So, you have a great product idea. You have it batch produced, and the quality is exactly as you expected. Your fancy logo looks fantastic on the packaging and your website is up and ready to go. You run some ads and work on your SEO, but wait… the sales aren’t that good? Maybe there aren’t any sales at all. Why?

Businesses need time and nourishment to grow.

It’s a commonly known fact that starting any type of business is not a walk in the park, especially if the park has an e-commerce rollercoaster. The twists, turns and loops will make you go dizzy in seconds! Digital trends constantly keep changing. You do your research and stay up to date, then you hear news about social media platforms changing their algorithms. What does that even mean? Competition is as high as ever and there is no room for mistakes.

Luckily for you, we have listed the 10 most common e-commerce pitfalls you could avoid for a bulletproof e-commerce strategy.

1. Leaving your website on autopilot

So, about launching your website and waiting for the orders to fly in. Yeah, that’s not going to work. Your website needs help to reach out to the right people who will become your traffic and eventually your customers. Promote your pro
duct on social media, work on your SEO, email your potential customers, engage with your community, and watch the results yield. Remember, marketing is your friend.

2. No responses to customers

If a customer would walk into your shop and ask questions about a product, you would respond, right? So why not online? According to a study 70% of customer inquiries and comments are left unanswered across all social media platforms. That’s 70% of your target market who might not buy from you again. Secondly, new people discovering your online platforms will most likely notice the unanswered feedback and will immediately lose trust in your brand.
If you are a new e-commerce business, it’s 100% in your best interest to respond to all communications made by your customers. These are the people who are taking the time to know more about your product or wanting to address a concern, which means they are definitely interested in what you are offering

3. Not allowing your business to speak to everyone

English is the universal language, so it makes sense to have your website in just English, right? Wrong. One of the main advantages of your e-commerce website is that you do not have to restrict yourself to geographical boundaries. You can sell your products in any country you feel there is a potential to sell. However, to create that potential, you will need to understand the languages and consumer behaviour of that region. Culture, traditions, festivals and many more factors come into play which need to be understood before you can approach a global audience for your product. Yes, it sounds like a daunting thing to pull off but, if done right, you will see some incredible results.

4. Exposing your website to vulnerabilities

With privacy and online security being one of the major concerns of the average consumer today, it’s only natural that your initial customers will be skeptical about how secure your website is. The skepticism is not your fault, but not addressing it is. People simply do not want to enter their personal information anywhere due to regular events of data and privacy breaches around the world.
In order to avoid potential customer losses due to this, make sure that your website is up to date with all security standards. This includes SSL certificates, secure servers, reliable payment providers and much more. Once that’s done, tell your customers that you have done it.

5. Customer journey with too many detours

The whole point of people wanting to opt for online shopping is ease, convenience, and speed. A good e-commerce business delivers all of that, on and off the website. How easy it is to view a product and place an order? Can people who are less tech-friendly also use it? Does the customer have to click through a hundred times before seeing something of value? Is the product delivered to the customer in an acceptable timeframe? All of these are questions that need to be answered in favor of the customer’s ease and convenience.

 

6. Not making the smartphone your best friend

Majority of all website traffic comes from mobile devices and unfortunately there are still a lot of e-commerce businesses who forget that. The price? Incredibly low-quality traffic which will barely get you any sales. Consider building your website with a “mobile-first” mindset to make sure that your biggest pool of quality traffic and sales conversions is not left ignored.

7. Customers getting lost in the maze, that is your website

There’s two types of customers for all businesses. One likes to make their mind up as they browse through your entire catalogue, and the other knows exactly what they are looking for. Your fancy navigation menu and well organized categories and subcategories might take care of the first type, but what about the second? Have a search bar on your website for those customers. A search functionality is a basic yet crucial feature most e-commerce businesses ignore, don’t be one of them.

8. Poor visuals of your product

As much as your smartphone takes Insta-worthy, breath-taking images which results in you getting thousands of likes, your product photography strategy will need the touch of a professional camera. Stunning visuals and multiple angles of your product can really make all the difference between a customer closing your website and a customer making a purchase. A small investment in a professional photoshoot for your product catalogue will go a long way towards becoming your visual sales pitch.

9. Forgetting about the seal to the deal

There’s an insane percentage of customer orders being abandoned right before the “Place Order” button which is a great source of demotivation for most e-commerce businesses. Fret not, because we are here to tell you why it happens. Your customers like to see how much they must pay for shipping, or if they must pay in the first place. As it turns out, many don’t like to pay for that. In fact, an unrealistic shipping fee is one of the biggest reasons why customers don’t purchase from a particular business. Consider including your shipping fee in your product price or find cheaper alternatives which allows customers to find the right balance of shipping price and delivery time. It lets the customer feel that they are in control and you have better chances of not losing them.

Easy customer journeys are the highest converting ones.

10. Over-simplifying your fulfillment strategy

Your initial business setup might just run from your apartment, sure. But is that sustainable in the long run? When the orders do start coming in and you decide to scale up, where will your products go then? What about the quality of your packaging? Do you think it provides the customer with a memorable unboxing experience that will leave them wanting for more? If you are selling expensive goods, are they stored in a secure place? What about your garments going bad due to heat if you are a fashion brand? Are you worried that you might ship the wrong item to your customer?

So what’s the take-away?

Worrying about these aspects is a good thing, but it takes your mind away from actually running your business. What if we told you that there is someone who can take care of your entire inventory, store it in a 24/7 secure storage space, guarantee that all your shipments are 100% accurate, enhance your product photography and ensure that your customers will receive their items in a timely manner along with the ultimate unboxing experience! With Robostores, you can avail all these services and find out what “ease of doing business” truly means. Our experienced technical and support team can integrate your website with our e-commerce automation system which will track your inventory in real-time and keep you updated with all stages your orders go through before being processed and dispatched for delivery.

Avoiding these mistakes from the get-go will go a long way towards your e-commerce success. We understand how overwhelming the e-commerce game can be to new players, even for seasoned businessman. We want to help you to climb the ladder of e-commerce success. Our expert knowledge in warehousing and fulfillment can provide custom solutions for your e-commerce business regardless of scale.

Get in touch with our experts & start growing your business today.