopping 30.5 billion U.S. dollars by 2025 (Statista). This presents a huge opportunity for merchants to build and grow successfully in the online vitamin and supplement space.

Source: Statista

eCommerce platforms like Shopify have made it easier for vitamin and supplement stores to launch their business online and provide spectacular shopping experiences.

In this blog, we’ll discuss everything you’ll need to know when launching an online vitamin and supplement brand.

Why You Need to Take Your Vitamin and Supplement Stores Online on Shopify or Shopify Plus

In the past few years, prominent and leading vitamin brands like Ritual, NatureMade, and Nordic Naturals, have been able to find breakout success online. Their million-dollar success, despite not having a physical location when they initially launched, has proven the effectiveness of eCommerce.

The market size of the online Vitamin & Supplement Sales industry in the US has grown 10.7% per year on average between 2018 and 2023. In fact, the online Vitamin & Supplement Sales industry was $23.8bn in 2023.

What’s more, when selling online, these vitamin and supplement brands aren't confined to one specific location. They could instead acquire and sell to customers globally, allowing them to capture more customers than if they only had a physical store.

Also read: 12 Shopify Store Design Inspirations From Goli - An Up-And-Rising Health And Wellness Brand 

If you haven’t set up your online store yet, you can avail Shopify’s 14-day trial to set up and launch your services online.

Challenges in building online Vitamin and Supplement brands

1. Navigating Regulatory Compliance

One of the biggest challenges in selling supplements online is adhering to strict labeling and advertising regulations. Before launching your business, it's crucial to understand the intricate legal framework surrounding:

• Precise labeling requirements, including disclosure of ingredients, warnings, and nutritional information.
• Advertising guidelines that govern the claims and messaging you can use to promote your products.
• Ensuring your products meet safety standards and are perceived as reliable and effective by consumers.

2. Expanding to International Markets

If you plan to sell supplements globally, you'll need to account for varying regulations across different countries. This may necessitate developing multiple product formulations and labels tailored to specific markets, addressing factors such as:

• Language requirements for labels and packaging.
• Country-specific warnings or advisories.
• Allergy and ingredient disclosure norms.
• Specific font size and formatting guidelines.

3. Legal Due Diligence

Before investing in product development, packaging, or manufacturing, it's imperative to conduct thorough research on the legal requirements of your target markets. Failure to comply with local regulations could result in your products being rejected or facing customs clearance issues, leading to potential financial losses and setbacks.

Step by Step Guide to Start an Online Store on Shopify For Your Vitamin and Supplement Brand

All the above-mentioned challenges can easily be managed and you can build and grow your online vitamins and supplements brand. Let’s take a look at a step-by-step breakdown of how you can do this.

1. Define your niche and product range

First things first - define your niche. 

Under the supplements banner, there are different categories you can pick and build your online business on. You’ll need to decide which on you’ll focus on. For instance, women’s wellness, fitness supplemets, toddler supplements, ayurvedic supplements, etc..

To do this, here are a few things you should definitely look into -

• Conduct a thorough market research and identify gaps/opportunities
• Identify your target audience and their needs/preferences
• Select your product range (vitamins, minerals, herbs, etc.)
• Consider private labeling or sourcing from reputable manufacturers

2. Pick your theme

Before you start selling your vitamins and supplements products on Shopify, you need to set up a store design that reflects your brand and helps you showcase your products. 

Through the Shopify Theme Store, you can pick up wellness Shopify themes you can set up and customize for your brand. Here are 3 vitamin and supplement Shopify themes you can explore: 

• Venue
• Beyond
• Aesthetic

3. Add detailed descriptions of each product, along with uses and ingredients

When setting up your product page, you need to inform your shoppers about your products better so they can make more informed choices.  

Here are some tips when writing your product descriptions:

• Templatize the format of your product description so that shoppers can predict the information you will be providing. 
• List the ingredients within the product.
• Describe the best way that shoppers should use the product.
• Define the best-case scenario when shoppers use it, whether it helps in weight loss, immunity-building, etc.  

4. Use brand colors

It's crucial to stick to your brand colors and fonts so that you stay consistent with your visual identity. This consistency can help you stay memorable in your customer's mind. 

Use the colors within your brand's logo or from your website to maintain your visual identity. This is very important for Shopify and Shopify Plus vitamin and supplements brands. 

5. Set up specific pages about your vitamin and supplement store

Your website isn’t complete without a few crucial pages that inform customers about who you are, what you do, and how you function. 

