Solved: Facebook Ads Not Converting to Sales on Shopify

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out! I had a look over the numbers you sent through. It’s a classic and frustrating situation to be in – you're clearly getting people’s attention (a 7% CTR is fantastic, by the way), but that interest isn't turning into money in the bank. It feels like pouring water into a leaky bucket.

Honestly, this is one of the most common problems new store owners face. The good news is that it's almost always fixable. The issue usually isn't the ad itself, but everything that happens *after* the click. I'm happy to give you some of my initial thoughts and a bit of a roadmap to plug those leaks and get your sales flowing. We need to shift the focus from the ad metrics to the on-site experience and the quality of the traffic you're buying.

We'll need to look at your funnel, not just your ads...

Right, let's get one thing straight. A 7% Click-Through Rate (CTR) is genuinely high. Most eCommerce stores would be happy with 2-3%. This tells me your ad image and the initial hook of your copy are working brilliantly. You are successfully stopping people from scrolling and making them interested enough to tap 'Shop Now'. So, pat yourself on the back for that bit.

However, advertising is a funnel. You've got the top part sorted – awareness and interest. But the middle and bottom parts – consideration and purchase – are where it's all falling apart. You've got 250 clicks and only one sale. That's a conversion rate of 0.4%. For a general eCommerce store, you'd want to be aiming for at least 2% to start with. This huge drop-off tells us the problem lies squarely on your website or with the audience you're sending to it.

You need to become a detective and figure out where exactly people are leaving. Look at your Shopify analytics for the last two days. Ask yourself these questions:

• Landing Page vs. Product Pages: Are people landing on your homepage and then leaving immediately (a high bounce rate)? Or are they clicking through to view specific products? If they aren't even bothering to look at products, it suggests the overall impression of your store is off, or the ad promised something the store doesn't deliver.
• Product Pages vs. Add to Carts: Are you getting lots of product page views but very few 'Add to Cart' clicks? This is a massive red flag. It's the most common failure point and it almost always means there's an issue with the product presentation. It could be the price, the photos, the descriptions, or a lack of reviews. The customer is looking at the item and thinking, "Nope, not for me."
• Add to Carts vs. Purchases: Are people adding items to their cart but then abandoning them before checkout? This could signal unexpected shipping costs, a complicated checkout process, or just a last-minute change of heart because they don't trust the store enough to enter their card details.

My guess, without seeing your analytics, is that the biggest leak is between the Product Page and the Add to Cart. This is where we need to focus most of our effort.

I'd say your targeting is too vague right now...

Your ad sets – one 'broad' and one targeting 'all women' – are part of the problem. While broad targeting can work for mature ad accounts with tons of pixel data, it's a very expensive way to start. You're basically asking Facebook to figure out your entire customer base from scratch, and it's charging you a premium for the education. That €27 CPM (Cost Per Thousand Impressions) is steep, and it's a direct result of this vague targeting.

You're paying to show your ads to a huge number of people who have absolutely no interest in spartan/fitness gear. Yes, some will click out of curiosity (hence the high CTR), but they have no intention of buying. This is what we call low-quality traffic.

For a new store, you must be far more deliberate. You need to spoon-feed the algorithm with clues about your ideal customer. Don't target 'women'; target women who are actively interested in things related to your products. Your first goal is to build a foundation of relevant data.

I usually structure audience testing in stages, from cold audiences (Top of Funnel - ToFu) to warm audiences (Middle and Bottom of Funnel - MoFu/BoFu). Right now, you should only be focused on ToFu. Here’s a visual guide to how I prioritise audiences; you're currently at stage 1.

Instead of 'broad', I'd suggest you create 3-4 different ad sets, each with a €10-€15 daily budget. In each ad set, test a specific 'theme' of related interests. For a store like yours, that might look like:

• Ad Set 1 (Competitor Brands): Target people interested in Gymshark, Myprotein, Lululemon, Under Armour.
• Ad Set 2 (Fitness Activities): Target people interested in CrossFit, Weightlifting, Bodybuilding, Yoga, Home workouts.
• Ad Set 3 (Fitness Influencers/Media): Target followers of major fitness influencers or magazines like Men's Health or Women's Health.

This approach forces Facebook to show your ads to people who have already demonstrated an interest in your niche. It will almost certainly lower your CPM and bring more qualified, ready-to-buy traffic to your site. After a few days, you'll see which theme performs best, and you can start moving more budget towards it.

You probably should fix your website's 'trust problem'...

This is likely the single biggest reason for your lack of sales. When a customer lands on a new, unfamiliar store from a Facebook ad, their guard is up. They are actively looking for reasons not to trust you. Your job is to make your site look so professional, legitimate, and trustworthy that they feel comfortable handing over their money.

