So you have finally built your online store and can't wait to start making those huge sales! Yet, unless you know the E-Commerce Mistakes to Avoid When Building Your Online Store, you could find yourself making more losses than profits. How so?
Well, think about this: Today, almost every business owner has their respective online stores or bespoke websites; this means that customers are getting spoiled for choosing what to buy and where to spend their cash. And it goes without saying that people always prefer online stores that offer the most incredible experiences.
On the contrary, e-commerce mistakes make using an online store too complicated or frustrating. It is no wonder, then, that stores with such errors usually register high cart abandonment rates and low profits. In addition, allowing for mistakes on your online store could lead to customers leaving low ratings and poor reviews, in turn pushing more customers away from your store.
Therefore, if you are looking to make those massive profits and sales from your online store, do not create a regular online store; instead, create an ideal store that offers the best customer experience. And an e-commerce store that provides the best experience has minor mistakes or even no mistakes whatsoever.
So what mistakes should you look out for to create the most user-friendly and highly profitable online store? Consider the following 5 E-Commerce Mistakes to Avoid When Building Your Online Store:
1. Ignoring the Existing Competition
The first thing you should do before starting an online business is to carry out a competitor analysis. You need to know more than just who your competitors are; also, learn the types of products they sell, what prices they have set, their marketing strategies, how they adapt to the ever-changing market trends, and the features available on their websites.
Conducting a competitor analysis is very important as it allows you to penetrate into the niche market quite easily. However, to beat the stiff competition, you need to make your online stores better than your competitors. Therefore, while you can still buy ideas from your competitors, always ensure that you step up further and offer better services.
Also, it is essential to note that the analysis should be done before building your online store. Researching after the store is ready could cost you a lot of money and take too much time making the necessary changes to the online store.
2. Not Having a Good Marketing Strategy
For your online store to generate traffic, you need to make your target customers aware of its existence. And the only way you can achieve this is by marketing your business. Simply put, giving more importance to your business's marketing strategy is the key to creating a successful online store.
Therefore, after conducting your market analysis, you need to create a good marketing strategy. Since there is a wide range of marketing strategies that you can use, choose only those within your marketing budget.
Also, after building your online store, remember to incorporate features that will allow you to continue implementing your marketing strategies. For instance, say you plan to market your products via content marketing. In such a case, you can attach your blog to the store, where you will be publishing all the information about the products you sell. Doing so will help you become an expert seller in your niche market.
3. Uploading Product Photos of Poor Quality
You could build the most user-friendly website, have feature-rich products, write all those catchy product descriptions, and even set the most affordable prices. However, if your product photos are not visually impressive, you will still register high cart abandonment rates for your online store.
When you decide to sell products online, your customers will not be able to smell, taste or touch them. All that they can rely on are the photos you upload. Therefore, for you to be able to grab the attention of your customers, you need to upload high-quality images of your products.
Make sure that the product photos you upload are clear and bright. Also, it is a good idea to always capture and display the pictures from different angles. And the good thing about our modern world is that you can still take clear, high-quality photos with just your smartphone.
4. Failing to Include Thorough Product Descriptions
Many online buyers have fallen prey to scams, making them even more cautious of buying online. To make your products appear legit, you must offer enough information about your products. And in addition to being thorough, the descriptions should also be catchy and SEO-optimized.
Consider some of the information you can include in the descriptions:
- The features of the products
- The problems that your products can solve
- The intended users for your products
- How old or new your product is
- The different varieties of your products, such as colours and sizes.
- The expiry date (for perishable products)
In addition to making your products appear legit, product descriptions also allow your customers to have accurate information about what you are selling. This gives them more confidence to invest in your products, boosting your sales.
5. Failing to Offer Good Customer Service
According to HubSpot Research, about 93% of customers who receive excellent customer service are likely to make more purchases from the respective companies. This is also backed by the Bain and Company research, which found that increasing customer retention could increase profits by 25-95%.
Indeed, failing to offer good customer service is one of the major e-commerce mistakes you should avoid when building your online store. The kind of support you offer will determine how many customers you will attract or even retain.
Therefore, make it your goal to offer timely support and a system where customers can get answers to their questions.
