Hidden Gears founder Paolo Vidali advises merchants to prioritize profitability before adding advanced features to their online stores. He suggests that new entrepreneurs should launch on Shopify and stick to the default setup rather than cluttering their site with numerous apps. Vidali emphasizes that merchants should focus first on solving the basics of product returns, customer service, and free shipping. He warns that relying on AI tools and advanced features without a solid foundation can lead to an uphill battle.
He advises merchants to visualize a customer visiting an interior page of their site for the first time, rather than just the home page. Shoppers can discover the site through external blog posts, Instagram links, or ads, and they may never see the home page. Vidali also notes that most visitors will be on mobile, so merchants should always view and test their sites on phones. He explains that this approach is critical because shoppers may first encounter a brand through a collection page or a specific product page, making the initial impression of that interior view more significant than the homepage itself.
Hidden Gears, a Hawaii-based Shopify expert partner, focuses on designing, building, and marketing web experiences for growing brands. The agency has a varied client base, including wholesalers, physical retailers, and D2Cs. Vidali also runs SuperBuilt, a web dev sourcing agency for vetted developers. He notes that he prefers Shopify’s admin experience over other platforms like WordPress, Magento, or BigCommerce, while specifically avoiding Squarespace due to issues with its code, shipping, and tax tools.
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Video content and site examples
Product videos can make a big difference in conversions, but they are difficult to create and expensive. Vidali recommends using MP4s and deferring JavaScript loading to improve site speed. He advises against using GIFs, which are bloated and do not work well. He suggests that for longer offsite videos, YouTube is a common choice, though it has downsides such as unskippable ads at the end. Alternatively, Vimeo is identified as a provider with superior streaming and higher quality.
For homegrown videos, he suggests investing in a good microphone, as viewers can tolerate poor resolution or a shaky view but will not tolerate poor audio. He points to Wolf Ceramics in Hood River, Oregon, as an example of a well-executed ecommerce site. He also cites the work of Jeff Sheldon, the founder of Ugmonk.
