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Top 10 Ecommerce Mistakes

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Top 10 Ecommerce Mistakes

Here is a list of the top 10 mistakes (and myths) I see ecommerce stores fall into:

  1. Thinking that driving more traffic to your website will increase sales. (There are two types of traffic in general. Knowing which one to go after is the key to increased sales. More is not always better — that is, unless the right elements are in place to maximize sales from it.)
  2. Weak site design in relation to your target market. (i.e., Do you design for your market or do you just design a site thinking that alone will sell your product?)
  3. Not marketing enough or properly. (You can’t make sales if nobody knows you exist. Marketing is critical but it must be done correctly to gain the maximum benefit.)
  4. Try to sell the wrong product online. (Think that just because you have a product it’s going to sell? Think again. Unless you’ve done your homework first, you may be surprised to find that there isn’t a market for what you’re trying to sell online.)
  5. Not testing your site to find what really works. (If you ignore your site the results will show.)
  6. Not optimizing your product pages for increased conversion. (Your product page has a single overall objective with sub roles that help meet that objective. If you don’t know what this is, you have no chance of getting users into your checkout process at all.)
  7. Inadequate site usability. (There are a number of things that can help you determine if usability is a problem and then help you improve upon this. Usability is like the Yellow Brick Road to more sales.)
  8. No comprehensive marketing plan in place. (This is one of the number one reasons most ecommerce businesses are destined for failure before they even start.)
  9. Too many obstacles to shopping. (Adhering by the KISS [Keep It Simple Stupid] principle is crucial to helping customers do their job.)
  10. Poor customer service. (Do you answer your customers’ questions before they ask them? Knowing what they expect and at what moment will improve your customer service.)

If you make even just one of these mistakes, you are likely losing sales and hurting your ability to maximize your sales.

And please know, you are not alone in these mistakes. These are the top 10 mistakes I find most often, and I work with a lot of ecommerce entrepreneurs.

This is a perfect outline of the problems Ecommerce Amplifier fixes. The six-step tutorial will solve all of these problems and if you sign up for the Premium level, I’ll even provide you with my expert website review – pointing out exactly what you’re doing right and what you can improve.

Creating Effective Email Campaigns

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Creating Effective Email Campaigns

Customer retention is your ticket to profitable sales, which I explained in this post about the 80/20 rule and the lifetime of a customer. And I also discussed some key ways to earn customer loyalty, including staying in front of your customers.

Email marketing is a great way to stay in front of your customers.

But how do you create an effective email? Start with four key elements:

  1. From name: this should be the name of your business or website because that’s who they want to interact with and it avoids any deception, which is the first way to lose customers.
  2. Subject line: make it short, sweet and intriguing to allow them to quickly understand what the email is about and entice them to open it.
  3. Email content (body): can include images and text and should follow up on the subject line, outline the offer, state the benefits to the customer and include the call to action.
  4. Call to action: ask your customer to do something. What is the end goal of your email? This is what you want to tell them to do. “Shop now,” “Learn more,” “Click for details,” “Go shopping,” “Add to cart,” etc. You have to ask (or tell) if you want them to do something. Customers like to be encouraged to take action.

These four elements are the basic components of effective customer marketing: Get Interest, Get Opened, Get the Action.

Earn Customer Loyalty

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Earn Customer Loyalty

It is said in business that customer acquisition is an investment, but profitability is built on customer retention.

In other words, it typically costs you more to sell to a new customer than it does to a current one. As a result, your profits are higher when you sell to those who have already purchased from you.

Customer retention is essential to business growth.

So how do you earn customer loyalty and retain their business? Like any successful relationship, If you want customers to be loyal to you, you must be loyal to them. Your product must deliver on its promise as advertised. Once you ensure you’re fulfilling your end of the bargain, the next step is to begin your retention campaign.

Here are some tips to help you keep your current customers coming back for more:

Provide exceptional customer service

Oftentimes, customer service can be a key differentiator for companies that sell similar products. In today’s digital age it is all too common for companies to hide behind “digital walls.” This elusive practice can lead to lost sales and decreasing customer confidence. When customers have questions or problems they want them addressed — by a real human with real answers, not just a scripted list of FAQs or automated phone system. Two ways to accomplish this are through posting customer service phone numbers on your site and considering Live Chat type systems.

