With so much competition from other small businesses, let alone the big players, it’s never been more difficult to carve out an income by running an online store. However, sometimes the site owner doesn’t help him- or herself. There are a series of common mistakes that online store owners make, and it ultimately hurts their bottom line. Sometimes these mistakes are based on doing something fundamentally incorrect, at other times they’re just oversights. Below, we take a look at a few common mistakes that crop up again and again.
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Selling Too Much
Some businesses — such as Amazon and AliExpress — have built their empires on selling everything under the sun. They have no specialty; whatever you need, it’ll likely be sold on there. If you’re a small online store owner, then you can’t go down the “selling all, and hoping to vacuum up as many buyers as possible” route. You need to specialize. It’s much better to find a niche or specific theme, and go from there. Once you have that as your core, you’ll have more freedom (for example, an eco-minded store can sell ALL things eco-related, but they need to have that theme first).
Difficulty In Paying
It’s hard enough getting people to visit your site. Then it’s difficult getting them to choose and commit to buying it. After that, though, the hard work should be done. But it isn’t — store owners very often trip themselves up at the last hurdle by making it overly complicated to check out. A customer’s patience isn’t limitless (actually, quite the opposite), so you want to do everything to ensure a smooth and painless paying process. To ensure as many people can pay for your goods, look at integrating BlueSnap into your website — it’s accepted in 180 countries across the world, essentially everywhere you’d reasonably expect to sell items. Some 75% of checkout baskets are abandoned, without a sale: that’s not a percentage you can afford to lose out on!
Lack of Trust
You know that you’re a trustworthy seller, and that you want all your customers to be happy with their user experience. But how will a new visitor to your website know that? They’ve only just turned up to your website — they don’t know anything about you. Trust is one of those things that you need to really drive home. Customer testimonials, updated security certificates, and a fair and transparent returns policy will all help.
Incorrect Pricing
As well as figuring out what you’re going to sell, you need to figure out how you’re going to price your goods. Store owners often fall into two mistakes — pricing their goods too high, or too low. Too high, and you’ll find it difficult to make any sales until you’re well established. Too low, and you’ll find it difficult to make a profit — and also, keep in mind that people are skeptical of deals that seem too good to be true.
Making any of the mistakes above? Correct them today, and get your store back on track.