I had a quick look at your site, and here are a few honest observations based on what I've seen work for dozens of other eCommerce clients:

1. Product Images & Descriptions: Many of your images look like standard, generic stock photos from a supplier like AliExpress. This immediately signals 'dropshipping' to savvy shoppers and screams low quality. You need unique imagery. You don’t need a massive budget; using your smartphone, you could create short videos of you or a friend using the products. Show the resistance bands being stretched, the foam roller in action. This builds authenticity and shows the product is real.

Your descriptions are also very basic. They list features, not benefits. Nobody buys a "high-density foam roller." They buy "relief from post-workout muscle soreness" or "the key to unlocking better mobility and preventing injury." You need to rewrite your descriptions to focus on the problem the product solves or the outcome it delivers.

2. Lack of Social Proof: There are no customer reviews or testimonials anywhere. This is a massive trust killer. New stores obviously don't have reviews, so you have to get creative. If you've sold any to friends or family, ask them for a genuine photo and a quote to put on the product page. Even 2-3 reviews are infinitely better than zero. You could also try a review app like Loox to import reviews from suppliers if you are dropshipping, but be careful with this as they often look fake.

3. Missing Brand Story & Contact Info: There's no "About Us" page. Who is behind SpartaHub? Why did you start it? A simple story makes the brand feel human and less like a faceless, anonymous website. Also, your contact information should be easy to find. A physical address (even a PO Box), a phone number, and a professional email address (not a gmail.com one) make you seem like a real business.

4. Overall Impression: The site feels a bit cluttered and generic. Small design improvements can make a huge difference. A cleaner layout, consistent branding, and trust badges (like "Secure Checkout with Visa/Mastercard") in the footer can significantly lift conversion rates. The goal is to make it look like a serious, established brand, not a temporary side project.

You'll need to match your message to your audience

Once you have your new, specific audiences, you need to make sure your ad copy speaks directly to them. The copy that works for a 22-year-old male CrossFitter is different from what works for a 45-year-old woman who does yoga at home. This is where you can use the Problem-Agitate-Solve framework to make your ads much more powerful.

Let's take your 'Ab Roller Wheel' as an example.

See the difference? The second version doesn't just sell a product; it sells a solution to a common frustration. This is what gets people who are genuinely in the market for a solution to not only click, but also to buy.

Let's talk about the numbers...

The most important metric in eCommerce advertising is Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). It's a simple calculation: Revenue / Ad Spend. Right now, your ROAS is €45 / €100 = 0.45x. This means for every euro you put in, you're getting 45 cents back. It's a recipe for going out of business fast.

To be profitable, your ROAS needs to be above a certain threshold, which depends on your product margins. If your €45 product costs you €15 to source and ship (a 66% gross margin), your breakeven ROAS is 1.5x. You need to make €1.50 back for every €1 spent just to cover the product cost and ad spend. Ideally, you want to be aiming for a 3x ROAS or higher to have a healthy, scalable business.

Use this calculator to play around with the numbers and see what you need to achieve.

The only way to improve ROAS is to either increase the Revenue (by increasing your conversion rate or average order value) or decrease the Ad Spend required for each sale (by lowering your Cost Per Purchase). All the points above – better targeting, a more trustworthy website, and more compelling copy – are designed to do exactly that.

Your actionable plan to turn things around

Reading advice is one thing, but taking action is what matters. If I were in your shoes, I would pause all my current ads immediately to stop burning cash. Then, I would implement the following plan over the next week.

I've detailed my main recommendations for you below:

This process is methodical, but it works. It takes the guesswork out of advertising and replaces it with a structured testing process. You have to fix these foundational issues with your website and targeting first. Pouring more money into ads right now will only lead to more losses.

Getting this right can be tough, especially when you're also trying to run the rest of your business. It involves a lot of moving parts – from psychology and copywriting to data analysis and technical setup. It's not just about pushing buttons in Ads Manager; it's about building a complete system that turns strangers into customers, profitably.

That's often where professional help can make a huge difference. An experienced eye can spot these issues in minutes rather than months and implement strategies that have been proven to work across hundreds of accounts. We’ve worked with many eCommerce brands, like a women's apparel company where we drove a 691% return, and a cleaning products brand where we achieved a 633% return. The principles are the same, it's all about rigorous testing and optimisation.

If you'd like to have a more in-depth chat, we offer a free, no-obligation initial consultation where we can take a proper look at your ad account and website together. It could be really helpful to get a second opinion and a clear, tailored plan of attack.

Either way, I hope this detailed breakdown gives you the clarity and direction you need to get things moving in the right direction.

Regards,

Team @ Lukas Holschuh