Doing e-commerce is more than just selling online. A lot of online businesses have failed because of mistakes that are actually quite common. Even if you’ve been doing online business for years, you can still make the mistakes.
Read on to learn some of the mistakes below, then see how you can fix them and make your online business better!
1. You Don’t Know Who Your Audience Is
Most products or services you can find out there exist to solve problems. They offer solution for people’s inconvenience, worry, or fear. But different people face different problems, so you’d better find people with problems your business can solve.
Remember, no matter how excellent your product or service is, people won’t buy it if they don’t need it. You can’t sell hair growth serum to people with long, thick hair. You can’t make people buy air conditioners if they live in cities where the weather is always cold.
Before you start selling, you need to understand your target audience. You have to understand what they want and need. If possible, you have to also understand interest and how they make their purchasing decisions.
2. You Set a Price Without Doing Prior Research
Your pricing may affect your sales. It affects your profit margins and even your brand. Most importantly, your pricing affects your potential customer’s decision. If you set the price too high for something that your target customers can find somewhere else for a lower price, they will likely not buy it from you. And if you set your price too low from your competitors, it may affect your profits and subsequently limit your business growth.
So, before you set your pricing, do some research on how your competitors set theirs. But don’t be afraid to set a much higher price if you offer better quality products or you offer benefits that your competitors don’t.
3. Selling on the Wrong E-Commerce Platform
Not all e-commerce platforms are created equal. While they share the same purpose, those platforms have unique audience that may or may not be your target market. For example, on Etsy you can mostly find people selling handmade crafts. It means, it’s not the platform you want to be on if you’re selling electronic goods.
So, make sure you know what platform you’re going to use and who your audience is before you start selling.
4. Uncompelling Photos
Photos are the first way you introduce, create first impression, and make people consider to buy your products. That’s why it’s important to take good photos of your products. Do pay attention to the lighting, positioning, and other things that will highlight your products. Don’t let the props used in the photos take people’s attention away from what you’re actually selling.
5. Ignoring the Importance ofProduct Descriptions
Another thing that’s just as important as good photos is good product description. This is where you’re going to persuade people to buy your products. You can mention why your product is different from that of your competitors, what benefits people will get from it, and other things that your good photos cannot describe.
6. Lack of Payment and Shipping Options
People have their own preference when it comes to payment and shipping. And not making their preferred payment and shipping options available will be a huge loss for you, because most people won’t open a new bank account just to buy from you.
Fortunately, sending money is getting easier these days. Consider payment via e-wallet and other payment services like cash on delivery that’s supported by almost all banks in the country.
7. Not Using Datafor Improving Marketing Strategy
Use data to find out what’s trending, what people are interested in, why people want to buy this and not that, who’s interested in what you’re selling. By using this data, it’s easier for you to see who your target is and to create a marketing strategy that works.
8. Too Focused onFulfillment
When you’re doing e-commerce, especially on multiple platforms, fulfillment can be a hassle. Yes, fulfillment is important, but that’s not what you should be focusing on.
You can spend more time planning strategies to grow your business and leave the fulfillment to 8commerce. At 8commerce, we have professionals that pick, pack, and ship customers’ orders on your behalf. Supported by integrated system that connects information of your online stores from various e-commerce platforms, we offer high accuracy when it comes to processing every order to ensure customer satisfaction.
Contact 8commerce now to start simplifying and growing your business.