If you spend five minutes scouring the web for fresh business ideas, chances are you’ll run into the suggestion of opening up your own digital shop ASAP.
But while ecommerce businesses might be all-the-rage right now, gaining traction isn’t as simple as it seems.
Sure, getting started is relatively simple and you can store sales quickly.
However, it’s crucial that those looking to get into ecommerce marketing understand the most common snafus that trip up would-be success stories. The following five mistakes are easy to spot, granted you take the proper steps to align your marketing to avoid them.
Compliance, Regulations and Legal Loopholes
Just because you’re working in ecommerce marketing doesn’t mean you don’t face the most common challenges of compliance.
Whether it’s accepting payments or staying in line with online business regulations, something as seemingly simple as not having a terms of service page could spell disaster for your business. Before getting started, make sure to do your homework from a legal perspective.
Flaky Vendors
Among many of the biggest misconceptions about the state of ecommerce, much of the public believes that dropshipping and sourcing vendors are totally effortless.
Not true.
If you’re getting products from the likes of AliExpress or another third party, you’re essentially beholden to their backups and wait times, too. If your customers are often stuck waiting long periods of time for products or you fail to deliver the right products, your reputation will quickly take a nosedive.
While there’s nothing wrong with using a third-party vendor, simply manage your customers’ expectations accordingly when it comes to time.
Excessive Shipping Costs
On a related note, one of the most common reasons for unhappy ecommerce customers is unexpected or excessive shipping costs.
Don’t promise or promote low-priced products and then slap on a massive shipping fee: your would-be customers will feel cheated as a result. Instead, come up with a pricing structure that makes sense and results in no surprise upon checkout.
Poor or No Return Policy
Not only does having a return policy give your potential customers peace of mind, but also helps protect your store from a legal standpoint. Also, not having such a policy often results in lost business as customers don’t want to take the risk on a relatively new store.
The good news? Drafting a policy doesn’t have to take long: take a look at this sample return policy template for reference and personalize it accordingly for your own site’s needs.
Looking Too Much Like a Template
With so much competition out there, you can’t afford to look like your site or store popped straight out of a template. To avoid feeling like another face in the crowd, paying attention to the elements of design such as your branding, color scheme and logos are all a must-have.
Looking at some of the best ecommerce site designs for inspiration, it’s clear that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to stylizing your storefront. If necessary, splash the cash for a designer from the likes or 99designs or Fiverr to help you out with creatives to ensure your site stands out.
Sometimes it’s best to learn what not to do in order to build a marketing strategy that’ll last for the long-term. Understanding these pitfalls will not only protects your business’ well-being, but ensure that you create a shopping experience that differs from the competition.