Hello. This isKototsuki Design.
"I went to the trouble of building an e-commerce site, but no one is visiting it."
“I’m getting traffic, but for some reason, people are just passing right by.”
“I’m working hard on social media every day, but I’m not seeing any results.”
When I consult with business owners in Shiga about website development, I often meet shop owners struggling with this kind of “frustration with no clear way out.” You’ve put your heart and soul into building your shop. But if the “path” leading to it isn’t connected, customers won’t be able to find their way there.
If your store isn’t performing as you’d hoped right now, the problem might not be with its features—it could be due to your “user flow.” In this post, I’d like to discuss a simple yet crucial topic: how to connect the dots and create a “sales funnel.”
If you’d like to get an overview of e-commerce sites, please start by reading this summary article on the types of e-commerce sites and how to choose one
Design Your E-Commerce Site’s Customer Acquisition Funnel Using This Flow
To attract customers to your e-commerce site and encourage them to make a purchase, it’s absolutely essential to keep the following flow uninterrupted:
Awareness → Interest → Trust → Comparison → Purchase → Repeat Business
If the path is interrupted at any single point, customers will leave before completing their purchase.
First, keep this flow in mind, and then take your time to carefully consider how to connect each step.
It’s Not Just About the E-Commerce Site—It’s About “Overall Strength”
First, there’s something I’d like to make clear. The success of an e-commerce site isn’t determined by any single “magic formula.”
- Even if your products are outstanding, if no one knows about them, it’s as if they don’t exist.
- Even if you attract tens of thousands of visitors through advertising, they’ll leave immediately if the site is difficult to use.
- Even if the site is beautiful, trust won’t be built unless the shop owner’s “personality” shines through.
“Great products × Delivery capability × A site that makes you want to buy × A human touch”
It’s only when all of these elements are connected by a single, thin thread that products actually reach your customers. An e-commerce site is a convenient tool, but ultimately, I believe it’s a place that directly reflects the “overall strength” of your business.
First, think more deeply about your “purpose”
It goes without saying that you’re building it “to sell,” but try imagining what comes next. That’s where the path diverges.
- Do you want to build a fan base, or is a one-time transaction enough?
- Are you dealing with businesses (B2B) or individuals (B2C)?
The more you wish for “anyone to buy it,” the less likely you are to resonate with anyone at all.
For example, even when selling “delicious rice from Shiga,” do you want to “deliver the best breakfast to busy moms,” or “offer peace of mind to those who long for the flavors of home”? Narrowing down your target audience doesn’t mean cutting anyone off. We believe it’s about raising a banner that says, “This is for you.”
Basic Navigation Flow of an E-Commerce Site (Big Picture)
Let’s break down the customer’s journey from discovering a product to purchasing it.
Step | Customer’s State | What the Store Should Do |
Awareness | Doesn’t know the store | Create an “opportunity” for them to discover the store |
Interest and Trust | What kind of store is this? | Gently convey the story and philosophy |
Comparison and Consideration | What sets it apart from others? | Delivering the “reasons” to choose and a sense of “assurance” |
Purchase | I’ll take this! | We’ll make your path to the checkout smooth and hassle-free |
Repeat Business | I want to shop there again | Designing the “Afterglow” of the Purchase Experience |
If even one part of the path is overgrown with weeds, customers will get lost.
Customer Flow Path 1: Build Awareness (Create an Entry Point)
First, create a “hello” moment. While it’s better to have multiple entry points, choose the path that best suits your business. The key is to align “who you want to reach” with “where you’ll meet them.”
- SEO (Blog)
: A path of “assets” where you write articles that address people’s concerns and interests so they can find you through search. - Social
Media: The “ripple effect” path—conveying the excitement of the moment and connecting through empathy. - Advertising
The “shortcut” path: directly showing your message to the people who need it.
- Word-of-Mouth
The “trust” path that emerges on the streets of Shiga through comments like, “That shop was great.”
Customer Acquisition Path #2: Building Interest and Trust (Getting People to Like You)
This is where you set yourself apart from other stores. Customers you’ve just met don’t trust you yet.
- Product Story:
Why Did You Create This? - Concept:
What kind of scenery do you want to share with them? - Messages You Share
What are you thinking about as you run your business day to day?
Let me share a little of my own perspective here: “First and foremost, a product won’t sell unless it’s good.”
It may sound harsh, but there are limits to how much design can make a product appear “better than it actually is.” Describe the genuine appeal of your masterpiece with honest words. That’s what leads to the strongest “interest” and “trust.”
Customer Journey Step 3: Designing the Path to Purchase (A Smooth Experience to the Checkout)
This is where technical skill is most crucial. You mustn’t let customers who’ve finally decided they “want” your product end up disappointed by a clunky user experience.
- Clarity
of the Product Page Is the information customers want presented in the order they want to see it? - Call-to-Action (CTA)
Is the “Add to Cart” button easy to find?
- Addressing
Concerns: Shipping costs, delivery times, and returns. Gently address small concerns upfront. - Stripping Back Information Are you cramming in too much text because you’re overly focused on
search optimization? It’s important to strike a balance between thorough explanations and readability.
“The path to the cart feels too long,” “There’s too much information—it’s overwhelming.”
In a brick-and-mortar store, these are the same as “I can’t find the register” or “The salesperson keeps talking right next to me.” Let’s recreate that pleasant customer service experience on the screen.
“Abandoned carts”: the invisible loss of opportunity
In fact, looking at the average across all e-commerce sites, it’s said that only about 30% of customers who add items to their cart actually proceed to purchase. In other words, nearly 70% of customers who thought “I want this” disappear somewhere along the way before completing their purchase.
Many of the causes are “minor hassles” right before checkout, such as shipping costs or the hassle of registering for an account. No matter how well the customer journeys described in points ① through ③ go, if customers stumble at this final step, all your previous efforts will go down the drain.
Customer Acquisition Funnel ④: Repeat Purchase Funnel (See You Again)
Surprisingly, what’s often overlooked even in the production process is what happens “after the purchase.” In business, the most important thing is how to maintain a long-term relationship with customers who have already made a purchase.
- A handwritten card or small flyer included in the package
the moment they open it. - A newsletter or LINE
message asking, “How are things going since then?”—a non-pushy check-in. - After-sales support—sharing tips
on how to use the product or offering support when they encounter problems.
It’s not “the purchase is the end”—it’s “the beginning after the purchase.”
The spirit of “Sanpo-yoshi” (benefiting all three parties)—which businesspeople in Shiga have always cherished—remains unchanged, even in the digital age.
“BASE” is also an option for payment processing
Building payment and shopping cart functions for an e-commerce site from scratch can significantly increase both costs and development time.Kototsuki DesignTherefore, as demonstrated by the Taiyo Coffee case study, we also propose a setup that combines microCMS for content management with BASE for payment and shopping cart functionality. It’s a smart choice to focus on user flow design while entrusting payment security and cost management to a proven service.
Summary from a Development Perspective: Design Over Tools
An e-commerce site won’t sell just by being built.
Only by designing the user flow does it become a “system that sells.”
It’s not about which tools you use, but how you create this flow.
We believe that is the essence of building a store that will stand the test of time.
No matter how high-quality a brush you use, you can’t paint a good picture without a sketch.
Building a site without planning the customer journey is like setting out on a journey without a map.
First, where do your customers encounter your business, and what’s their mindset as they head to checkout? Why not take your time and sketch out that journey with us?
If you’d like to explore which tools are right for you, please check out our guide categorized by type.
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