Online stores have become the most important bridge between businesses and potential customers. The rise of eCommerce empowers businesses to serve up their vast range of products and services in a visually attractive and well-organized style.
But running an eCommerce business comes with its own set of challenges. With the increasing number of online shoppers, the eCommerce environment is a fiercely competitive marketplace. In this blog, we bring you the five most common roadblocks faced by eCommerce stores.
#1. Null Search Results
Too many eCommerce businesses have search features that don't produce relevant or adequate results for customers.
A study from Baymard concluded that as much as 31% of searches end with poor or irrelevant results that undoubtedly turn away customers – many of them never return to that site again. The same study found that an incredible 70 percent of search engines of the top 60 eCommerce sites are unable to return relevant results for synonyms of the search entry.
It's easy to see how improving this aspect of your eCommerce business will lead to an immediate improvement in sales and customer retention. With the right software, you can fix this problem and have an efficient search function that shows customers what they want to see. Without addressing it, you run the risk of losing customers to competitors - permanently.
#2. Lack of Data Enrichment
Data enrichment provides practical product details that tell the customer why they should be buying this particular item and how it will fix a problem. The available data should include colors, sizes, specifications, makes, models, measurements, materials, applicable accessories, and as much as you can find.
Complete data not only helps customers find the exact thing they want but also makes them feel confident in their purchase — a feeling that will motivate them to return to your store for their next purchase, too. And good data reduces merchandise returns, which are costly and reduce profitability.
Confident shoppers are less likely to abandon their shopping cart before finalizing their purchase, which happens a jaw-dropping 70 percent of the time globally, according to research by Statista.
#3. Building the site in-house
Many business owners believe that they should create their own eCommerce website from scratch rather than use existing software. This is often a mistake. Building software, especially complex eCommerce software, takes a lot of time and money, always more than initially budgeted. Much of the eCommerce software that already exists can offer customization and personalization, ensuring that as many businesses as possible, including yours, can succeed with their product.
Look for software that offers several essential features, like client support for continuous improvement and analytics, AI, or artificial intelligence, which can track user's browsing behavior, as well as previous purchases and searches. Also, remember data enrichment, which makes sure that all your products have the information customers want to make a smart purchase.
#4 Not Mining Your Data
eCommerce vendors have a wealth of data that is collected with every click and page view. Search trends are in flux with the pandemic, but your search data provides reliable and actionable information. It is paramount that you invest in effective analysis to understand how individual buyers behave to maximize opportunity and increase satisfaction. You don't get to know your customers face-to-face, but they increasingly expect you to know them just as well as if you had served them in store.
#5 Lack of Optimization for Mobile Devices
If your website isn't user-friendly, it will quickly lead to one inevitable result: losing a significant number of your potential customers. In recent years, a large number of sales come from mobile device customers. In fact, mobile device users are slowly overtaking the community of people buying from desktop devices. Hence, an eCommerce store has to take mobile optimization seriously to see continued growth.
In conclusion, it's worth remembering that the work of maintaining an eCommerce website is never done. Technology continues to advance at an incredible rate. Success means staying up-to-date and continuously improving. You have to implement best practices and look to the future, embracing new trends as quickly as possible to stay ahead of the competition.
Above all else, always aim to offer an amazing shopping experience to your customers. If you want to learn more about other roadblocks to eCommerce success, visit our new eBook here.