Running a successful e-commerce business is not as easy as it may seem. You will most probably end up making simple mistakes that would have harmful effects on your brand unless you implement the right tools and you are having a clear understanding of the ways you want to develop the online store.
That's why we have compiled a list of 6 common mistakes to prevent you from damaging your results.
Lack of reasonable Marketing Strategy
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Before launching your online store, take a moment and consider your strategy. The success of an e-commerce store highly depends on a solid marketing strategy.
Why? Think of it this way. How will people be able to find your product if they have no idea it exists?
Undoubtedly, your sales will increase as long as your marketing works. So, consider the types of strategies that you are going to implement. Will you have a social media account? Will you be sending SMS reminders regularly? What types of SOP software are you going to implement?
Take your time to do research, find the right tool, invest in paid advertising and content creation. More customers, more awareness, and more conversions will come forward as you do so.
Not creating buyer personas
Not having buyer personas means missing a huge part of business success. The personas, which are the fictionalized people made up to represent your ideal target customers, allow you to understand what your customers look like and what you should do to make them interested in your product.
You need to have a clear idea of who your target audience is, otherwise you will not have an advantage and will have to navigate in the path completely blind. To get to know your audience, try to ask these questions. What do these people look like? Where do they work? What is their life's purpose? And what is there to do to make their life easier?
We recommend having at least 2-4 different personas of your desired customers and planning the ways of reaching and keeping in touch with them correspondingly.
Confusing UX and navigation
Make sure that your online store is a mix of functionality and design. Simplicity is good, yet your website should not only look good. It also should provide an enjoyable experience to help you convert users into customers. Kraken, for instance, allows for a lot of features and is user-friendly.
If your design is misleading, your content will be extremely hard to find. Try to make it simple and interesting at the same time. For example, you may add SVG waves, which are commonplace in today’s web solutions.
Besides, remember that if certain features aren’t working properly, users will get frustrated and leave your online store. If you lack the internal expertise to do quality design work, consider hiring a UX Agency to create smooth navigation and a great experience for your customers.
Thus, the users will be able to find the information they need much faster — which means more conversion and profit for you.
Complicated Checkout Process
Nowadays, everyone likes it when you make it easy for them to do something. People always strive to find new and easier ways to make something done. This could refer both to something big, for instance changing everyday habits to make life easier, or something or stuff like how to post on Instagram from PC.
Obviously, if you want them to give money to you in exchange for your products or service, as a part of a customer retention strategy, you need to make it the way that is convenient for them. Therefore, instead of asking customers to get through several steps for purchasing your product, make sure your online payment methods work well.
This will also increase your chances to have better word-of-mouth marketing, as more people will be more likely to buy and even recommend your platform to others.
Not Creating a Unique Content
To get engaging content that your audience will appreciate and value, the content that you create should be relevant to their expectations. The target groups and KPIs of each business differ from one another, and thus your content should be unique as well.
Besides, having a unique tone of voice makes your brand more recognizable, and gets you more chances to stand out in an online environment.
Think of how brands like FactoHR have done this. Once you get familiarized with their unique voice there is no mistaking for anyone else!
Poor customer service
Well-trained customer service is one of the most important key factors of a successful e-commerce business. If you don’t invest in great customer service, sooner or later you will feel harmful consequences.
Even the most successful stores may have technical or other issues. And the ones responsible for handling them first hand are customer service representatives. Besides, it is well-known that customers tend to talk about bad customer service experiences more than good customer service experiences.
Our advice is to keep in mind the importance of the service for your business growth and invest in this factor while making your strategy.
Ignoring the Competition
Just like most businesses, you have competitors, too. Whether they are direct or indirect ones, you should keep an eye on them to see what those competitors are doing, how they’re doing it, and whether or not they are successful at what they are trying to accomplish.
The careful analysis of competition should be a part of your strategy, but you should also conduct it regularly. This obviously doesn't mean copying their strategies, however since you are sharing the same market, it is of great importance to be informed about them and not to miss any opportunities.
To sum up, if you want your e-commerce store to succeed, try avoiding all of these mistakes. Make sure you make an enjoyable and easy journey for your customers, fix all the common e-commerce mistakes, invest in marketing and customer service. By following these tips, e-commerce growth and happy customers are guaranteed.