E-commerce services have become a goldmine of opportunity in the modern world. However, why does an online store often fail? What is the reason why only 2 out of 50 e-Commerce sites are successful? Apply 10 infallible solutions on your page.
Without leaving your home, you can have access to all the tools, connections and resources necessary to establish a store and start your business. But, do not be confused If you are oblivious to how a good online commerce page works, you can hardly enjoy independence and profitability; Because your site, far from inspiring trust, will generate very little conversion.
The possibility of developing an eCommerce has become so achievable and affordable than the competition has fired the brutal war zone that is the presence of online stores today. At such a high level of competitiveness, having a “good” e-commerce site is no longer enough; It is necessary to optimize all facets of your business to be exceptional. It is not just about the main entrance to your page, but about creating a unique and particular shopping experience.
What are the Reasons why an online store fails?
1. Not having optimized the sales and navigation process
If you are someone who thinks that it is just launching a store and selling, let us disappoint you. Normally the initial navigation does not give enough sales conversions and should be optimized. When you have an offline store and it does not give good results, you seek to improve the strategic script of the sale or change to the commercial; But in any case, what you do is an act to optimize the business process.
At the online level, it is the same and even more important, because with little care you can have great sales results. If you don’t do your job of optimizing navigability, the numbers will stagnate and you will never see the 200-300% increases that others do.
2. Not having the online store positioned in Google
Surely you know that if your page does not occupy the first positions in the search engine, it will not have enough traffic for your business to work. It will be like on a desert island in the middle of a great ocean that nobody visits! This would be equivalent to having a typical offline store on a street that no one passes by, with zero traffic of people.
That is why it is so important to have your store optimized for SEO. Most do not have local positioning strategies that allow them to scale on Google. Imagine for a moment that you had 100 important keywords positioned for your e-Commerce instead of 5 or 10. The sales response will reflect the difference between good SEO and a bad one!
3. Not knowing how to use Google AdWords correctly
AdWords can be a great sales generator for your online store, but misused is a money eater. Campaigns can be very expensive and unprofitable! Many electronic businesses fail and pay a very expensive price, But the reality is that AdWords works and can be a source of traffic like no other for your business to grow. Having this tool working well involves investing a peso or a dollar and getting 10 back. Thus, you will have a constant impulse of new clients and profitable campaigns.
4. Not being clear on how to make social media profitable
Social networks increasingly have a larger audience. This is demonstrated by Facebook and Twitter with more than a billion and 288 million active users respectively. Not knowing how to use each platform is to lose an incredible opportunity to conquer potential clients. If you don’t use them, your competition definitely will. To have a successful store, a Social Media Plan capable of achieving a positive ROI is essential.
5. Not having an updated control with the numbers of your business
It is impossible to scale and for your online store to grow if you do not have control of your numbers. Have you heard of someone running a 50-kilometre marathon with their eyes covered? Probably not. Ask yourself these important questions:
- Do you know where your visitors come from?
- Did you have segmented which sales come from AdWords, SEO or social networks?
- Do you know what sales conversions you have for each traffic source?
- Are the conversions between your main page and sections by product clear?
- Is SEO good for all the strategic keywords that position your store?
Not having control of your numbers in your offline business is the same in the digital field. In the same way that you know the profits and losses in a physical store, to see if it is going well or not, to be successful online you need clarity and have the control systems to master your values.
What are the Solutions for a successful e-Commerce?
After being very clear about the reasons that can hinder the growth of your online business, it is time to look in detail at the elements that make a site surprising. Here are the 10 characteristics so that there are no doubts when closing a sale.
1. A winning design
Imagine walking into a grocery store that is not very well maintained. The walls are cracked, the roof leaks, the plants are withered, and there is no clear sense of order with the way the products are displayed. Would you have the courage to buy their products? Of course not!
The same idea applies to e-commerce sites. If yours does not have good usability and design, they will not only question the quality of your product, but they will also begin to question your credibility as a seller.
