The e-commerce industry is growing exponentially with every passing year and thanks to COVID-19, this industry saw a huge increase in growth as more people started shopping online and got the products delivered at their doorstep.
The best thing about e-commerce startups is that anyone can start their e-commerce business and they don’t even need to purchase inventory for this, they can work with drop shippers who will handle the job of delivering the products.
Starting an e-commerce business isn’t easy and takes quite some effort. Most people make some common mistake due to which their e-commerce doesn’t grow as they want it to. Here are Five Common Mistakes E-Commerce Businesses Make:
1. Inadequate Research
One of the biggest and worst mistakes that one can make when starting an ecommerce business is to start the business without doing proper market research beforehand. Market research is as important as other aspects of starting an ecommerce business. The online market is not like fishing where you just stand in one spot in the pool and wait for the fish to arrive. You have to go out and find the fish and lure the fish into your pole by attaching something to the pole that the fish is interested in.
You have to do the same and look for what the current trends are, what are the customers interested in nowadays, and use different marketing strategies to attract them such as through media campaigns, digital marketing, advertising, offering discounts and promotions, etc. Without doing proper research, you won’t be able to start a successful e-commerce business.
2. Not Having A Secure Website
Cybercrimes have been increasing exponentially and people are concerned about their online security, especially their financial information which if fallen into wrong hands can cause a lot of problems for the customers. Unfortunately, some e-commerce businesses still don’t take the security of the customers seriously and it can result in the customers seeking out any out business that provides a secure platform.
Your website must be secure through an SSL Certificate and since online transactions will be taking place, you should install fraud protection software. You should do everything that you can to make your website as secure as possible because if the security of the website is not strong enough then it can cause a lot of issues including the private information of customers’ being leaked that can cause huge problems for you and you would be charged heavily in lawsuits.
3. Not Targeting The Right Audience
For any e-commerce business to flourish and grow, targeting the right audience is the key. If you are targeting an audience who are not interested in your product or don’t need your product then you are not only wasting your resources but also your time.
If you do your marketing research properly and find out the people that would be interested in buying your products then you can easily lure them into buying your products.
For instance, if you are trying to sell out playing cards then you should target people who are interested in games like Freecell Solitaire, Klondike Solitaire, Blackjack, etc so they will be interested in buying out your product. If you are targeting people who are not into playing cards and hate them then you will be irritating them and also wasting your resources on the marketing campaign.
It doesn’t matter how good your product is, if you don’t target the right audience then you are not doing the business correctly.
4. Poor Customer Service
Customer service is as important for your business as is the quality of your product or your marketing research. The customers’ traffic at your online store depends on how you treat your customers and how you resolve their issues.
If you have exceptional quality products but poor customer service then your business might not grow as you might be expected. Poor customer service might include no live customer service, poor attitude of the customer care representative with the customers, not answering the queries of the customers, denying returns and replacement of damaged/faulty orders, etc.
Your business can grow substantially if you resolve the customer service issues. You can have the 24/7 live chat option, AI Bots to answer the queries, a set of guidelines and T&C for the return policy, etc.
5. Difficult To Use Website/Application
Making the website or mobile application difficult to use and navigate can also cause the customers to head over to other websites. It is imperative that when your customers visit your website then they feel welcome and the whole interface of the website is simple so that they can easily browse through the products.
If your website is not user-friendly, easy-to-use, and easy-to-navigate then you are basically giving a tough time to the customers to navigate around the website and the customers would rather prefer going to any other store than visiting your store and they will soon stop visiting your website.
You must build your store in a proper way that nothing is too complex, all of the products are categorized appropriately and there are filters and price ranges available for the customers to filter out the product. If you don’t do so then you shouldn’t expect your online store to grow!
