Running an e-commerce business can be challenging. There is so much more to do than at a physical shop. Because there is so much to do, it is easy to ignore some things and this can be catastrophic to your business. Below, we will look at some of the areas where e-commerce businesses fail and discuss ways to avoid them.
The Website
A customer’s journey starts when they visit your website. You want them to have a good experience there so you should work on improving your website. Some simple changes you could do include making the menu clear, using a lot of images, and adding clear descriptions.
To go further, you should ensure your website is responsive. People who are on mobile and who cannot navigate your website will usually leave without making a purchase. Another important area to look at is your website’s speed. People hate websites that load slowly and if your does, they will leave without making a purchase.
Customer Services
Every business owner knows there will be complaints, returns, and refunds. The way you handle these three aspects of your business can make or break your business. Start by ensuring every customer feedback is attended to promptly. Look into returns and refunds and find out why they happened. Also, talk to your customers to see how you can rectify the situation. If the customer sees that you care and will take care of the issue they have, they are likely to have a good opinion of you and your business.
Inventory
Studies have shown that most of your items will go out of stock when you are running a flash sale or other promotion. This can disappoint customers who come to your website expecting some exciting deals and huge savings. To rectify this, have a good inventory management system. Always know the quantity of the items you have and keep a close eye on this number. Also, order more than what you normally do when you run a promotion. During these times, you are likely to see demand that is higher than usual and enough inventory will help you take advantage of the spike in demand.
Shipping
A customer’s relationship with your business does not end when they make a purchase; it continues through the shipping stages. If a customer does not receive their products in time, they are likely to see you as untrustworthy and might not come back to your website.
To ensure this does not become a point of failure, start by contracting reputable shipping companies. These are companies that deliver products promptly and efficiently and should be able to ship the items in the time stipulated.
Next, ensure the customers know how long their products will take to reach them. This is so that they are not anxious when they do not receive their products in the 2-5 days most people expect.
Running an e-commerce business is a balancing act, but when you focus on making the customer happy, running the business becomes easier. Things like having enough inventory and products reaching the customer when you say they will goes a long way in helping customers trust your business and become repeat customers.
