No eCommerce site is perfect. We all make mistakes. But when it comes to your eCommerce business, there are many eCommerce mistakes you don’t even realise you’re making. These mistakes could be holding your business back from growth and costing you money. Payflex outlines 6 of the most common eCommerce mistakes most merchants don’t even know they’re making:
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Picking the wrong eCommerce platform
Your eCommerce platform can truly make or break your business. It forms the foundation of your eCommerce website, plays a vital role in how you attract shoppers, as well as how you scale your business over time – which means you cannot afford to screw it up.
It’s important to note that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to selecting an eCommerce platform. Rather, businesses need to assess the merits of each platform based on their own unique needs in order to find one that will successfully deliver their outcomes and objectives. In addition, don’t make the eCommerce mistake of thinking small. If you plan to expand, then your platform needs to be able to accommodate this.
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Writing for both SEO & people
A common eCommerce mistake is website content written solely for SEO purposes. We all know how important SEO is in making your website discoverable to a wider audience, but, there needs to be a balance. Ensure you create your content with your human readers in mind as well as Google. The person reading the content on the other side of the screen needs to connect with your copy. Forcing in too many keywords or using them unnaturally in a sentence will create a poor user experience.
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Product descriptions that are copied & pasted
Copying and pasting product descriptions is often easier when you have thousands of products on your site. But, this is a critical eCommerce mistake that could be costing you.
Duplicating product descriptions could significantly reduce search engine traffic on your product pages as Google will view them as duplicates. In addition, uninformative, boring descriptions don’t add any value for users. Add value to your customer experience by providing rich product descriptions that explain how the product will actually benefit your audience.
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Your internal search isn’t up to scratch
We all invest so much in making our website easy to find and navigate, but often forget about the importance of internal search functionality. This can be a costly eCommerce mistake. Customers expect fast and intuitive experiences, and falling short of those expectations with your site search can cost you dearly. In fact, up to 30% of ecommerce visitors use internal site search. In addition, internal site searches account for up to 14% of all revenue, and case studies have shown increased conversion rates of up to 43% from strong internal search capabilities.
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The eCommerce mistake of overlooking omnichannel
In today’s highly competitive eCommerce space, merchants cannot afford to adopt a siloed approach to eCommerce marketing. In fact, avoiding the growing significance of omnichannel could ultimately prove to be a fatal eCommerce mistake.
Today’s customers expect to seamlessly shop however and whenever they want across a variety of digital channels. Providing shoppers with a way to engage with your brand, products, services and reviews across multiple platforms is therefore no longer a nice to have but an essential in the post COVID-19 environment.
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Making it hard for customers to reach you
Are you one of those merchants who only has a contact form on their Contact Us page? Making it hard for customers to reach you is one of the most common eCommerce mistakes.
It can be incredibly frustrating for consumers who want to get hold of you to not have an email address or phone number to reach you on. A generic form removes the human element of the customer experience journey, affecting your conversion rate as well as customer loyalty. Make sure customers are able to reach you 24/7 whether it be via social media, email, phone or live chat via your site.
