Mistake No. 1: Choosing the wrong ecommerce shopping cart.
"Think about your functionality needs, feature requirements, integration requirements, budget, need for customizability and design/theme needs."
Also, ask yourself: "Is the cart easy enough for you to use without having to go through a big learning curve? How is the customer support team? Read some customer reviews to see what others are saying,"
Mistake No. 2: Not making sure your site is secure.
"Studies show that up to 25 percent of users have actually stopped an online purchase because of website security concerns,"
A digital certificate provides authenticity of your website and an encrypted connection to protect sensitive data -- and you can get one quickly and within budget." It also "communicates to customers that your site is trusted and information is secure."
"Many ecommerce vendors outsource Web hosting, IT support and Web security tasks to consultants. But too often merchants don't demand strong security from their outside service providers,"
"when picking a service provider, companies should demand strong security best practices, preferably verified through industry certifications and always ensuring that their service providers secure their own data with https."
Mistake No. 3: Unintuitive or cumbersome site navigation.
"Customers will leave your site if they can't find what they want [quickly],"
So be sure to make navigation -- menus -- intuitive, minimizing the number of clicks it requires for customers to find what they are looking for.
To improve navigation, review your analytics to see "where your customers are dropping off and then optimize [your ecommerce site] accordingly."
Mistake No. 4: Bad or no search capability.
"Customers who use on-site search to find products are more than three times more likely to convert than customers who don't,"
"So it's important to make sure that customers get relevant results and quickly. Many out-of-the-box systems perform poorly on search, so speak with your developers about how you can make tweaks to your existing system, or look into more advanced solutions such as solr or sphinx,"
Mistake No. 5: Poor images/photography.
"When people are buying online, since they're giving up the tactile ability to pick up and hold a product and inspect it, [you need to have] great product photos,"
"It's important to show multiple angles, and if the options change the appearance, such as the color, multiple options. Also make sure the photo is big enough to zoom in on, especially with a smartphone."
Mistake No. 6: Using stock product descriptions.
"The biggest mistake that ecommerce retailers make is to copy the manufacturers descriptions for the products they stock,"
"Not only do product descriptions add content to your site, they're a way for customers to experience your product online too,"
"A customer cannot pick up your product and examine it on your site the same way they could in-store, a robust product description (with accompanying images) allows customers to experience and familiarize themselves with your products,"
"Your descriptions don't need to be as short as a tweet or as long as a novel, they just need to be descriptive. Engaging, informative product descriptions show your customers how your product will solve their problem and why it's so great."
Mistake No. 7: Having a confusing or lengthy checkout process.
"Asking customers for unnecessary information and poor checkout design can result in increased abandonment rates and therefore lower conversions,"
"Websites that have multiple checkout pages give people more reasons to click out and not finish the transaction,"
"Use a one page jQuery checkout that easily allows you to go through the different steps of account creation/guest checkout, shipping, billing and credit card information all on one page."
Mistake No. 8: Having only one shipping option and/or carrier.
"One of the biggest mistakes we see from ecommerce businesses is relying on just one carrier to fulfill all their shipping needs,"
"In actuality, each carrier provides unique perks. For example, I often tell business that if they're not using the U.S. Postal Service, they're leaving money on the table. That's because the USPS offers the most affordable rates for packages weighing less than 5 pounds. And with the new Priority Mail price decrease happening in September, ecommerce businesses have yet another affordable option for their 5 to 15 pound shipments."
Mistake No. 9: Not having a mobile or mobile optimized version of your ecommerce site.
"Statistics show that more and more people are doing their research and shopping on mobile devices. In fact, 57 percent of consumers will not recommend a business with a poorly designed mobile site,"
"Similarly, 40 percent of consumers will go to a competitor's site after a bad mobile experience." So if you want people to buy from you, "don't forget mobile!"
Mistake No. 10: Not making content easily shareable on social media, especially on Pinterest.
"Thirty-three percent of the top 100 [Internet] retailers Curalate surveyed have yet to install Pin It buttons on product pages -- [thereby] missing out on a significant opportunity to drive referral traffic back to [their] website,"
"Maximizing your presence on the visual Web starts with social sharing. By making images on your website more pinnable, and by then optimizing the size and placement of share icons, you can ultimately drive awareness, aspiration and sales," he explains. "BuzzFeed, for instance, increased pinning by 10 times after enlarging the Pin It button on share bars and overlaying the icon on individual images."
Mistake No. 11: Making it hard to contact you, the seller.
"The easiest (and free) way to do that is [to include] a phone number on your website in the header or footer." Also, make sure to provide an easy-to-find email address for customer service -- and that someone is checking and responding to email regularly.
