3 potential issues with your ecommerce site that could sink its chances
Sometimes, it’s not overly complicated things that deter prospective shoppers from actually hitting the ‘buy now’ link on an e-tail site. Often, it can be remarkably simple things, the overriding problem possibly being that the online business owner in question hasn’t properly thought about how to cater to the customer’s needs first.
Then, there are the mistakes or oversights that can arise as a result of poor collaboration between designers, developers and those producing the content for your online store.
So, let’s spotlight just three broad issues that commonly arise with ecommerce sites – and how to fix or avoid them altogether.
The design being beautiful, but unpleasant to use
You might think that putting together an e-tail portal is largely about the aesthetic, and it is. But too many online stores are beautiful in ways that do little or nothing for the user experience, or might even be detrimental to that user experience.
No matter how breathtaking your online store may be at first glance, if the would-be shopper struggles to find the product they want, or information that helps them select the item best-suited to their needs, this will have a disastrous effect on your site’s conversions.
The simple solution here is to never treat your site’s outward appearance as more important than its function. This needs to be key to your approach at every stage of the design and development process.
The checkout stage putting up too many barriers
It might seem a straightforward enough process to set up a good checkout process on your site – you just need to make it as quick and easy for the shopper as possible, right?
Alas, there’s a real art to an online store getting its checkout process right, and too many online retail firms are still thinking in terms of the checkout pages of 10 or so years ago. They wrongly think that as long as the packaging and delivery costs displayed at the checkout stage aren’t too heavy, there won’t be much to deter the shopper from completing their purchase.
But in reality, there’s more to think about these days. Is the list of accepted payment methods, for example, as in-depth as it ought to be in the 2020s, when people don’t always want to use a debit or credit card? Embracing the latest buy-now-pay-later and e-wallet solutions can go a long way to getting that sale over the line with as many customers as possible.
Or perhaps you’re overwhelming the shopper at this crucial late stage, by asking for too much information, including details that aren’t needed in order to complete the purchase? Even just autofill and autocomplete being disabled can be very frustrating for those trying to buy on mobile. They might even simply give up.
Pages loading too slowly
It may be an ecommerce site problem that’s as old as the hills, but it’s one that still frequently gets overlooked at the time many online stores are launched.
There has long been plenty of data indicating how damaging slow page loading times can be for a site’s chances. The BBC conducted research in 2016, for instance, that indicated each additional second it took a page to load cost it 10% of visitors.
So, you can be sure that investing in making your ecommerce site lightning-quick will be rewarded when it comes to traffic, sales and your business’s bottom line.
You don’t have to cut corners with your own firm’s website design, when you have the option of working with capable and seasoned professionals like those of Piranha Designs. Call or email us in Gibraltar, London, Edinburgh or Spain for a discussion of the solutions we can provide to support your business’s growth.
