A successful ecommerce business is all about the right performance. If you have done the equation right, the results shall follow. Customer satisfaction is one of the prime ways to ecommerce success. Therefore, an online store must provide a good shopping experience for their customers. In order to survive in this vast ecommerce ocean, you might need to stay competitive – all the time!
Setting up an online ecommerce store will need lots of time, efforts, and a bit of investment. Unlike the usual conception of huge investments required to start an ecommerce business, we have used only a bit because now that’s all you need. In this article we will be talking about the type of problems ecommerce businesses can face and the way to start an ecommerce business with minimal investment.
What are the types of problems faced by ecommerce businesses?
Based on the reports of Global Outlook (2016 – 2021), the global marketers can foresee steady growth towards the end of 2021 when the sales will cross the US $28 trillion. As per the stats, the share of ecommerce in the total retail sales of the globe has witnessed significant growth and this is anticipated to continue in the future. Moreover, with the COVID-19 period, the ecommerce sales have crossed all the expectations and predictions like never before. With more and more people going online, the rise of ecommerce businesses is unstoppable. However, with profits, increase the competition, and no ecommerce giants will tell you that they have reached where they are without facing any problems. If you are starting up an ecommerce business, or have established a medium-sized ecommerce business, you are at the right place. We are listing the problems you could face in achieving success in your ecommerce business development journey and the possible solutions you could employ. Below are the types of problems an ecommerce business face:
Inadequate Image Quality
The world we live in right now is social, visual, and reel; no debates on that! When a customer lands onto an online ecommerce store, the first thing that grabs their attention is the product images. Researchers have proven that the visual elements on a website are the first tool to engage online store visitors. The importance of the image quality is so much that the product images you upload have the potential to make or break your ecommerce website’s reputation. You need to be sure that the images you upload on your ecommerce website are of high definition to achieve sustainable growth. You must let your customers know the purpose of the product you sell or showcase them how it appears when used. The customers purchasing products online have often not seen the products in real. Customers would in all means examine the product before investing in them. Therefore, as an ecommerce seller, you must be able to convince them to spend their money on purchasing the products you sell online. Compelling product images can do this job for you. Moreover, adding space for customers to upload real images when they received the product will help new customers to see how the product will appear when they receive and make an informed decision before purchasing.
Depending on Google for Traffic
Not to be mentioned, Google is the global ruler in Search Engines and is accountable for the visibility of the websites. Studies have found that above 50% of websites are dependent on Google for generating traffic. Despite many new search engines trying to compete with Google, the sovereignty of Google is not ending any sooner. The Google also switched to using HTTPS indicating the security of the website wherein HTTP before any link in the Chrome and Firefox browsers indicated non-security of data. The unencrypted web pages that question the password, bank details, payment card information, or other personal data was considered as unsafe by all the major browsers including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, etc. Due to this reason, it is advised to change the traffic obtainment channels of the website so that your ecommerce website does not solely depend on Google for generating traffic.
Poor Product Catalogue
The poor product catalogue is one of the primary issues faced by ecommerce businesses. Simply listing products on your ecommerce website is not enough to generate high revenue. If you have a compromised product catalogue, all your efforts in launching your ecommerce website to sell products online will go in vain. The first factor that makes into poor product catalogue is shoddy product images. As mentioned before, it is the first impression you create in your prospective customers as well as your probably only chance to grab their attention and keep them engaged in your website. Once you have passed the first level of convincing your customers through product images, the next thing they check is the product description. A detailed and well-written products description can hugely impact the purchase decision of online shoppers. However, if you have improper or poor products descriptions in your ecommerce website, chances are, you are losing your valuable customers as well as your revenue. When it comes to selling products online, being able to explain and convince the customers about the quality, size, purpose, and value of the customers through images and content is of great importance and truly beneficial.
Keeping Up Customer Loyalty
As you start selling more on your ecommerce website, you will start developing a specific pool of customers who purchase quite often from you. Retaining these customers for the long run can seem to be a deadening task if not done rightly using the right methods and measures. You need to do your part of homework by investing quality time in research. After a few sales or even the first sale, you might have the customer data that can aid you in understanding the likes, dislikes, shopping interests, and shopping patterns of your customers. Remember, if you do not keep your existing customers engaged to your ecommerce business, there are many out there who are trying to seek them. You can try sending engaging content, knowledge-based, and other relevant content to your customers to remind them to come back to your ecommerce website. Consider conducting campaigns and free webinars to spark your customers’ interest in purchasing from your website.
Unfavourable Returns Policy
Online shoppers are always sceptical about shopping online with the fear of losing the money they invest. No one would like to pay for a product that turned out to be of no use for them. With the increase in the popularity of online shopping has increased the online frauds wherein the customers face data threat or get delivered with wrong or damaged products. Due to this reason, many ecommerce giants, including Amazon have provided the customers with the facility to return the products within a speculated time. As an online seller, you can set your rules for product refunds, exchanges, and returns. However, you need to be sure that those rules are framed to align with the customers’ convenience and requirements. You must know that if your customers find you discouraging them to return the product they order from you, they are probably pressing the back buttons and find a better website to shop.
Lack of Online Customer Verification Process
The authenticity of new customers remains ambiguous when it comes to online ecommerce websites. When an individual visits a website, all that the ecommerce sellers can avail is the phone number and address provided by them. In case the visitors are fake and have ordered a product(s) with Cash On Delivery on a fake address, the ecommerce seller will have to incur the loss. Moreover, if the number provided is fake as well, it shall be impossible for the seller to contact the purchaser. Therefore, ecommerce sellers, to be on a safer side, must take care to avail all the necessary steps to avoid such risks. Online sellers need to recognize fake orders, mobile numbers, invalid zip codes, etc. Another way is to integrate software that makes a call to the customer as soon as the order is placed. Such services also send verification codes to the registered mobile number to verify the authenticity of the customer. With such solutions, ecommerce businesses can curb the risks of fake orders and loss of money.
Cut-Throat Competitors
The ecommerce market is as huge as an ocean and to survive in that, every retailer must be competitive. The primary way to stay competitive in ecommerce is product pricing. There would be different retailers selling the same product; however, there will be only one difference – the product price. The large ecommerce brands are competing to survive in the market and come to the top. This competition makes it harder for the Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (SMBs) to survive. Another problem that ecommerce sellers face is that there are a few sellers who directly sell the products to the customers and even build distributors chain for selling the products which worsen the entire situation.
