No ecommerce site is perfect,
especially when it first goes live. Even if you choose a seemingly
straightforward or turnkey ecommerce solution, problems are bound to occur. And
while it's hard to predict problems, there are certain common ecommerce
problems, say the experts, which can be prevented -- or fixed relatively
easily.
Here are 11 of the most common
ecommerce mistakes -- and how to avoid or fix them.
Mistake No. 1: Choosing the wrong
ecommerce shopping cart. Before
choosing an ecommerce platform or shopping cart, do your research. a comparison
site that reviews and rates credit card processors, POS software companies,
shopping carts and mobile payments services. "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," he advises. Then "take the cart for a spin. Most
ecommerce platforms offer free trials, so be sure to take advantage of
them," he says. "I've worked on several client sites, and it usually
isn't until we get to the free trial or demo that we realize the cart may or
may not be a good fit."
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," says Flavio Martins, vice president of Operations, DigiCert, an SSL digital
certificate authority. Yet "too many ecommerce sites, especially smaller
ones, fall short of having clear trust indicators that users can trust and know
that their information is secure and protected by HTTPS," he says. "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."
Similarly, "demand security
from third party providers," he says. "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," he notes. "Some significant hacks have come directly from
stolen third-party logins or through third-party service." So "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],"
states Dan Hutmacher, senior digital consultant, a digital agency. 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," says Andy Eades, ecommerce consultant, a provider of website design and SEO. "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," he advises. "There are plugins
available to integrate these search solutions into many of the most popular
shopping carts at a relatively low cost."
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," says
Rick Wilson, president, a provider of
ecommerce software and hosting. "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 smart
phone."
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," says Mat Durham, director, Skyblu Web Design. When you do that, it makes it
difficult to differentiate yourself from the competition, especially to search
engines. "The solution is simple," though, he continues: "write
your own product descriptions, at least for your major lines, or employ a good
freelance copywriter to do it."
"Not only do product
descriptions add content to your site, they're a way for customers to
experience your product online too," adds Ashley Orndorff, director of
Marketing for, a Web development company. "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," she explains. "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,"
states Eades. So "make sure that you remove any fields not necessary for
the checkout process."
"Make it easy for the customer
to check out and don't complicate the process," adds Alexa D'Agostino,
CEO, a provider of marketing and Web
design solutions. "Websites that have multiple checkout pages give people
more reasons to click out and not finish the transaction," she explains.
"If it's more difficult to pay for the items than find the item you've
done something wrong." The fix: "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," says Amine
Khechfe, general manager and cofounder, which provides ecommerce shipping
solutions. "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."
Similarly, because customers have
come to expect two-day or overnight shipping, it's important for ecommerce
businesses to offer multiple shipping options.
Mistake No. 9: Not having a mobile
or mobile optimized version of your ecommerce site. "It is a huge mistake to forget about mobile commerce
when building an ecommerce business," says Chris Belew, CEO, a mobile
commerce provider. "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," he
states. "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. Too many companies "underestimate the social share
button," says Apu Gupta, CEO, a
marketing and analytics suite for the visual Web. "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," he notes.
"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.
"Customers shopping online want to know they're not going to be left
holding the bag if they need help," says Wilson. "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.
Mitiz Tecnnologies consider all these problem and make
your site navigational and user friendly.