Nibletz Staff
2016 is an incredibly exciting time to be a new entrepreneur. Increased accessibility to the internet, along with the success of businesses like Etsy, has made it easier than ever to kick off your business. If you’ve got a product which you can’t wait to release, then you could be making your first sales a few hours from now. Don’t think that success is going to fall in your lap though! There are a lot of common mistakes people make when getting started in ecommerce. Here are some of the major ones to avoid.
First of all, don’t neglect to staff your operation. Okay, modern times have made it much easier to make it as a sole trader. Sure, being a one-man band is pretty good for creatives and consultants. However, most ecommerce businesses can’t be operated by one person. Sure, you might be able to stay on top of it in your opening period. However, once your orders start picking up, you’ll quickly find it hard to keep on top of your demand. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with taking baby steps. However, you should have at least one friend who can commit to the business to make sure you’re not over-working yourself. If you spread yourself too thin, you’ll begin skipping on the quality of your products, and damage your reputation.
A poorly designed website is another huge mistake you need to avoid. There are a lot of factors to consider here, but the most important is probably your user interface. Read anything on how to increase eCommerce conversion rates, and this will come up again and again. If your website’s design is confusing, then you’ll only serve to make your bounce rate completely horrific. I get it, designing a website for your business is fun. However, you should always try to keep the customer’s experience in mind. Make sure the navigation is easy to understand, and the information on all the pages isn’t presented clearly. Otherwise, your target audience won’t be impressed! Having your site mobile-optimised is also a very important thing to consider. These days, mobile devices are an increasingly popular choice for people browsing the web. If you don’t use responsive web design, you’ll be cheating yourself out of business from a massive demographic of shoppers.
Neglecting the security of your payments is another mistake. This could drive your business into the ground faster than you’d believe! Ask any business owner about the drawbacks of selling online, and they’re sure to mention the security risks tied to it. From credit card fraud to email addresses being used by spammers, if your customers know you’re not tight on security, they won’t consider coming back. When you go out of your way to make sure your ecommerce site is secure, it will preserve your credibility as a business. when your customers trust you, they’ll have more reason to recommend you, and your business will continue to grow. Your web design company will probably throw in some basic security with their service. However, after that you should be looking into more precautions you can use. A Security Sockets Layer, for example, will encrypt your customers’ credit card numbers. This will ensure that they’re not stolen by hackers.
Finally, not being transparent enough. Sure, buying products from an outlet several miles away allows customers to shop from their own homes. However, it also means that it’s not as easy to trust the business you’re dealing with. If your business lacks transparency, then it will make this kind of hesitation even worse. One of the biggest mistakes you can make here is making it hard for your customers to contact you. You should have a contact number or email clearly displayed on all of your web pages. Failing that, have a nice, big “Contact Us” button somewhere in the borders. Although they can be obvious or irritating at times, customers will want to ask questions about your products, their orders and so forth. If they can’t figure out how to do this, they’ll feel like your business is less trustworthy, and will leave your site disgruntled. Disgruntled customers lead to a damaged reputation which leads to a failing business. If your contact info isn’t accessible, you’ll only be shooting yourself in the foot. The worst possible thing you can do is neglect to post any information at all!
Avoid these four mistakes, and there’ll be nothing slowing down your ecommerce business. After establishing yourself, it’s up to you to keep up with innovations, and out-do your competitors!
