Do you believe that learning from other people’s mistakes is a way to accelerate your learning curve? If the answer is “yes,” the process should be smoother, since you’ll be able to anticipate many unwanted situations. So, in this article, we’ll discuss some of the e-commerce business mistakes you must avoid, so stick with it if you want to get some valuable insights. Let’s dive in!
# Not defining the target audience
The e-commerce store, the products, and an elaborate business plan are all set into place? Most of the beginners settle at this phase, but in reality, they skip a critical step, and that is defining their target audience. You must know who and how to reach the exact audience that actually needs what you have to offer, how to communicate your message properly, and how to develop a marketing strategy that puts your audience in front of your online store.
# Website content, not SEO-friendly
Even though you’re at the beginning of your e-commerce journey, and you must allocate capital for paid marketing and advertising, getting organic traffic should be in your mind all the time. Write all the website content with both the user and SEO (search engine optimization) principles in mind, because each piece of content is an actual opportunity to attract traffic and convert it into customers.
From product descriptions to the homepage, the content must be tailored to your targetted audience and optimized for search engine traffic. You can work with an SEO agency or take care of the task yourself – either way, make sure you keep this in mind and get the job done.
# Not having a brand identity
Putting in the work to create a brand identity could look like time spent in vain, but in the long run, this can contribute to the development of a strong and reliable brand. Although it might seem useless right now at the beginning, creating a logo and a specific short message describing your business’ culture and purpose can be beneficial in the long-run. Products alone are not always good enough to sell themselves. An efficient business, especially online, relies on the brand’s power, not just on the quality of the products offered.
# Modest customer service
Lack of efficient customer support is one of the top problems for small e-commerce businesses. Keeping close contact with your audience/customers is key to show that you’re thinking about their needs constantly. It also helps to reduce the number of customer complaints and disputes(another useful way to handle those disputes is to use mediation platforms such as Purchase Guard) In case you can’t allocate the time to provide highly-responsive customer support, hire a virtual assistant for a few hours a day, in order to make sure that all the issues are being solved in a decent amount of time.