Running an e-commerce business is a lucrative idea. However, with so many competitors, it’s pretty hard to thrive and prosper without the right business plan. While some may assume that running a business is the same, regardless of the niche. In reality, some problems and issues are pretty specific to e-commerce. Check the most common and expensive eCommerce mistakes and learn how to avoid them.
This means that a person without much experience in this field might have difficulty recognizing them. So, averting the disaster that comes from them. With that in mind and without further ado. Here are seven things you must look out for to avoid these expensive eCommerce mistakes.
7 Expensive eCommerce Mistakes
1- Offering a default shipping option
Even if you believe you know what’s best for your audience. You might be surprised that not all of your consumers have the same priorities. Same-day or next-day shipments can be a selling point. However, it would help if you didn’t assume this is the same priority for all your customers. Why not make a counteroffer? Give your audience an option to get their items later while making the purchase somewhat cheaper?
The difference in price or delivery time shouldn’t be that great. However, this is entirely beside the point. What matters is that you’re allowing them to choose how they customize their delivery.
2 – Miscalculating shipping expenses
Another massive mistake some e-commerce companies make is a failure to calculate their shipping expenses correctly. Think about it: the package size may completely alter the conditions under which the item is transported. Especially if we’re transporting these items in bulk. This size/weight-related factor may make your estimations. So inaccurate that they may persuade you to agree to the deal, which would lose you money.
This is one of those managerial issues due to inexperience in this field. However, allowing yourself to learn from your mistakes might be too expensive.
3 – Ignoring feedback: Common eCommerce mistakes avoid
Online, it’s often hard to differentiate between feedback and bitter. Unfounded criticism, yet, this is something that you’ll have to master to drive your e-commerce business forward. After all, your business is not there to accommodate you or to nurture your ego. It’s there for a single purpose. So, to appeal to your clients and make them trust you enough to become paying customers.
Sometimes, people will abandon you in droves for no reason. Yet, in some situations, they’ll be pretty vocal with their concerns and discontent. You can’t allow yourself to turn a blind eye to their pleas. Listen to what they say and, if their circumstances are reasonable. Find a way to implement changes that will fix the problem.
4 – Downplaying the importance of customer address validation
Everyone makes mistakes. However, one of the greatest mistakes that could take place in the world of e-commerce is an instance where a customer pays for the product, and the item gets sent someplace else. While there are several reasons why this might happen, most commonly because they’ve listed the wrong address.
Remember that even though this is their fault, they’ll still expect you to do something about it. Reimbursing them or sending a new item puts you at an apparent financial loss, which is why it’s always better to find a way to prevent this from ever becoming a problem. The simplest way is through a more efficient customer address validation process.
5 – Underestimating the importance of product images: Common eCommerce mistakes avoid
Imagine a scenario where you’re running a real-life store, and a person comes to buy a product (a phone or a computer). It’s more than clear that they wouldn’t be able to tell the quality of the product just by looking at it or holding it in their hand, yet, it’s highly unlikely that they’ll purchase without this checkup.
At the very least, the salesman will show you an image on the screen when you don’t have the item in the store. This is why it’s essential that the photos you post are of high quality, that all the relevant information is displayed on the side, and that you have an eCommerce marketplace platform that will make all of this easy and seamless to pull off.
6 – Relying too much on manual management
The problem with manual management is that it requires too much of your time and effort, time and effort that you could spend much better elsewhere. Moreover, the margin and probability of error also get drastically increased in this way, which is probably the main reason to automate your business processes as much as possible.
This is particularly the case when it comes to shipping processes, which are a strenuous job, at the very least when done manually, a menial task when entrusted to software. All in all, missing out on an opportunity to make your job easier is never a smart thing to do.
7 – Ignoring social media marketing: Common eCommerce mistakes avoid
Finally, no matter how efficient your self-promotion methods are and how much money you invest in your SEO, it’s never wise to ignore social media marketing. The connection between social networks and social media marketing runs deep.
Those who pay close attention to analytics know how many sales come through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Pinterest. Therefore, you must establish a strong presence on these networks to avert a significant loss of opportunity.
8 – Small and unprofessional images
Seeing small images is a big hurdle. It’s like walking into a boutique with no windows or mannequins, just shelves and racks filled with different garments. They should have a section that shows clear, large, professional-looking photos of your listed items. The clip can be static or a slideshow.
9 – Lack of policy functionality
Anticipate what everyday shoppers frequently ask and complain about. Don’t you worry about the payment method, shipping cost and return policy? Therefore, you need to have clear labels to immediately address potential potential objections. For example, you could name it “FREE SHIPPING” or “DESIRED SHIPPING RATE” instead of just specifying “SHIPPING POLICY” as the title of the tab. You can declare “EASY RETURN POLICY” instead of “RETURN POLICY”.
One might make the mistake of believing that adhering to the above-listed seven tips may save you money when, in reality, this is not their purpose. All they stand to do is keep you from unnecessary expenses and prevent mistakes that could set your business back or cause you to do some extra work without any reward. Fortunately, most of the above-listed are so intuitive that after applying them only once, they’ll come to you naturally for years.
