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Prevent yourself from making eCommerce mistakes

eCommerce mistakes

Mistakes happen. It’s a natural part of life that we need to learn to deal with. For instance, when you are busy with something at home and accidentally knock over a glass. The glass breaks because of your actions, and if it was a valuable glass to you, destroying it will feel like an even bigger loss.

Chances are, you could have done some things differently to prevent yourself from breaking the glass. Like being more careful, putting glasses where they won’t fall, or by using plastic cups that don’t break.  However, at the end of the day, it was a mistake. Your eCommerce is just as fragile and as valuable as a special crystal glass. If handled the right way, it can improve your (and your business’s) image while adding great value. On the other hand, if handled incorrectly, you can find yourself making a lot of costly mistakes that leave your brand shattered.

We all make mistakes

It’s so easy to make the wrong choices in business and the same can be said about eCommerce platforms. Usually, getting the right professional advice and doing a whole lot of research can guide you on how to approach your online store.

This, however, doesn’t mean you can’t make mistakes as you go, which most businesses end up doing regardless. To assist you with improving your overall online presence and platform, we will look at some common mistakes businesses make with their eCommerce.

Mistake #1: Using the wrong platform

Every organisation has specific and unique needs that differ. Some eCommerce platforms can assist with some or all the business’s eCommerce requirements, while others don’t have the capabilities to help with specific needs. For this reason, not all eCommerce platforms are right for every business.

You do not want to end up with a platform that limits your business growth, one that doesn’t integrate with your existing systems, or offer the level of control and customization that you want.

Ensure that you take enough time to find the eCommerce solution that best fits your business.

Mistake #2: Having an Undefined Target Audience

It is almost impossible to consistently offer your customers the online experiences and products they want if you don’t have a clear description of who your target audience is. Your eCommerce platform needs to be tailored to your customers and the only way to successfully achieve that is to know what makes your customers tick.

Define your audience clearly before starting an online store so you can ensure you use content, designs, language, and strategies that are relevant to them on your eCommerce platform. Thus, creating experiences that resonate with them.

Mistake #3: Underestimating the need for Scalability

You built your business with the expectation that it will exist for a long period of time, and that it will grow in the future. You may even have long term goals already in place, such as expanding into new markets or integrating more features and functions into your processes.

Your website will need to accommodate these future plans, and the best way you can ensure it does is to choose a platform with high scalability. However, some people forget about the future when picking out an eCommerce solution and choose something that will only be able to assist them with their current needs.

Don’t neglect your business’s long-term goals when choosing an eCommerce platform. Take them into consideration, or you could end up paying for it in future.

Mistake #5: Creating websites that aren’t CRO or SEO-Friendly

When selling products using a website, the goal is to get as much traffic and conversions on the website as possible. For this to happen, website content needs to make use of Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) best practices. In other words, you need to use the descriptions, language, keywords, images, and website set up that entice your customers. Choosing a platform that isn’t CRO or SEO-friendly is a mistake some businesses make. Don’t be one of those businesses.

Mistake #6: Having a confusing checkout process

Customers are impatient and are quick to abandon a cart or site if it leaves them feeling frustrated. Complicated checkout processes have that impact on customers. This mistake comes when an organisation does not build an eCommerce website with the end-user in mind. The answer, however, is literally simple. Effective simplicity is the key to a successful online store. Ensure that every step, process, and option on your website is easy to complete for your site visitors. For even better results, make sure that your processes can also be completed quickly. Eliminate obstacles on your eCommerce store.

Mistake #8: Lack of good customer service

You need to monitor and manage the engagement that takes place on your eCommerce platform because most, if not all, online customer interactions require customer service. If you don’t respond to customer requests and interactions on your site efficiently, effectively, and humanely, you will lose clients. Whether online or in a brick-and-mortar store, you need to deliver top quality service. Why? So you can satisfy customers and keep sales up.’

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