Business has moved to the World Wide Web. Entrepreneurs are keen to take advantage of all the new and exciting opportunities that the internet has to offer but if not done right, your eCommerce business will suffer from a number of issues that many fail to take into account. Here’s a list of 10 eCommerce pitfalls and how to avoid them.

1. Using a Single Platform

As a seller, you want your customers to get your products in the most convenient way possible. Amazon and eBay are two of the most popular sites that online retailers use to sell their products but they often make the mistake of concentrating on only one platform at a time.

Specializing in one area will help you do it right however it is in the best interest of your business to sell your product on as many websites as possible.

2. Lengthy Check-Out Procedures

Once your customers have found your product and made the decision to buy it then you want the process of the making payment to be as easy as possible.

If they are paying via debit or credit card then the process of filling in their details is unavoidable. It is a lengthy process however Amazon, the king of online retail, has introduced one-click shopping which makes the checkout procedure much faster. Other retailers are accepting payment in cryptocurrencies which do not require you to put in your personal details which makes the payment procedure much faster.

3. Lengthy Loading Times

If a customer finds that they have to wait outside your brick-and-mortar store for long before they get service then they are likely to go shop elsewhere. The same concept applies to customers who are waiting for your website to load.

You must remember that consumers are flaky at heart. Once they have made the decision to buy from you then the process must take as little time as possible from the second they open their browsers until their payment and shipping details have been confirmed. Therefore your website cannot take too long to load.

4. Ignoring Abandoned Carts

Some customers make it all the way to the final checkout phase before they decide not to buy your product. Estimates show that close to two-thirds of online sales are forfeited when customers leave products in their carts and exit the store.

Abandoned carts happen for a number of reasons that are specific to the websites that they are dealing with. Find out what the main reason for abandoned carts is on your site and take steps to rectify the problem. The problem is usually something as simple as the site not being user-friendly, which is an issue that can be fixed with ease.

5. Lack of Product Reviews

Word of mouth is the best form of advertising out there so retailers are wise to encourage their customers to leave product reviews which they can display on their websites. Even bad reviews are better than no reviews because they offer a form of social proof.

6. Spam

People are always wary of signing up for mailing lists because they can’t be sure that you’ll send them content that they actually want. Set yourself apart from the annoying chaff by ensuring that every email you send to the people on your mailing list is tailored to their needs and makes them want to buy more products from you. Your customers took a leap of faith by signing up to your mailing list so reward them accordingly.

7. Bad Customer Service

Every customer wants to feel valued whether they are buying products online or in-store. At brick-and-mortar establishments the customers have the pleasure of asking an employee behind the counter for particular details on an item that they wish to purchase. Online stores don’t have this option so customers have to send emails or make phone calls.

A common complaint among buyers on online stores is that the emails to customer service can take hours to get replies. The best way to make customer service convenient and time efficient for customers is to have a chat service available however this may be expensive. If email is all you can afford, make sure that every query is replied to as soon as possible.

8. Poor or Limited Information on Your Website

For an online retailer, the homepage of your website is a lot like a storefront for a brick-and-mortar shop.
The homepage is what gives your customers a first impression of what your business and products are about so you want to give the best impression possible and make it clear what kind of a service or product you are offering. Keep the information on your website accurate and free from spelling errors to give your customers the impression that you are professional and worth buying from.

9. Making Your Contact Information Difficult to Find

Apple is one of the largest companies in the world but they are guilty of this particular problem. Getting to speak to a representative of Apple through their website is so tedious that you are probably better off going to one of their stores. But Apple has millions of customers worldwide so they can get away with it however every other business operating online does not have the luxury of being hard to reach.

Customers must trust your business and the only way for customers to trust you is for them to feel like they are able to speak with you at any time. Get around this issue by making your contact information easy to find on your website.

10. Incorrect Use of Social Media

Social media websites such as Google, Facebook and Twitter are free mediums that you can use to promote your online business and encourage customer engagement.

If you have an online business then you must provide a social media platform for people to interact with. People nowadays spend a lot of time on social media so you run the risk being forgotten if your products are not on their newsfeeds.

If you want to beat the competition and make your online store a success then it is important that you follow the advice given in this post.