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Guide · promoting an online store · by John Kiskipelis
How to promote an online store: eight channels, in the order they pay back
Promoting an online store means bringing people who want to buy, at a price your margin can carry — not “being everywhere”. The channels that work for a store selling in Greece are known: Google, Skroutz, Meta, email, SEO, marketplaces. What differs between a store that grows and one that spends is the order and the measurement. This guide, written by John Kiskipelis, puts the eight channels in the order they pay back, says where to start depending on your size — whether you are a Greek store or an international brand selling into Greece — and shows the mistakes most stores make in their promotion.
Where to start
Before any channel: three numbers you need to know
Promoting a store without these three numbers is gambling with a good name. With them, every channel is measured by the same rule and the budget goes where it returns.
What is left from an order after product, shipping, commissions and returns — per category, not an average. From this comes how much you can afford to pay for a customer. Online store profitability →
How many visitors buy, per device and channel. If it is low, every euro of promotion buys less — and the first channel worth working is your own site.
Orders per channel in GA4 and in the backend, not in the platforms’ dashboards, each of which measures itself. Without this you do not know which channel to scale and which to cut.
The 8 channels
The eight channels for promoting an online store — in the order they pay back
The order is not random: it starts from the channels where the customer already has purchase intent and moves towards those that create demand or bring it back. Each channel has its own page on how to work it.
1 · Google Shopping and Search
The user searches for the product — the clearest intent there is. Shopping from the Merchant Center feed, Search for brand and generic. Together with Skroutz, the intent channel for most stores. Google Ads for online stores →
2 · Skroutz
For products Greek shoppers compare, Skroutz is where they decide. Catalogue, price, delivery, growth tools and then advertising — in that order. How to sell on Skroutz → · Skroutz Ads →
3 · Meta Ads: Facebook and Instagram
The channel that creates demand: it shows the product to those who did not know it and brings back those who saw it. The creative does the targeting. Meta Ads for online stores →
4 · Email automations
The cheapest repeat-purchase channel: abandoned cart, welcome, repeat purchase, win-back. It makes the customer who cost money in advertising buy again without a new click. Email marketing for online stores →
5 · SEO and GEO
The channel that is slow and stays: categories, products, technical structure for Google — and the same pages for AI answers. It lowers the cost per customer in all the others. Ecommerce SEO → · GEO →
6 · Marketplaces: Shopflix, TikTok Shop and abroad
Second stores with their own economics. They open per category, where the margin carries commission. Marketplace management → · TikTok Shop →
7 · Social media and creators
Organic presence, short video, influencers: they build the trust that makes advertising cheaper. Measured with the same numbers as advertising. Social media marketer & ads expert →
8 · CRO: your own site
Not a channel in the usual sense, but it multiplies all the others: every tenth of a point in the conversion rate lowers the cost per order everywhere. Before the budget goes up, the site gets fixed. CRO for online stores →
Where to start, depending on the size of the store
Measurement set up before the first euro, and the channels where the customer already searches for the product — Google Shopping and Skroutz — for the categories with margin. Few channels, worked properly, before the next ones open.
Meta is worked for new audiences and retargeting, SEO opens for the categories that already sell, and the email automations are completed. This is where comparing cost per customer per channel starts to make sense.
CRO and margin first, then budget. Marketplaces per category, GEO for AI answers, creators and video. Scaling a site that loses half its visitors at checkout buys loss.
Skroutz, Google and Meta together, with a readiness check before everything. Gateway to Greece →
How much budget
How much budget promoting a store needs — the answer that is not a number
There is no percentage of revenue that applies to everyone. The budget comes from three things about your own store, and it changes as they change.
From the margin per order and the probability of a repeat purchase. A store whose customers buy again can afford to pay more for the first one, because it will earn from the second.
It differs by category and season. Budget goes to the channels where the cost is below the threshold, and grows there as long as it stays below it — not evenly.
A channel needs enough orders within a few weeks to be judged. Budget spread across six channels gives data to none. Work out your threshold: ROAS calculator →
The mistakes
The seven mistakes in promoting an online store
We see them in stores of every size and in every audit. None of them is fixed with more budget.
