7 Tips for Ecommerce Success

Want to start an ecommerce business but aren’t sure where to start? Maybe you have a great idea or just want the freedom of working for yourself. The good news? Every successful online entrepreneur started in that same uncertain place. What separates the dreamers from the doers is how they start small, test ideas, and learn fast.

We spoke with six founders who grew their stores from living rooms, garages, and late‑night experiments into real, profitable brands. Read on for some of their best tips for ecommerce success.

1. Sell the Right Product and Solve a Real Problem

When Clementine Schouteden adopted her first guinea pigs, she realized there was nothing on the market that let the animals run or play freely. “I quickly realized there was nothing commercially available that was big enough,” she said. “So I DIY’d one, and when I shared it on Facebook, someone said 'yes!' So I could see I had something, and that this was something people were looking for.”

That single post became Kavee, now the world’s leading guinea pig habitat brand. Founded in 2017, Kavee serves more than 100,000 customers across 35 countries and has been recognized by the UK Pet Industry Federation as Online Business of the Year.

Before launching, Schouteden, a former management consultant with a PhD in molecular genetics, spent months convincing suppliers to trust her with custom designs. “It’s very easy to take shortcuts in product development and just slap your brand name on something that already exists in the industry,” she said. “But if you do that, you’re exactly going to repeat what’s already going on.”

Lesson: The best ecommerce ideas come from lived frustration. Solve a real problem that matters to you first. Chances are, it matters to someone else, too.

2. Focus on Repeat Customers

Kris Dehnert, owner and CEO of Dugout Mugs, built a $55 million ecommerce brand by focusing on quality and retention. The Florida-based company, known for turning baseball bats into mugs, now holds licensing deals with Major League Baseball and has been featured on ESPN, Forbes, and Fox Business.

“Quality control was massive for us,” Dehnert said. “A lot of people start to scale and cut corners, but that’s a death punch. It always comes back through bad reviews.”

That obsession with quality drives Dugout Mugs’ 20% repeat customer rate. “Keeping a customer is far less expensive than buying a new one,” Dehnert said. “If you can showcase quality early, people come back again and again.”

Lesson: Retention is a superpower. Make it easy and worthwhile for customers to buy again, and growth follows naturally.

3. Be Trustworthy and Genuine

For Brian Gunterman, founder of DDR BBQ Supply, trust is the cornerstone of his ecommerce success. What began as weekend tinkering in his San Antonio garage became a thriving online store serving thousands of backyard grillers and competitive pitmasters nationwide.

He attributes much of that success to authenticity and precision. “Sales online are made or broken by good photos and powerful descriptions,” he said. “Ecommerce doesn’t compensate for noise; it compensates for accuracy. Begin with one wonderful product, create a story about it, and customer reactions will inform your next step.”

Lesson: Honesty, clarity, and attention to detail build credibility faster than any marketing campaign.

4. Keep It Friction-Free

Michael Monfared, founder of DTLA Print, built his premium merch-printing company by eliminating chaos and creating reliability in a noisy industry. After years of dealing with inconsistent pricing and poor communication from print vendors, he decided to build a better system from the ground up.

“You could ask for the same thing on Monday and get one price, then a different price on Wednesday,” he recalled. “So we built a full-package experience to cut out the middleman.” His company now manages design, production, and fulfillment in-house, offering clients everything from concept to shipment under one roof.

Monfared started small and even slept in his factory for the first two years to keep the business afloat. But his relentless focus on process paid off. The company now handles orders for major retail and corporate clients who rely on its speed and precision. They created a system for clients and made it seamless. That, Monfared says, is what has helped him maintain and build his business.

Lesson: Systems scale success. Streamline your workflow early, and remove every unnecessary step between customer request and delivery.

5. Market Creatively and Keep Testing

Tom Saxon, founder of Batch Coffee Club, turned his years as a barista and roaster into a thriving U.K. subscription brand that ships curated specialty coffee to homes nationwide. The business started during the pandemic, but its real roots go deeper, into Tom’s content and community.

“Writing long-form content was, and still is, our most successful form of marketing,” Saxon said. Before launching Batch, he had already built an audience of coffee enthusiasts through his blog and YouTube tutorials. When lockdowns hit, he pivoted that trust into a subscription service.

“Start small,” he advised. “Design things yourself, print things off yourself, and pack everything yourself. Save as much money as you can to get a product out there and see if it works.”

Batch Coffee Club has since grown into one of the U.K.’s most respected independent coffee subscriptions, featured in lifestyle publications and influencer reviews.

Lesson: Create before you sell. Great content not only attracts customers, but it also builds the trust that powers your first conversions.

6. Nail the Details

Lena Mintz, founder of Mr. Mintz, a website that sells printable crafts and activities for kids, built her business quietly, one listing at a time. Before she ever opened her Etsy shop, she spent late nights researching what parents and teachers were searching for, comparing listings, and refining her own. “I wanted to be sure the idea was real, not just another good feeling,” she said.

She tested everything with her kids first, from origami sets to paper crafts, before realizing that handprint art struck just the right balance. “It was simple, personal, and had strong year-round appeal,” Mintz explained. She then built complete product sets, templates, photos, and short descriptions, so her store would feel full and cohesive from day one.

Her background in PR shaped how she approached the launch: “Every image, every description was designed to feel warm and human, not just digital,” she said. That care helped Mr. Mintz grow from a kitchen-table idea into a global creative brand.

Lesson: Don’t just launch fast, launch ready. Take time to refine your product and listings until they clearly tell your story and meet a real need.

7. Keep an Eye on Profit Margins

Busy doesn't necessarily mean profitable. Track your margins constantly, run campaigns with emotional appeal instead of blanket discounts, and design pricing that sustains your business.

Brian Gunterman learned this the hard way.

“Traffic tripled on one Father’s Day,” Gunterman said, “but order value dropped 42%." The surge in visitors looked great on paper, but most of the new customers bought low-value gift cards instead of higher-margin smoker gear. That single weekend taught him a powerful truth: sales volume means little if your profits shrink.

Gunterman now builds seasonal promotions around customer emotion, like the joy of grilling with family, rather than deep discounts. This approach keeps his revenue healthy and his brand strong.

Lesson: Sustainable success depends on balancing appeal and margin.

The 7 Cs of Ecommerce Success

These stories reveal consistent patterns. In fact, you could even say they follow a blueprint for success called the “7 Cs” of ecommerce. They are:

1. Clarity: Know exactly what problem you solve.
2. Credibility: Use experience and authenticity to build trust.
3. Consistency: Stick with what works long enough to see results.
4. Customer Focus: Design every interaction around buyer satisfaction.
5. Content: Educate before you advertise.
6. Control: Keep systems tight and scalable.
7. Commitment: Growth takes time; stay patient.

Final Thoughts

Ecommerce success isn’t about going viral. It’s about building something real. Whether it’s a guinea pig cage, a baseball bat mug, or a coffee subscription, the formula is the same: solve one problem exceptionally well, learn fast, and care about your customers.

As Kris Dehnert put it: “You have to create something that connects with people’s identity. If you can achieve that digitally, you’re going to win.”

If you’re looking for tools to grow your ecommerce business, we can help. We’ve tested more than 38 ecommerce platforms to come up with what we think are the best ecommerce platforms out there. Or, you can use our Comparison Tool to compare ecommerce software side by side.