How to Test Multiple Unrelated Products Without Opening Multiple Shopify Stores
Why Test Multiple Product Categories in One Store?
For new Shopify store owners, product selection failure is the norm. Usually, they will take over a dozen of times product tests to get a truly profitable “winning product”. So a lot of people mistakenly think different categories should be sold in separate stores. Actually, this wastes time and money, significantly slowing down the process of identifying high-performing products. A better way is to find the one with excellent data by testing several unrelated products in just one "testing store", and then invest in branding or build a niche-specific store.
A testing store doesn't pursue visual consistency or cohesive brand identity. Instead, it focuses on a purpose: "Can this product sell". Once it's successfully certified, you can quickly replicate the success in a specialized or branded store using the same resources.
How to Structure and Manage Multi-Category Product Testing
When testing multiple unrelated product categories within a single Shopify store, the key is having a clear and organized structure. Here’s how you can do it effectively:
Category-Based Navigation:
Group different products into distinct Collections. (e.g., Home Goods, Electronics, Beauty). This also improves store usability, as users can intuitively browse specific product types without distraction, and you can monitor conversion rates, click-through behavior, and bounce rates by category, enabling faster decision-making on whether to scale, revise, or abandon a particular niche. Over time, this organizational structure allows clearer A/B testing and customized marketing efforts, such as retargeting campaigns or email flows, for each unique segment.
Separate Landing Page:
Create dedicated landing pages for each product category and direct ad traffic specifically to this page to prevent users browse unrelated content. This focused approach enhances user experience, as visitors land directly on content relevant to their interest, reducing bounce rates and increasing conversion potential. You can tailor the copywriting, product arrangement, and even offers or urgency elements (like countdown timers or low-stock alerts) to match the expectations of that category’s target audience. Moreover, dedicated pages allow for better performance tracking in analytics tools, letting you evaluate traffic sources, average time on page, and ROI per niche with greater clarity.
Hide Unnecessary Navigation:
Use tools like Shogun, and PageFly. Set an independent landing page with "hidden navigation", just for the ads campaign. This strategy minimizes distractions and keeps visitors focused solely on the product or offer they clicked through to see. By removing links to unrelated sections (like the homepage, blog, or other categories), you reduce the risk of user drop-off and increase the chances of immediate conversion. These clean, distraction-free pages work especially well for impulse-buy products, seasonal items, or limited-time promotions, helping maximize ad ROI by guiding users through a streamlined path to purchase.
Maintain Visual Consistency:
Even if different category styles vary. We recommend keeping the font, button styles, and basic color scheme consistent.
How to Quickly Test Multiple Products?
The core of a quick test is to get the most insight for the least amount of money.
Method 1: Use Facebook PPE Ads (Page Post Engagement)
Set 3~5 Facebook PPEs(Page Post Engagement)
Allocate a small $5 budget per ad set to test different combinations without overspending. Set 3~10 groups to expand the coverage and find the best initial response. This approach allows you to gather data-driven insights without making a heavy financial commitment upfront. Each ad set can target a different audience segment, creative format, or value proposition, helping you quickly determine which combinations attract the most attention. By running multiple small-scale tests simultaneously, you can compare engagement metrics, identify potential winning products, and eliminate underperformers before investing more heavily in conversion-focused ads.
Vary Audience or Creatives Per Ad Set
By testing variations like images, videos, ad copy, or audience interests. This allows you to systematically identify the combinations with the highest conversion potential for scaling later. Once you find a creative-audience match that yields strong CTR (Click-Through Rate) and engagement, you can shift budget into conversion campaigns with greater confidence. It's crucial to track metrics like CPC (Cost Per Click), engagement rate, and purchase intent indicators such as comments like “Where can I buy this?” or high Add to Cart rates. These early data signals help you validate demand before scaling to broader targeting or higher budgets.
Purpose: Getting the 1000 impressions fastly
Usually, the CPM (Cost Per 1,000 Impressions) of PPE (Page Post Engagement) is low. A $5 budget can typically yield around 1,000 impressions, offering an affordable way to gather meaningful data early. These impressions serve as a baseline for initial data filtering, helping you observe how users respond to your ad creative, product visuals, and headline hooks. This quick reach allows you to spot engagement patterns—such as whether users scroll past, pause to view, or interact with your post—without committing to expensive conversion campaigns. It’s a cost-efficient first step in validating product-market fit.
Watch CTR, engagement, and comment quality.
If you receive many positive comments, likes, or even someone inquiries about how to buy, that indicates the product has massive market appeal.
PPE ads are essential “probe campaigns”. It not only converts but also gauges audience interest at a minimal cost. This way can quickly test the product's visual appeal and initial marketing acceptance at a very low cost.
Method 2: Instagram Influencer Shoutouts (Paid Time-Limited Promotions)
Find niche IG pages with high engagement rates in your product’s category
Differentiating from ad platforms, Instagram influencers build trust with personal branding. Finding the pages that are matched and targeted to your audience and over a 3% engagement rate is the first step to test successfully.
Ask for their paid post rates (ideally under $20 per post)
Testing shoutouts across multiple small influencers on a limited budget helps you identify which audiences and promotion styles work best for your product. Once you've gathered performance data across several shoutouts, you can analyze which demographics, caption styles, or posting times correlate with higher engagement rates. Look for patterns in likes, comments, and profile clicks to refine your targeting strategy. By leveraging micro-influencers with authentic followings and consistent content engagement, you're able to stretch your marketing dollars further and build more accurate assumptions for future ad targeting and creative direction.
Run 1–3 shoutouts and monitor likes, comments, and link clicks
If you see strong social engagement (like many likes, positive comments, and users tagging friends), it shows the product is sparking interest. This initial traction is a valuable signal to guide further investment. In addition to counting interactions, assess comment sentiment, story reshares, and direct messages received after the shoutout. These metrics help determine if the product resonates with the audience on a deeper level. If your click-through rate is high and traffic converts well on your landing page, that indicates your product fit, messaging, and visual presentation are aligned with audience expectations.
If data performs well, just duplicate it to large influencers or Facebook Ads.
Successful Instagram testing can provide valuable clues for the following ad creatives and amplify them with strong influencers.
The advantage of using Instagram is you don't need professional technical ad skills. You can just try by the existing audience and influence. This way is especially good for products that are visually eye-catching, low-ticket, and suited for impulse purchases. To maximize effectiveness, focus on aesthetic alignment, niche compatibility, and posting time—the timing of shoutouts can dramatically affect visibility and engagement. When scaling, reuse winning post IDs across platforms to retain social proof and credibility, increasing conversion potential.