Stay in front of your customers

You can’t foster customer loyalty if your customers forget you exist. You must stay in contact with them on a regular basis preferably with information that ultimately benefits them in the end (remember it is about the customer, not you). Two ways to in front of them are through email and RSS feeds. The key here is to feed them information that helps them. Promotions on products, sales, etc. All of these are effective and should be a part of your communication, but don’t neglect the need to provide them with valuable content that helps better their position. This could be showing them new ways to use your product, complimentary products that may work well with the one they already have, tips from other customers, etc.

Develop customer friendly policies

If you want to keep customers happy, you must offer flexible policies. Don’t make it hard for them to return an item, get support for current, broken, or discontinued products, etc. Be flexible and understanding of their needs and above all else, make it right for them. Put these policies in place and honor them. If you don’t, your customers will run to the competitors that do, never to return again.

Consider implementing a rewards program

Loyalty or rewards programs are a great way to foster long-term relationships and repeat sales. Rewards can be managed in just about any way you can dream up, from earning discounts on future purchases to earning products at various levels. Just make sure your internal systems can handle the route you adopt.

Just about anybody can sell on the Internet. Selling profitably and doing it for sustained durations is what separates real businesses from short run fly-by-night operations. If given the chance, I’d rather build a sustained business that lasts many years than build a business that is here today gone the next. Profitability is a key element in this equation.

Why the Best Way to Increase Sales Is With Existing Customers

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Increase Sales With Existing Customers

Building a successful ecommerce business — or any business for that matter — requires you to retain customers and foster loyalty. Profitability in ecommerce is found through customer loyalty.

In a previous article, I explained the 80/20 rule and the concept of the lifetime value of each customer.

The 80/20 rule holds that 20 percent of your current customers provide 80 percent of your business.

The key is to find out who those 20 percent are and cater to their every need.

These existing customers have a value — what they’ve already spent and what they will spend over a lifetime with you.

To increase the lifetime value of a customer — and nurture your relationship with them — it’s a good idea to develop a retention program.

Here are 3 ways you can increase your customer lifetime value with your 20 percent:

  • Personalize the customer relationship and build rapport
  • Make yourself available and answer their questions
  • Deliver a monthly email follow up to improve communication and retention

You build lifetime value by nurturing your current customer base, listening to their needs, and delivering high quality customer service among other things.

Paying careful attention to your existing customers will help you build a more profitable and sustainable ecommerce business.

 

Store Owners Beware

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store owners beware

I wanted to post a quick thought here that all store owners should consider.

Change can be good — sometimes — especially if it is meant to decreased expenses (thus directly affecting the bottom line.) However, change that has not been planned out properly or change that does not take into consideration customer needs and wants can cause trouble.

I recently worked with a store owner who thought that switching shipping companies would save them some expense over the previous shipping company (which did a great job … but had slightly higher prices.) In theory, and on paper this might have been true. However, without proper planning and without taking their current and potential customers interest into consideration, the event turned out to be a disaster … causing long time customers to leave, new customers to never return (even canceling orders), and a customer service nightmare for those working the phones.

You see, the store may have thought that looking at the sheer numbers (from a shipping rate standpoint only) that the one carrier with lower rates would have saved them money. It makes sense … if you only look at that.

But running an ecommerce business — or any business for that matter — means you must take into consideration much more than just “perceived cost”.

The customers feedback all basically said the same thing … “I’d rather pay a few dollars more to get my package on time and fast then to not get it at all or get it much later than expected.”

Considering the lifetime value of customers that will not be realized due to leaving, the new customers never returning, and the bad word that is surely to spread across the internet about them, the company has dug themselves a hole that is going to take a lot of energy to correct. Rather than saving money on shipping they ended up losing a ton of money both now and also potential future realized revenue.

So the next time you consider making changes to your shipping (or anything else to save a few bucks) operations, make sure you do your homework first, plan next, and when all the information is presented, be sure to choose the option that benefits your customers most.

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