Every channel at once
Six channels with little money each, none with enough data. Two channels with purchase intent, worked properly, beat six that are “being tested”.
Advertising before the site
The checkout leaks, the product page does not convince, shipping appears at the end — and the budget goes up. Every euro buys more loss.
ROAS without margin
A ROAS of 4 in a category with a 20% margin is a loss. The threshold differs per category, and the dashboards do not know it.
Skroutz as “one more channel”
The whole catalogue goes up, without a calculation, without tools, with advertising before price and delivery. Skroutz is a second store and is worked as one.
Email as newsletter only
One email on Friday to everyone and no automation. Usually the largest share of email revenue comes from flows that do not exist.
A discount as the answer to everything
Every campaign with a coupon, every email with an offer. The customer learns to wait, the margin disappears, and revenue rises while profit falls.
No monthly report per channel
Revenue in total, cost in total, and no decision. Promoting a store is one decision a month: which channel gets more, which gets less, which stops.
Performance marketing agency
All paid channels — Google, Meta, Skroutz, TikTok, email — measured in cost per new customer, by a team managing €2M+ in budget a year.
Performance marketing →E-commerce Profitability Audit
Where your store loses profit, across six areas — before you decide where to put budget. Written report in about 15 days.
Profitability Audit →Growth Partner Program
Google & social ads for online stores with a dedicated account manager and strategic time every month.
Growth Partner Program →Ecommerce consulting
The strategy behind the channels: product mix, pricing, marketplace — by John Kiskipelis, separately.
Ecommerce consulting →The next step
Pick two channels and measure them properly
If today you run four channels without knowing what the customer costs in each, the first step is not a fifth one. It is the measurement — and then the decision of which two deserve the budget. The ROAS calculator → shows your threshold in a minute.
If you want to look at it with someone who does it every day for 30+ clients: the UpCommerce team in the 30-minute intro call, or John Kiskipelis as an ecommerce consultant → for the strategy behind the channels, in a separate engagement.
Frequently asked questions about promoting an online store
What is the best way to promote an online store?
There is no single one for everyone — there is the right order. For most stores selling in Greece: first the channels where the customer already searches for the product (Google Shopping, Skroutz), together with email automations and measurement, and then the channels that create demand (Meta, social, creators) and those that are slow but stay (SEO, GEO). The site gets fixed before the budget goes up.
Where do I start promoting a new online store?
From measurement and margin: what you can afford to pay for a customer per category. Then the channels where the customer already searches for the product — Google Shopping and Skroutz — for the categories with margin, and the rest as the numbers justify it.
How much does promoting an online store cost?
It depends on your margin and the cost per customer in each channel — not on a percentage of revenue. The budget is set as the amount that gives enough orders within a few weeks to judge a channel, and grows only where the cost per customer stays below the threshold. An agency’s fee is separate from the advertising budget.
Google Ads, Skroutz or Meta — which should I choose?
For products the customer searches for or compares: Google Shopping and Skroutz first. For products that need to be discovered: Meta. Most stores need all three, in different proportions — and the proportion is decided every month by the cost per customer in each.
Do I need SEO if I advertise?
Yes, but not first. Advertising brings sales now and stops when the budget stops; SEO takes months and then continues without a cost per click, lowering the cost per customer across every channel. It starts once there are orders showing which categories are worth it.
Is email marketing worth it for a small store?
Yes, even with a small list: the cart, welcome and repeat-purchase automations bring orders at no new cost, however small the list. The newsletter comes later, when there is a list and something to say.
How do I know which channel performs?
By measuring orders per channel in GA4 and in the store’s backend — not in the platforms’ dashboards, each of which measures itself. The number compared is the cost per new customer against the margin, per channel, every month.
Can I do the promotion myself or do I need an agency?
You can start on your own with one or two channels and correct measurement. You need an agency when the channels become more than you can work properly, or when the budget is large enough that one wrong month costs more than the fee. In every case, the accounts and the data stay yours.
