What every business must do before making a Strategy
First, strategy can be simply defined as the application of brainpower and time that uses data to form insights to achieve an outcome.
But here’s what most businesses get wrong:
They start making strategies without clearly defined, data-backed goals.
And without a goal, strategy is just guesswork.
The critical step every business must take before making a strategy is to define measurable goals — and those goals must be rooted in logic, not wishful thinking. That logic comes from your data.
Let’s talk about how to create goals that actually drive results — and how to make sure your strategy has something worth aiming at.
Why Strategy Needs a Target
Before you decide how to grow, you need to decide what you’re trying to grow — and why.
It’s not enough to say, “Let’s grow revenue” or “Let’s increase traffic.” Those are outcomes, not goals.
A real goal looks like this:
“We want to grow average order value (AOV) by 15% over the next 90 days, because historical data shows our highest margin customers are already spending 20% above our current average — and we’re not yet surfacing bundles or upsells effectively.”
See the difference?
A good goal is:
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Specific: Defines the metric and the target
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Time-bound: Includes a timeframe
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Rooted in logic: Supported by insights from your own data
Where to Start: Look at the Past
Great goals come from trends and truths already in your business.
Before setting any strategic initiative in motion, dig into:
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Historical performance: Where have you grown? Where have you stalled?
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Channel attribution: Which channels drive the highest quality traffic?
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Customer segmentation: Who are your top customers, and how do they behave?
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Product-level profitability: Which SKUs lift margins — and which drag them down?
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Operational efficiency: Where are the biggest bottlenecks?
Your goal should close a gap or accelerate a pattern — not just follow a trend.
Make It Measurable (and Worth Measuring)
A weak goal is vague:
“We want to get better at email marketing.”
A strong goal is concrete:
“Increase email-driven revenue by 20% by improving abandoned cart recovery rate and expanding post-purchase flows.”
What makes it strong?
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It can be measured
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It ties to a business outcome
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It gives strategy something to solve
Align Strategy to the Right KPI
Once your goal is clear, strategy becomes much simpler — because now you’re solving for a defined outcome.
Examples:
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Goal: Increase AOV by 15%
→ Strategy: Implement and test new cross-sell modules on product pages -
Goal: Improve return customer rate by 10%
→ Strategy: Launch a post-purchase email sequence with usage tips and loyalty offers -
Goal: Decrease bounce rate on PDPs
→ Strategy: Add trust badges, improve load speed, and test video demos
Don’t Skip the “Why”
It’s not just what you want to improve — it’s why.
When your team understands the logic behind a goal, execution becomes more focused and less reactive. Strategy becomes a tool, not a task.
TL;DR: Before You Strategize, Do This
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Define a specific, time-bound goal
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Back it with data and rationale
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Align it to a core business metric
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Only then, design your strategy to achieve that outcome
Ready to Turn Insights Into Impact?
If you're managing a Shopify Plus store, this is exactly the kind of thinking we assess in our Product Page Maturity Survey. You'll get a visual breakdown of where you stand — and clear recommendations on where to focus next.