Online businesses are a great venture if you can maintain operations well and have strategic marketing and supply strategies. However, with the vast web providing an accessible platform that makes way for more competition, it comes down to the nitty-gritty details to capture new customers and retain them for return visits. While you go for tactics that can make your online store more attractive, you should also keep in mind the factors that, on the other end, drive people away. This way, you can avoid them like the plague and make sure you keep your customers happy and loyal.
Poor shipping practices
There’s a reason there has been such a demand for express transport. Customers want the convenience of having fast and reliable shipping for their orders. Still, they also want to order items knowing that they can get updates, have good options for returns and exchanges, and avail of promos for free shipping (though shipping guarantees take precedence over fee concerns). For you to have this arena pinned down, get a partner in logistics that you can rely on both in terms of speed and security. After all, surveys reveal that 84% of customers are unlikely to return to an online shop after just one negative experience with shipping. The most important factors to consider here are returns, delays, and the condition of goods when sent out.
Unresponsive sellers or support lines
People are less patient these days when waiting for a response from the seller or a customer support hotline when they reach out. Because e-commerce makes everything so readily available, consumers have become less patient. They will likely move onto a competitor if their inquiry or issue is not resolved or, at the very least, acknowledged promptly. Because the digital age has made everything so instant, the attention span of most people has significantly dropped. So they won’t wait around that long for a response.
Not only is it good practice to have an active customer care, but you also want to make sure you don’t have instances where you miss out on responding altogether. That is one of the worst things that can get you a bad rap, and most users are likely to share if a specific shop is unresponsive.
Bad user interface
If your user interface is cluttered, hard to navigate, and takes forever to load, you can bet that you’ll be losing potential customers in a flash. Make sure you optimize any landing pages and selling points for both desktop users and mobile shoppers. Even if you’ve already captured your audience, there is a finite amount of time before their frustrations get the best of them, and they exit the tab then move on. Over a fourth of online shoppers expect e-commerce sites to load fully within just one second. The way to cater to these is to use a UI that easily loads on Wi-Fi and mobile data and a layout that is easy on the eyes.
Confusing cart systems
Cart abandonment is an ever-growing issue that plagues online retailers. Desktop users have an average of a little over 73% in abandonment rates, while mobile users leave their carts at a troubling average of almost 86% percent. That can happen because of any of the issues mentioned above, with slow load times, unresponsiveness, and poor navigation being the main factors. However, it can also be caused by a cart system that puts the user off. If it includes mandatory registration, has numerous screens to click through, and is hard to navigate back and forth between the shopping page, your cart is that much likelier to be left with items unpurchased.
Unclear photos and information
Consumers want clear information right away. If your descriptions are vague, your photos don’t look legitimate and detailed enough, and there isn’t a lot of available information about the product and store, people are less likely to feel like your shop is trustworthy. From there, they will likely rely on reviews that appear from verified purchasers so that they can check for honest feedback on your services. Without all of those incorporated or readily available within a few clicks, potential buyers will use those clicks to find some other store on the vast marketplace of the internet.
Nobody wants to lose out on customer retention and steady profits, so make sure you don’t fall into the traps explained above. Address them right away if you see signs of them. With acceptable practices and strategies, you should be able to bring your target market in.
