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10 Reasons Ecommerce Businesses May Fail
Get it right with ecommerce and you’re set for life. 24/7 operational hours, minimal overheads and the ability to reach customers from Aberdeen to Australia – all adding up to the potential for remarkable revenues.
However, along with the various success stories that emerge every year, far more ecommerce enterprises fall flat on their faces. Why? Well, the simple answer is that it could be down to thousands of errors and oversights.
But in the vast majority of instances, these are the 10 most common reasons why ecommerce businesses fail:
1. Poor images and product descriptions
First and foremost, underestimating the importance of outstanding product descriptions and images can be fatal. The reason being that as your customers cannot physically pick up or examine what you are offering in person, they rely on quality images and descriptions.
2. Lack of contact information
If you don’t make it as easy and convenient as possible for your customers to get in touch with you, they won’t shop with you. Even if everything else you do is fabulous, they’ll instinctively find it difficult or impossible to trust you, if there is a lack of contact information available.
3. Complicated checkout
The simpler the checkout process, the better for you and your customers alike. Not only do online shoppers across the board absolutely despise complicated checkout processes, but anything that requires more than a few clicks means robbing yourself of all impulse purchases.
4. Hidden charges
The single most common reason for shopping cart abandonment is additional charges being added to the bill during the checkout process. Whether it’s some kind of administration fee, shipping charge, tax or anything else across the board, there is really no excuse for hidden charges and they will not be tolerated.
5. Poor small screen UI
There’s nothing more frustrating than having every intention to buy something via your mobile device, only to be blocked by a frustrating or impossible user experience. Provide them with a poor mobile UI once and chances are they won’t be back.
6. Confusing navigation
Likewise, if your customers simply do not know what to do to get where they need to be, they will walk away and never look back. Everything about the user experience and navigation system in general needs to be as simple and streamlined as possible.
7. Poor marketing
If you build it, they will come. This is exactly the kind of ecommerce philosophy that guarantees failure. No matter how fantastic your online store, products and services may be, failure is guaranteed if you do not sufficiently market it.
8. Not engaging your customers
If you do not engage your customers with quality content and an enjoyable experience, you are essentially operating as an online vending machine. Suffice to say, this is only advisable if you want to send your customers right into the arms of the competition.
9. Targeting the wrong audience
Another surprisingly common reason for failure is that of simply targeting the wrong audience in the first place. The key being to avoid casting your proverbial net too broadly, as you cannot expect to please all of the people all of the time. Focus on those who are of genuine value to your business and ignore everyone else.
10. Inappropriate pricing
Last but not least, inappropriate pricing basically translates as prices that are too high. Never forget that when shopping online for pretty much anything at all, consumers can compare the prices of dozens of retailers in seconds. Which they will, which in turn means that if they do not feel they are getting the best overall deal from you, they won’t hesitate to take their business elsewhere.