Is your eCommerce business underperforming and causing a financial strain? Although it’s no secret that generating sales, meeting projections, and achieving company goals won’t always go according to plan; however, continuing in the black or red may lead to a deficit you can’t come back from easily. While multiple factors contribute to a business’s profit potential, perhaps your eCommerce platform isn’t succeeding due to one of these common mistakes below.
Mistake: Failing To Effectively Market Your Site
You can’t expect to generate sales if no one knows your eCommerce site exists. Although this seems obvious, many entrepreneurs launch their websites without investing in marketing, while others put forth minimal effort. As consumers have access to millions of businesses, a non-existent or barely-there digital presence will limit your earnings potential.
Solution: Develop A Marketing Plan
Marketing is an ongoing and multifaceted process that requires knowledge of your products, services, industry, market, competitors, and, most importantly, your target audience. You must develop a marketing strategy that builds brand awareness, separates you from the competition, and reaches your target market on the platforms they utilize most.
Mistake: Poor Site Navigation
Are the bounce rates, page views per session, session duration, and average time on page metrics for your eCommerce site unsatisfactory? One reason for these low rates is poor site navigation and user experience. It means that when consumers visit your platform, they have difficulty finding the products, services, or features they want.
Solution: Update Your Website Layout
Have your web developers, IT team, or specialists from an IT staff augmentation agency improve your website layout. Your home banner should have straightforward navigation with topic, product, or subject lines that correlate with your products and services. You can incorporate drop-down menus for smaller categories and add a search bar for quick results.
Mistake: Complicated Checkout Process
Another eCommerce metric to review is your cart abandonment rate. Consumers will not disclose their financial and other sensitive information on a platform that isn’t secure, doesn’t accept their preferred payment method, or has too many steps to complete a transaction.
Solution: Partner With A Payment Processing Company
Your checkout process must be secure, seamless, and convenient. Managing these aspects is time-consuming and expensive. However, a payment processing company is equipped to handle these tasks for you. They offer point-of-sale applications that integrate with other sales management systems for secure, streamlined checkouts that boost your profits.
Mistake: Unpredictable Product Availability
Inventory management is a balance. Too much of a product could result in waste or a need to drop prices to eliminate the inventory. However, you risk missing out on a sale if you don’t have enough supplies in stock to meet the demand.
Solution: Inventory Management Software
If keeping track of how many products you need and when to replenish your inventory is difficult, inventory management software can help. It’s an application that lets you easily track product availability, manage orders, refill your stock, and make effective decisions to improve customer satisfaction and your bottom line.
Mistake: Ineffective Customer Service
Some entrepreneurs don’t invest enough time, money, and resources into enhancing customer experience. However, if your customers aren’t satisfied, they won’t continue shopping on your site. They’ll also share their negative experiences with others, which causes you to miss out on new business.
Solution: Become A Customer-Centric Business
It would be best if you were a brand about its customers. Identify your target customers, use segmentation to develop personas, then use the information to tailor your marketing, website, products, and services to accommodate their needs. Cultivate a positive customer relationship by asking for their input through surveys and polls and implementing their ideas. Train your customer service team on communication, problem-solving, and de-escalation. Lastly, take accountability and promptly resolve customer complaints.
eCommerce sites are convenient, affordable, and effective ways for businesses to generate sales. However, reaping the benefits requires more than launching a website. You must evaluate every aspect from a professional, technical, and consumer perspective to ensure that your platform operates efficiently. If you’ve made any of the mistakes above, the provided solutions can help you turn things around and increase your profits.