Sources: http://www.cio.com/article/2601367/e-commerce/11-common-ecommerce-mistakes-and-how-to-fix-them.html
"Think about your functionality needs, feature requirements, integration requirements, budget, need for customizability and design/theme needs."
Also, ask yourself: "Is the cart easy enough for you to use without having to go through a big learning curve? How is the customer support team? Read some customer reviews to see what others are saying,"
Mistake No. 2: Not making sure your site is secure.
"Studies show that up to 25 percent of users have actually stopped an online purchase because of website security concerns,"
A digital certificate provides authenticity of your website and an encrypted connection to protect sensitive data -- and you can get one quickly and within budget." It also "communicates to customers that your site is trusted and information is secure."
"Many ecommerce vendors outsource Web hosting, IT support and Web security tasks to consultants. But too often merchants don't demand strong security from their outside service providers,"
"when picking a service provider, companies should demand strong security best practices, preferably verified through industry certifications and always ensuring that their service providers secure their own data with https."
Mistake No. 3: Unintuitive or cumbersome site navigation.
"Customers will leave your site if they can't find what they want [quickly],"
So be sure to make navigation -- menus -- intuitive, minimizing the number of clicks it requires for customers to find what they are looking for.
To improve navigation, review your analytics to see "where your customers are dropping off and then optimize [your ecommerce site] accordingly."
Mistake No. 4: Bad or no search capability.
"Customers who use on-site search to find products are more than three times more likely to convert than customers who don't,"
"So it's important to make sure that customers get relevant results and quickly. Many out-of-the-box systems perform poorly on search, so speak with your developers about how you can make tweaks to your existing system, or look into more advanced solutions such as solr or sphinx,"
Mistake No. 5: Poor images/photography.
"When people are buying online, since they're giving up the tactile ability to pick up and hold a product and inspect it, [you need to have] great product photos,"
"It's important to show multiple angles, and if the options change the appearance, such as the color, multiple options. Also make sure the photo is big enough to zoom in on, especially with a smartphone."
Mistake No. 6: Using stock product descriptions.
"The biggest mistake that ecommerce retailers make is to copy the manufacturers descriptions for the products they stock,"
"Not only do product descriptions add content to your site, they're a way for customers to experience your product online too,"
"A customer cannot pick up your product and examine it on your site the same way they could in-store, a robust product description (with accompanying images) allows customers to experience and familiarize themselves with your products,"
"Your descriptions don't need to be as short as a tweet or as long as a novel, they just need to be descriptive. Engaging, informative product descriptions show your customers how your product will solve their problem and why it's so great."
Mistake No. 7: Having a confusing or lengthy checkout process.
"Asking customers for unnecessary information and poor checkout design can result in increased abandonment rates and therefore lower conversions,"
"Websites that have multiple checkout pages give people more reasons to click out and not finish the transaction,"
"Use a one page jQuery checkout that easily allows you to go through the different steps of account creation/guest checkout, shipping, billing and credit card information all on one page."
Mistake No. 8: Having only one shipping option and/or carrier.
"One of the biggest mistakes we see from ecommerce businesses is relying on just one carrier to fulfill all their shipping needs,"
"In actuality, each carrier provides unique perks. For example, I often tell business that if they're not using the U.S. Postal Service, they're leaving money on the table. That's because the USPS offers the most affordable rates for packages weighing less than 5 pounds. And with the new Priority Mail price decrease happening in September, ecommerce businesses have yet another affordable option for their 5 to 15 pound shipments."
Mistake No. 9: Not having a mobile or mobile optimized version of your ecommerce site.
"Statistics show that more and more people are doing their research and shopping on mobile devices. In fact, 57 percent of consumers will not recommend a business with a poorly designed mobile site,"
"Similarly, 40 percent of consumers will go to a competitor's site after a bad mobile experience." So if you want people to buy from you, "don't forget mobile!"
Mistake No. 10: Not making content easily shareable on social media, especially on Pinterest.
"Thirty-three percent of the top 100 [Internet] retailers Curalate surveyed have yet to install Pin It buttons on product pages -- [thereby] missing out on a significant opportunity to drive referral traffic back to [their] website,"
"Maximizing your presence on the visual Web starts with social sharing. By making images on your website more pinnable, and by then optimizing the size and placement of share icons, you can ultimately drive awareness, aspiration and sales," he explains. "BuzzFeed, for instance, increased pinning by 10 times after enlarging the Pin It button on share bars and overlaying the icon on individual images."
Mistake No. 11: Making it hard to contact you, the seller.
"The easiest (and free) way to do that is [to include] a phone number on your website in the header or footer." Also, make sure to provide an easy-to-find email address for customer service -- and that someone is checking and responding to email regularly.
Sources: http://www.cio.com/article/2601367/e-commerce/11-common-ecommerce-mistakes-and-how-to-fix-them.html
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