2. Optimized for conversion
While making sure that the site looks good which is important, unfortunately, that is not enough to be commercially successful. In addition to having a professional look, you need to make sure that the items are optimized for conversion. At the end of the day, everything will be reduced to whether the visitors have bought or not, so ensuring the correct operation of all buttons and modules is essential.
3. Transparent purchasing process
One of the reasons that buyers end up abandoning their shopping cart is due to hidden site charges. This shows that a lack of transparency can hurt your eCommerce site. A good way to combat this is to tell your audience early what the payment process is like; and if possible, communicate at the beginning, with transparency and visible visibility, what the rates are.
4. Database security
If you are running a small commercial site that carries only a few items or are operating a large-scale retailer with thousands of products, all of the critical information to be obtained (such as personal and transactional customer data) should be stored in the database of your website.
You are likely to collect the details of each of your customers, including their addresses, phone numbers, complete purchase histories, as well as your company’s financial details for the past month. And of course, you don’t want any of this sensitive data to be compromised or hacked.
If your site data, especially consumer data, is stolen, it will be almost impossible for you to rebuild the relationship and trust you intended. Having said that, the question is: how to protect your database from possible infractions? The good news is that today there are companies that offer DBA à la carte services that can remotely protect and monitor the data on your website.
5. Short payment process
In addition to being transparent, try to make the entire payment process as easy as possible for your customers. Integrate your page with a worldwide payment system like PayPal! Plus, it should work without the need for more than one checkout page.
6. Email Capture
Remember that good eCommerce execution involves much more than selling products. In addition to selling, it is also necessary to emphasize generating leads. An excellent way to do this is by capturing Emails from your visitors; that is, with good Lead Generation actions.
Once you have the Email, you can easily cultivate the relationship with them. There are several strategies when it comes to building Email Marketing lists. The idea is to offer something of value, such as discounts, exclusive coupons, free downloads or personalized training in exchange for your address. From there, you can start building links in your niche by sending segmented information based on what your leads are looking for.
7. Customer evaluation
Incorporating feedback from your past customers is a great way to inspire positive emotions in potential buyers. Reviews are related to testimonials and opinions, especially if it is about how previous customers were able to solve their problems by using your product.
On the other hand, positive reviews help to highlight unique selling points. To differentiate yourself from the competition, you need to make a value proposition as obvious as possible, and customer feedback can help with that.
8. Good product photos
Nothing better than exposing the products to overhead light! Use high-quality images with the highest possible resolution and consider that it will be the first visible face for your client. Also, try to include additional details such as product dimensions to give you a clearer and more complete display.
A full proof strategy is to use photos of the articles on a plain background. However, it is also a good idea to use high-quality photos of the product in action. Make sure it grabs their attention!
9. Navigation speed
What is going to be of a shopping experience with a slow site and poor navigation? Pay attention to the loading speed if you want an optimal experience for your visits. A customer is willing to wait just 2 seconds before their buying mood is interrupted.
If the files take an amount of time to load, be sure to compress them into smaller formats. If you are going to send visitors to PDF files and they then have to find tools to convert them to file types that load faster, there are free platforms that you can use for this.
In addition to all this, delivering key information should also be your priority when planning your site design. For example, if it takes more than a few seconds for your visit to find your value proposition on a landing page, there is something you are doing wrong. Make sure that the call to action is found in a single moment when they open your landing page.
10. Special offers and promotions
Everyone loves deals. The best strategy to drive sales is to offer discounts and promotions. Of course, you should not communicate them recklessly but think of strategies to maximize the benefits of using these Seasonal Marketing tactics.
One of these keys is the integration of automatic promotions when the user tries to close the page. These are called exit offers, and there are several Marketing Automation tools to help you achieve this effect.
Also, remember that you can check the customer data and their journey within the sales funnel. Reviewing their buying behaviour and needs will help you optimize your product and improve conversions.
