Running an E-commerce business is not a simple job to perform and with such a serious competition out there making a mistake is not acceptable at all. Sometimes you get good results in terms of ROI, sales, and on numerous occasions obstacles lower the business progress.
So to deal with it you need the right tools, expertise, and determination to stay competitive. That’s why it is very important to prepare yourself for success by dealing with common mistakes that other brands usually make on their E-commerce business. From selecting the wrong development platform to avoid considering the user experience, in this blog all mistakes that need to be avoided for business success are mentioned. If you’ve got big dreams to grow your online business, check out these critical mistakes to avoid when selling online.
Table of Contents
Choosing Inappropriate E-commerce Platform
Whether you are starting your online selling business or running an online store for some time, the platform you select can make or break the business. The platform role is not limited to display your products and sell to the target audience, but it also a source of customer engagement, retention and how to scale the business over time.
Solution:
Once you build a layout for your online business, select the platform by keeping below factors in mind:
- Budget
- Products to offer
- Business scalability
- Website customization and authorization
- Tools the platform needs to integrate
- Template or custom design website
- Customer experience
Choosing an inappropriate platform can trigger multiple issues like revenue loss, low ROI, traffic reduction, security threats, and poor design. This wrong selection could mean more time, money, and energy investment into updating your platform. Make sure this mistake is not made while choosing a platform for online business.
Not Understanding Target Audience
You have a business plan, engaging website and a business plan but still not getting desired results. Unfortunately, an engaging website having an offer isn’t sufficient to be successful. One of the major mistakes a business owner commit is not clearly understanding the target audience, and doing proper research to understand what are their requirements.
Solution:
- Proper research is required to analyze:
- The audience actually need your product or service
- Know how to communicate in customer local language
- Build a marketing strategy to engage customers
Knowing the target audience will build a strong bond that entices them to buy on a regular basis. Take out some time to understand your customers. To decide who your customer is, market research is required.
This involves:
- Understanding your customers’ pain points
- Knowing their past solutions
- Figuring out the way they engage
- Knowing what language is comfortable for them
- Addressing their problems
With such crucial information, you’ll be in a better position to communicate with your audience and stand out from the competition.
Complicated Checkout Process
Once buyers have reached the last step of your sales funnel, close the deal. But, here a lot of abandoned carts situation occurs for an E-commerce business. This happens because of multiple reasons and the major one is the ambiguous checkout process. If your customers face any difficulty through the checkout process they get frustrated and switch to a different website before making a purchase.
Solution:
To boost the conversion rate, make the checkout process smooth. Don’t force them to set up an account before making a purchase. First, let them make the payment, then add them to your email list. Remove any obstacles that can affect your sales. Website navigation should be clear, smooth and concise. Outline the steps required to make a purchase. Buttons should be big and eye-catching.
Finally, make sure no unexpected terms or fees occur in the bill. Everything should be made clear from the starting. Making a purchase requires trust and no reason should be present in front of the customers to appear as spammy.
Poor Customer Support
Customer support comprises of different things. It includes how you reply to user queries through your website. It’s how you reply to questions and comments on social platforms. It’s how you handle customers’ complaints over the phone and email. How much time do you take to reply? It’s any sort of interaction you have with a customer. Poor customer support that is slow response time, showing impatience, and not offering refunds are some of the reasons to lose existing customers.
Solution:
You should be available to your customers 24/7 at every step of the sales process like from filling the form, to checking out, to follow-up. This guarantees that they don’t leave your website in the middle, or if they face any issue, you are able to fix it. If you take a lot of time to respond, rely on chatbot replies, or send one-word answers, you will have a long list of unhappy customers. Your customers are the fuel of your business. It is not easy to keep an existing customer, but when you offer amazing service your business is increased automatically.
Complex Navigation
Your E-commerce website should be smooth in navigation and engaging in design. Not only you want a website to look engaging, but in addition, you want proper conversion. If your website navigation is confusing, content is hard to find or having a few features which are not working properly, users will get annoyed and go to a different website.
Solution:
To deal with it, hire a UX expert to optimize the website for streamlined navigation and an engaging user interface for your customers. This will help users to avail of the information they are searching for faster which means higher sales for you.
Wrapping Up
You want to stay ahead of your competitors and reach your customers in the best possible manner. To achieve that first learn from the mistakes others make, while keeping your objectives in mind. By having prior knowledge about the common pitfalls that other business enterprises experience in E-commerce, you can handle unexpected costs and delays in your business.
Featured image source: Freepik
Super guidance for online business.