Starting a business is not an easy task for anyone. There are a lot of expenses to pay, permits to get, and logistics to figure out. It takes a lot of patience and determination to get through things as a new business owner. Making it even harder to start a business is when you end up making a lot of mistakes. There are some mistakes that just make things more challenging but others will cause a company, even your ecommerce business, to fail permanently.
It is inevitable that mistakes will be made. However, there are some common ones that can be avoided as long as you know what the mistakes are ahead of time. In this article, we will go over 3 of the most common mistakes a lot of new e-commerce entrepreneurs make with their businesses.
1. Poor Customer Service
When a problem arises with a product or service with your site, the customer relationship can make or break your business. If you are able to address the customers’ needs right away and leave them satisfied then you will be fine. If you are unable to help them in a way that they feel is adequate then you are going to lose out on future business. They may even tell people not to shop with your ecommerce store, which would obviously be a major problem.
The first step is good customer communication. Have a way for the customer to let you know about their problem in a way that is fast and easy for them to figure out. Speed is key for consumers.
A chatbot on the site is a good way to allow them to have questions answered quickly and without any extra effort on your part. It conveniently helps to lower your customer service costs while also improving customer experience (CX) in most cases.
Once the issue is brought to your attention, try to find ways to make it right as fast as possible. If a problem is defective then send out the replacement right away even before receiving the return, for example.
2. Poor User Experience
The user experience or UX is extremely important when it comes to an e-commerce site. This is because the customer doesn’t have the same experience as going to a physical store. Make sure that they won’t feel disappointed that they can’t browse a regular store since the UX is so good.
This means making sure the site is easy to navigate so they can find exactly what they are looking for. Product pages should be descriptive and with good photos. Checking out and paying should be done at the click of a button without much effort.
3. Failure To Build An Email List
Every business should have an email list and use a basic CRM program. If you are the owner of an e-commerce site it is probably more crucial to have one than for most other businesses. This is because you have to be able to retarget your customers in an effective and quick way. Letting them know about sales or new products added to the store will likely be missed by most if you are only posting it on social media.
The algorithm on most social media platforms isn’t reliable to reach your entire audience. When you have an email list there is no barrier to them getting the message. Email marketing always gets results and costs very little, especially when the list is segmented and maintained properly. Emailing proves to have a high ROI year after year despite usually getting less attention than social media marketing, PPC, and SEO.