Here are 4 pages you need to set up to ensure customers have all the details they need about your brand:

• Our Story: Give background about your vitamin and supplement brand, including how it started, why you set it up, and the team behind the brand. You can also share why you started your product line.
• FAQ: Consumers are bound to have a lot of questions and doubts before purchasing from an online health and wellness brand. Tackle it with a detailed FAQ page. 
• Sourcing Standards: Inform consumers about the safety measures taken when manufacturing, packaging, and delivering your products. 
• Refund Policy: Inform customers about your refund policy, what reasons they will be eligible for refunds, and the procedure they need to follow.

6. Add social proof

Over 87% of purchase decisions are made after looking into product reviews, ratings, and testimonials. Thus, social proof can massively impact a consumer’s purchase decision. 

Social proof becomes even more crucial in an industry like vitamins and supplements where there is a direct impact on consumer’s health. They are not going to purchase these products from just about anybody. You will have establish your credibility for potential buyers to consider you legit and buy from you.

Here are a few things you can do -

• Feature customer testimonials on your homepage
• Flex your industry awards, rankings, and notable media mentions
• Add customer reviews to all product pages
• Provide star ratings to make comparisons easier
• Use case studies to demonstrate benefits

When using social proof, there are two basic types - implicit and explicit.

However, both should be used as either standalone methods or in conjunction with one another to create a seamless experience for your customer.

The bottom line is that social proof will help to solidify your brand as an industry leader, and it can potentially move the needle on sales.

7. Set up a pop-up at exit intent

Avoid losing your customers by showing a pop-up at exit intent. Exit-intent pop-ups allow you to capture shopper information before they drop-off so that you can later market to these shoppers. 

You can set up a pop-up with Privy, letting shoppers know about your exciting offers or what you have in store for them if they subscribe.

8. Optimise your store for SEO

SEO for eCommerce websites also involves making sure customers can find your products quickly and easily. This means that you need to optimize your product pages and listings so they appear in the results of relevant searches, as well as create a site architecture that helps users navigate through your site without getting lost or distracted by unrelated content.

Here are few things you should do for better SEO:

• Conduct keyword research
• Optimize product descriptions, product images (Image SEO)
• Add meta tags to all pages
• Ensure your theme is mobile-friendly
• Optimize your site’s URL structure
• Avoid duplicate pages
• Optimize site and page speed

Read our detailed guide on e-commerce SEO here.

9. Implement secure payment security

Online shopping is all about convenience. And online payment is an important aspect of this ‘convenience’. This means that offering payment options like PayPal that are beyond traditional credit and debit cards is crucial today. 

10. Integrate third-party apps and plugins

Running an online store takes more than just setting up a storefront. There are so many backend activities that you may need additional assistance with.

Here are some apps you might want to consider to setup and grow your online store:

• Recharge for managing subscriptions
• Easy Tabs - Product Tabs for better product descriptions
• Flits for customer loyalty programs
• Omnisend for email and SMS marketing
• Appikon for pre-ordering and back-in-stock notifications
• GoKwik for WhatsApp marketing

Best Practices for Shopify and Shopify Plus Vitamin and Supplement Stores

1. Explore subscription models: Owing to convenience, personalized experience, and value for money, close to 15% of online shoppers have subscribed to an eCommerce subscription service last year. Unlike other domains of eCommerce, health and wellness brands require a longer commitment with the brand to see effective results. This means that consumers will have to keep coming back to you to re-purchase/renew a particular product and/or service. 

Source

2. Optimize product listings: Focus on optimizing titles, and descriptions, and selecting visually appealing images that highlight your products' unique selling points. 
3. Manage inventory levels efficiently: Supplements often see bulk purchases, which can strain inventory levels. Ensure that your stock levels are accurately reflected across all sales channels to avoid overselling, refunds, and disappointing customers. Clear communication about product availability is key to maintaining a positive customer experience.
4. Provide comprehensive information and support: Make sure to provide detailed product descriptions, easily accessible contact information, and consider implementing live chat support to address customer inquiries promptly.
5. Identify and dominate a niche: Instead of competing solely on price, explore untapped opportunities such as halal-friendly supplements, organic ranges, or eco-friendly production methods. 

Set up a high-converting Vitamin and Supplement Ecommerce Website

Setting up a high-converting vitamin and supplement store can get tricky. To build and design an impressive store, you need to work with Shopify design experts who understand what you are looking for and have industry knowledge of the changing trends and consumer preferences.

Also read: Why Your Shopify Store Design Is Important to Increase Conversion Rates

We help you bring your ideas to life with Shopify web design, development, marketing, and support services from experts. Our team of Shopify experts works with Shopify merchants like you to design a store that reflects the personality of your brand and caters to the functionalities you require. Whether you want to revamp your existing design or build a new one from scratch, we will help you create a positive shopping experience on your Shopify store design. 

Reach out to us at info@xgentech.net and we’ll help you set up your Shopify store design!