Sometimes it is the little things that can make the difference between a struggle ecommerce business and one that can really thrive. Unfortunately, many businesses fall into familiar traps and make completely avoidable mistakes. Here we take a look at six key mistakes that your ecommerce business might be making, and offer advice for how to avoid them.
Focusing too much on the sale and not the customer
It is certainly true that any ecommerce business lives or dies on the sales that it is able to generate. So, perhaps it is not a big surprise that this is a mistake that businesses make. It is all too common for ecommerce sites to focus purely on sales, and forget how important it is to provide excellence customer service.
Impressing customers is a vital aspect of ecommerce, because a satisfied customer is more likely to recommend you, submit a positive review, or even return for repeat business. In fact, repeat customers tend to spend three times as much as other customers, making them more valuable to your business than a new one.
Prioritising branding over sales
Yes, branding is an important thing to think about for any ecommerce business. But you shouldn’t let it get in the way of things that will increase sales and revenue for your site.
“Our site was branded entirely in black and white,” said Moby Latif, Head of Business Strategy & Development at children’s clothing store Childsplay “we felt that a monochrome colour scheme suited the luxury market we operate in”.
When Childsplay’s marketing consultants – who had specialist knowledge of conversion rate optimisation – recommended that they should add bright colours up their ‘add to bag’ buttons and offer text with colour, the company was sceptical. But the results speak for themselves. “We have seen a significant increase in conversions since making the changes” said Latif.
Not investing in your website
There really is no excuse for an ecommerce business to have failed to invest properly in its website. Whether it is in the form of quality web development or search engine optimisation (SEO) spending on your website can be a vital way to increase your sales and improve your revenue.
One of the most important things to note about an ecommerce site is the vital nature of site speed. Sites that load slowly are not only seen in negative light by search engines, but they also frustrate visitors and can cause potential customers to leave your site in favour of a competitor with a faster website.
Failing to identify your target audience
Do you know exactly who you are selling to? It is essential for ecommerce businesses to understand their target audience. Doing so not only helps them to better select products and services, but it can also help to focus the efforts of advertising and marketing.
Take the time to understand who is going to be buying your products – this can then inform the advertising channels you use, and even help you to make decisions about the design of your website.
Having a complicated checkout process
If you have got to the stage where customers are putting products into the shopping cart on your site, then you are at the final stages of their customer journey – the last thing you want to do is fall at the final hurdle. However, there is a mistake that far too make sites make in that they have a checkout process that is too complicated.
A confusing checkout process that leaves customers frustrated can lead to them clicking away from your site and opting for competitors. However, simplifying your checkout procedure can be much easier than you think.
Not considering scalability
It is important to ensure that you are using the right ecommerce platform for your site – too many businesses select their platform without thinking about whether it will be right for them in the long term. Think about scalability – as your business grows, will this platform be able to provide you with everything that you need to succeed?
If you aren’t using the right platform it will likely be sensible for you to make the change as soon as possible so that you can avoid problems down the line.
The post Six ecommerce mistakes you need to avoid appeared first on ECN | E-Commerce Nation.
Ecommerce
via https://www.AiUpNow.com
Dakota Murphey, Khareem Sudlow
