5 E-commerce Mistakes to Avoid

Did you know that 97% of e-commerce businesses FAIL? HUGE RIGHT? Many new businesses make simple mistakes that hurt their chances of being successful, and limit their potential to grow  and reach an International audience. As a result, they see low sales and are eventually forced to shut down.

These are 5 common mistakes that new e-commerce businesses should avoid:

1) Lack of contact information

• As I spoke about recently in this video, many e-commerce sites have no contact information on their site – and no a contact form does not constitute as contact information.
• Without contact information – most potential buyers will feel a lack of trust and may decide not to purchase from you
• Make them feel comfortable by including an email or a phone number and a Live Chat component
• Ensure your customers feel like they can reach out to you if any problem arises and make yourself available to answer to any questions they might have

2) Poor design/UX

• Poor design makes a company look unprofessional, now matter how amazing your product is
• Make sure that your site is easy to navigate and is well designed, or people will bounce off your site immediately
• Get professional help or leverage templates that are now readily available in the market such as Squarespace, Shopify, BigCommerce, or Volusion.

3) No secure payment gateway

• A secure payment gateway is a service that allows you to accept credit card payments and allows the shopping cart to securely process that information
• Ecommerce sites are prone to hacking – you must make sure that you have a provider like authorize.net who can help you with Credit Card Processing and Fraud Prevention
• Most shoppers pay with Credit Cards – as they have anti-fraud protection
• Template e-commerce sites provide these options when you have a Merchant Account

4) Bad Fulfillment

• Fulfillment is the last thing customers remember about your store
• Packaging, Shipping and of course sending the right item
• Customer service is extremely important – be available to answer any questions and make your customer feel comfortable about their purchase
• Include within your site clear shipping & return policy
• If you ace all of these items – I promise you – you just WON a return customer

5) Not Enough traffic

• You need BIG traffic to have a successful e-commerce site
• Remember that only 1% of your traffic will convert and actually buy – so think about it – if you only get 1,000 unique visitors per month – only about 10 will purchase from you
• Because you need such high inbound traffic, make sure that you proactively use social media. Also use advertising to boost your social media efforts.

Avoid these 5 common mistakes to help your e-commerce site flourish.