The establishment of an e-commerce site may seem like a good idea but it’s not so easy to attract new customers and sell them your products. Indeed, 80% of entrepreneurs starting an e-commerce site fail within the first 18 months.What are the reasons for this colossal failure rate?
Although each business is unique, we can find common reasons for these failures. Understanding these factors should help you defy the statistics and make your e-commerce a success.
Poor planning and forecasting
Good planning and market research are preconditions to build your e-commerce site. You should consider these factors and know if there really is a demand for your products online, what the figures from your competitors are, will your site be profitable and afterwards, for how long, etc …
Lack of differentiation
Most online retailers do not really present demarcation on their market; these businesses have a natural tendency to imitate their competitors. A tip: do not start in a market because everyone pitches in. Instead, define what makes your site unique.
Wanting to sell everything to everyone
Do not try to sell too many products initially, be honest with yourself and determine if you can afford to spend time managing the procurement, inventory, sales and after sales service of your products. The goal is to succeed in providing a great pay-for-value and an impeccable customer service.
Poor user experience
User experience must now be placed at the center of concerns for e-commerce sites and it must go through 4 components of the UX design:
- emotional (graphic communication)
- technical (performance and speed)
- statistics (analysis)
- ergonomic (User Interface)
Lack of quality content
The lack of content can have a very negative impact on your sales. In addition to its impact on the ranking of your site, your content (product sheets, blog articles, guides, descriptions …) should encourage prospects for consumption on your site. User comments and feedbacks(positive and even negative!) for example, could help you to gain prospect’s trust.