There is so much money to be made in eCommerce…however, it is also one of the most saturated and highly competitive industries as well. Which means that if you do tap into the market, you’re going to need to do it right!

In this article we’ll tackle the biggest mistakes that eCommerce websites make and how you can avoid them.

1. An unnecessarily complicated purchase process

The modern consumer does not want to have to jump through too many hoops to make a purchase. If you put too many hurdles in their way they will invariably abandon their shopping cart and find an alternative solution.

For example, surprising them with “You must sign up to complete this purchase” is the biggest turn off. Allow guests to check out and ask them later!

2. Failing to segment your audience

This is particularly important for eCommerce websites that sell a wide selection of products that appeal to a much broader audience: segmenting them appropriately and making the right recommendations.

If a 60-year old woman ends up with a “Beard Trimming Kit” in her recommended items list, she’s not going to be too pleased. Just as young men aren’t (generally speaking) going to be too keen on a sewing kit.

As such, you must segment your audience accordingly using a variety of parameters, including their age, gender, geographical, psychological, and socio-economical differences.

3. Your website is sloooowwwww

Page load speed is not to be snuffed at, especially in eCommerce. Here are some crazy stats that will make you want to speed up your website, pronto:

• The average mobile website takes 15-seconds to load.
• Over 50% of mobile users abandon websites that take longer than 5…
• The highest eCommerce conversion rates occur on websites that load within 2 seconds!

4. Your website is too cluttered

Just because you might have a lot of offerings on your website it doesn’t mean that it needs to be cluttered. Consumers have no interest in chaos! All of the content on your store should be easily visible without having to strain the eyes. Not only that, but the various sections on your website should be clearly defined with intuitive search and navigation tools.

5. Your website doesn’t have a responsive design

Just as page load speed is important, so too is how responsive your website is. For example, if your website visitors are using a mobile device but the website has not been optimised for mobile use, they’re going to have a very difficult time using it.

In fact, a large percentage of mobile users will abandon a website if it is not mobile responsive. Given that over 50% of internet users are on mobile devices, you’ll be losing out on a gargantuan amount of potential business!

Final thoughts: Hire the experts!

When in doubt, hire the experts to accommodate your needs. The fact is, as your website continues to grow and expand (whether it be WordPress or Shopify), the amount of work involved with keeping your website maintained and SEO optimised is going to be staggering. As such, having some SEO experts in Sydney who are well-versed in the art of eCommerce marketing is definitely worth some careful consideration.

In any case, we hope you’ve found this article eye opening and wish you well with making the appropriate changes and perfecting your eCommerce store!