Ecommerce is really changing the way we do businesses. Everyone can create and market their products without barriers. You don’t even need to set up a brick-and-mortar store to start selling, plus you can now reach thousands of customers from all parts of the country at a relatively low cost.
There is no doubt that ecommerce is a great way to sell products and services, but it is not without its own challenges. In fact, a lot of online store owners still make some classic mistakes that prevent their businesses from really taking off. Here are some of those mistakes and how you can avoid them.
The Checkout Process is Too Long
The last thing online customers want is a checkout process that involves more than 3 steps. The moment you start adding things to the checkout process – such as an extra page to ask customers to sign up for a newsletter – you’ll start getting a lot of dropped carts.
Adding pages to the checkout process may seem like a good idea at first. With the previous example of asking customers to subscribe, the subscription may appear to be a great way to market future products. However, losing sales over these minute benefits is certainly a big mistake.
What you need to do is make the checkout process as simple as possible. Make sure customers can pay for the products they buy easily. Companies like highriskpay.com are making accepting credit card payments so much easier, even with high-risk payments.
Don’t forget to simplify the sign-up process, too. Customers still need to provide a delivery address and other details before they can make purchases, but this process can be made pleasant and simple through careful design and programming.
A Product Catalogue Too Big
It is always tempting to sell everything, especially when there is a big market to tap into. A lot of online stores started life catering to a specific niche before they began adding more items to the catalogue. Unfortunately, a large catalogue can be daunting and difficult to explore, especially when the items are not organized properly.
There are two ways you can get around this possible mistake. First, set up sister stores if you want to start adding products outside your current niche. Sister stores are great for cross promotions and cross-linking, which means you have more resources to boost your internet marketing efforts. That said, managing multiple stores is complicated and dividing the traffic is not always an effective way to go.
The second approach is to have a big catalogue anyway, but with each item categorized and managed meticulously. Don’t forget to add a very user-friendly search function to the site. This is perhaps the better approach to take, especially since you can get visitors interested in other products available more easily.
The Setup Process is Too Complicated
The third and perhaps the worst mistake is taking too long to set up the online store. A lot of would-be online store owners spend too much time combing through products to sell and thinking about the risks of setting up an online store.
Seriously, just start! Have a set of products customers will love and a working ecommerce site for your business; you can then start generating sales. You’ll be surprised by how many customers you can get in your first week.