Building and running a successful e-commerce business can be a complex and challenging endeavor, involving the integration of many conversion-driving components. But, as global retail ecommerce sales were worth $2.3 trillion in 2017 and are expected to reach $4.88 trillion by 2021, a little effort on the part of e-commerce business owners can go a very long way. The key is to identify common mistakes capable of tanking any potentially successful business – and learning how to avoid them.
Here are the top five mistakes e-commerce businesses make, as well as simple tips you can adopt to ensure your digital retail dream becomes a reality.
Mistake #1 – Not investing in marketing/SEO
Don’t think that simply existing in the form of a business website is enough to get the sales ball rolling. You need to invest time, effort and yes, money into your website before you can expect traffic (and conversions) to steadily head over in your direction. Building a well-designed website is essential when seeking to drive potential customers already on your site to make purchases, but to ensure they know your site exists in the first place, you’re going to have to create killer marketing campaigns and dabble in a little search engine optimization (SEO), so your URL even appears in Google searches.
Mistake #2 – Not collecting customer emails
For every $1 spent on marketing campaigns, email marketing generates $38 in ROI, making email marketing a top, powerful revenue driver you simply cannot afford to skip. Collect the emails of your potential new customers by creating an email subscription field on your website or landing page and making the inputting of email addresses a requirement for any purchase process to complete. That way, you’ll be able to retarget cart abandoners, as well as satisfied customers with customized messages, product recommendations, promotions and more, right where they’re sure to see them – in their very own email inboxes!
Mistake #3 – Not implementing social proof
In 2018, social proof, “the psychological and social phenomenon that our own behavior is impacted by the influence of the actions, attitudes, and beliefs of other people (online or in-person),” is what drives digital shoppers to buy, buy, buy. Positive social proof can encourage consumers to make purchases, while negative social proof can steer them the other way. Create product pages with review features, but only once you’ve received reviews from satisfied customers. Otherwise you’ll find shoppers scratching their heads, wondering why no one has reviewed a given product and assuming it’s because the product is no good.
Mistake #4 – Not focusing on retention
As of 2017, it costs five times more to acquire a new customer, than it does to retain an existing one. Repeat customers also tend to spend more in subsequent purchases, which means that a focus on retention should be on the top of your to-do list. Nurture your business-customer relationships from the moment an initial purchase is placed – by sending them emails asking for feedback, offering them unique and exclusive offers and letting them know ahead of any sales, events or other profit-driving occasions.
Mistake #5 – Not empowering your support team
As mentioned above, the success of your business largely depends on your reputation, generated largely by referrals. Customer satisfaction is key, which means each e-shopper will need to feel supported throughout the purchase process (and beyond). Empower your support team with the latest customer service technology – chat features, service scripts, an up-to-date product database, etc. and enable your customers to receive the support they need and make the purchases they desire around the clock.
When it comes to building your e-commerce business, be sure to take it one step at a time. Patience is a virtue and artfully positioning your unique value proposition (UVP) is key. Navonline can help harness your UVP to create your engaged online community – today.