In addition to the tremendous scope that e-Commerce adds to businesses another benefit is that in affect online stores are ‘open for business’ 24/7 and do not require staff to handle sales directly. However, often online retailing is far from plain-sailing and there are a host of mistakes that can be made. Here are some that are particularly prevalent in the e-Commerce sector and some handy tips to solve them!

Your site makes buying difficult
It is pretty shocking, but a lot of e-Commerce sites actually make buying a chore! The last thing a customer wants is to have to ‘work’ to give you their money. Poorly designed web pages and shoddy navigation is often off-putting for customers who want an easy buying experience, and it goes unsaid that if customers can get your product in half the time elsewhere they will! To solve and avoid this error make sure that each page on your website has a clear function. Make any actions buyers can take towards purchasing as clear as possible and try to ensure that the steps between browsing and the checkout are as few as possible.

Sales copy is not engaging
In shop fronts often the salesmanship and customer service skills of staff often sways sales, in e-retail settings though sales staff aren’t part of the equation the description of your company, product and services fills this role. It is therefore essential to appeal to customers that land on your site. A common mistake is that sales copy is written that just talks about what ‘we offer...’ ‘we are the best because...’ and fails to address the customer. Instead ensure copy address customers directly instead of ‘we offer...’ it should read ‘you will get...’ Using such strategies creates the impression that your company is customer orientated, seeking to offer solutions rather than after a quick £.

Not using website data effectively
A glaring benefit of using web platforms is that gathering and analysing data is made easy. E-Commerce businesses can easily gather information about their customers buying and browsing habits. Not only do web analytics tools such as Google Analytics give interesting insights into user’s behaviour, but through analysis of completed orders and terms looked up in your sites search box. This information can be used to improve and tweak content on your site in order to appeal to more customers.

It is important to always think from your customer’s perspective when selling online and even consider your own online buying habits. Chances are if features you have come into contact before on e-Commerce portals have prompted you to spend, similar devices will appeal to your customer base.