There are some basics that you have to know and adapt to have a functioning eCommerce website. You can think of these as the lowermost, physiological needs for human survival – the air, food, water, sleep of an eCommerce website.
These basics are:
- Efficient and effective search capabilities
- Simple navigation
- Clean design
- Good quality and quantity of images
- A fast loading website
- Tight security – especially of payment details.
If you get any of the above wrong, you are unlikely to find success with your eCommerce platform. Some common eCommerce mistakes that online retailers make need special mention and attention.
Common eCommerce mistakes that can ruin your online store
Asking for too much.
Internet users are smartening up. Especially the ones who shop online. The moment they realise you are asking for more information than is necessary, most of them are going to hit the ‘close tab’ button.
To avoid this, the shopping flow on your eCommerce store should be designed in a way that delays registration as long as possible. At any given stage, what you know about the customer should be limited what you absolutely need to know at that stage. The customer should feel safe and secure on your site. The smaller and newer your online store, the more this rule applies to your site.
Unintuitive shopping carts
It is a well-known statistic now that almost 68% of your online store visitors abandon the shopping cart. Which means, people who liked your product(s), had put it/them in the shopping cart, left it never to return. This is a clue for you to get your checkout process as streamlined and pain-free as is possible.
Standard approach product description
Are all your products the same? If yes, have just one page with variations in products offered as choices – like color, size, etc. If no, then do not have a similar approach to product descriptions. Some products need more images while others need more text in the form of product specifications. Some products will need a combination.
For example, a furniture item will need good images and detailed specifications like dimensions, weight, etc. However, a book or music CD might not need too many images except for confirmation that it is the one the visitor is looking for. On the other hand, a clothing item will need more images to see how the material falls and will need only basic specifications like size and color.
Adapt product descriptions to the product. And certainly do not copy-paste the stock description on to your site.
Ignoring mobile
More and more online shoppers are moving to shopping from their hand-held devices. Ignore this market and you will find your online sales on the decline as competition keeps up with the times. All the functional qualities of your online store have to crisper and more function in the mobile version of your site – be it your mobile site or a mobile app.
Not mixing marketing
If only marketing, especially eCommerce marketing were a matter of picking the best medium from the ever-increasing platforms to market your store/products on. You have to pick a mix of different mediums and work on how you break your marketing pie amongst them.
Once done, dusted and forgotten
E-commerce site design is anything but a one-time effort. Not only is space continuously evolving, what works for a site is dynamic over time. Trial and error are indispensable; testing inevitable.
These are a few common mistakes that can be avoided with a little awareness and open-mindedness towards new tools available for online stores. They are not simple to wade through but then again, there is nothing like a free lunch.
Do you have any tips to make some of these things simpler for eCommerce businesses? Have you done anything differently that has worked for you? Or maybe something that hasn’t worked and can serve as a learning to new entrants to the community.
