Common Mistakes Most eCommerce Companies Don’t Realize They Are Making
Launching an e-commerce store is one of the easiest things to do today. You can literally open and launch a store in minutes using e-commerce platforms like Shopify and, just like that, you’re own business. Yes, really, it’s that easy. It’s estimated that there are over 12 million live e-commerce stores across the entire globe.
But guess what? Launching an online store and growing it are two very different things. Unfortunately, e-commerce store owners make mistakes all the time. But you’re not going to be one of those because here are five common mistakes to look out for and how you can fix them.
Poor Responsive Design
When we say customer shopping experience is everything, it means everything. Your store is the first thing that will help your customers determine whether there you are trustworthy or not. So your design is central to your success. Many people make the mistake of designing it by themselves, but if there’s one thing you should spend money on, it’s your web design.
Hire a web designer that is experienced in design in e-commerce stores. Yes, you might have to splash out a bit, but it’ll save you so much time down the line. Think of it as an investment rather than an expense because if you don’t have an up-to-date responsive design, you simply don’t have a business.
Bad Product Description
There are two ways merchants go wrong with this—one from an SEO perspective and the other from a customer’s perspective. There’s no point in having a product description if it isn’t SEO-friendly. You won’t get any search engine traffic if your descriptions aren’t SEO optimized.
The other mistake that merchants tend to make when it comes to product descriptions is that they use a manufacturer’s product description. It’s generic, boring, and doesn’t catch your customers’ attention. You have to understand the buyers’ journey. How will your product solve their problem? Give them a reason as to why buying the product from you rather than your competitor is better.
Lack Of Strategic Marketing
Your optimization for organic search may be great. If you don’t spread out your marketing strategy across various social media platforms, you’re missing out on tremendous opportunities and profits. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Instead, carefully craft a marketing strategy for each social platform that you are on.
Mix it up. Use blogs, infographics, stories, newsletters, the work. The greater your tactics, the better your results. Most people are on social media, and that’s where you need to be too.
Poor Customer Service
Poor customer service is one of the main reasons why any business loses customers. Let’s face it. You wouldn’t buy from a company with lousy customer service, so why expect your customers to do the same? Many merchants are so focused on sales that they neglect customer service completely, which is the worst thing that you could possibly do to your business. Because one bad review online will give you a bad reputation for a very long time.
Providing the best customer service will not only let your customers pay once, but they will be back again and again. Ideally, customers want their problems to be fixed quickly. If you can turn an angry customer into a happy one by the end of the call, then you’re onto something huge.
Not Enough Payment Methods
Once your customers are done shopping, they’re in the buying mindset and ready to pay. But two things will make them abandon their shopping cart. One is a complex checkout process, and two, a lack of payment methods. Sometimes when consumers see the final total of their shopping cart, they have a mini heart attack. As a merchant, you can easily fix that problem. How? By offering Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL).
This is one of the most common methods of payment today. In fact, many people actively search for this payment method before they decide to buy. By offering consumer financing, BNPL from reputable companies like ChargeAfter.com, it gives the consumer a sense of affordability. This way they can buy all their goods, and you don’t miss out on the sale.
The Bottom Line
The world of e-commerce is very complex, and competition is fierce. But on the flip side, there is potential for huge profits. The mistakes you make can hurt your revenue, but the good news is that these mistakes are easily fixable and you can focus on getting those sales.
