Ecommerce Strategy: Debunking 5 Myths About Online Shopping
Over the past decade, access to mobile devices and the Internet have continued to increase, becoming a part of our everyday lives. Any ecommerce developer knows that online security is a top concern for businesses, more and more consumers are becoming comfortable with purchasing things online. With the rise of ecommerce businesses came a lot of false information.
There are currently a lot of myths being circulated about starting and maintaining an ecommerce business. In order to solidify and improve your ecommerce strategy, you need to distinguish fact from fiction. Here are five of the most important ecommerce myths you should know.
eCommerce myth #1: revenue is the only metric that matters
When you are assessing the success of your ecommerce strategy, many factors come into play. While revenue is a very important metric for any business, it’s certainly not the only one. There are other web metrics that provide a better picture of where your ecommerce strategy is positioned within your industry, as well as in the minds of current and potential customers, including:
Conversion rates and average margins
Bounce rates and cart abandonment rates
Number of new users, overall site traffic, and sources of traffic
Time customers spend on a site
Advertising click rates and pay-per-click traffic rates
Amount of email, newsletter, blog, and social media followers or subscribers
Quantity and quality of product reviews
If you don’t weigh these metrics in tandem with your revenue, you could be ignoring the fact that your website is badly designed, or that you aren’t providing engaging content that captivates prospective customers. Consult an ecommerce developer if you need more assistance with your strategy.
Ecommerce myth #2: customers don't care about an omni-channel experience
Modern online shoppers are a savvy bunch. Now that customers are getting accustomed to real-time information on their mobile devices, they expect a seamless and uninterrupted experience with every brand they encounter. It doesn’t matter what application they have open. With the application programming interface (API) technologies that are available at very reasonable rates, there is no longer an excuse to not have your ecommerce strategy include communications consistent across applications and software interfaces.
eCommerce myth #3: eCommerce customers are only interested in low prices
Finding a good deal is important to all of us when we’re shopping online, but what matters most to ecommerce customers is how easy and secure it is to buy something. They also care about a business’ history with its previous customers. Customers also want to easily browse through products that are relevant to their needs or interests.
The back-end of your ecommerce site is as important, if not more important, to a good ecommerce strategy than the front-end of your ecommerce site. If customers can’t securely and efficiently browse and purchase items, it doesn’t matter how many graphics and images your home page has. In fact, if your site has a ton of bells and whistles, its loading time is probably a lot slower, which will frustrate potential customers that attempt to browse the site.
eCommerce myth #4: no one cares about customer service anymore
It’s important to remember that you’re only in business because you have customers. It doesn’t matter whether you are physically handing them their purchases or not; they need to know you care about their experiences with your brand. Quality online customer service should be a major factor in your ecommerce strategy.
If a customer can buy something quickly from your site, they should also be able to quickly reach you with any concerns they have. With the sharing capabilities of social media and email, you don’t want to leave a customer with a concern for too long. They will share their experiences with others, and may even publish a negative review online for many to see.
eCommerce myth #5: Going global is only possible for large, multinational brands
The greatest thing about owning a business on the Internet is that you can easily find customers who are interested in your product, no matter where they are in the world. If your competitors are offering international shipping options, you should too, no matter the size of your business. Build international traffic to your ecommerce site if you haven’t already and see if there is interest in your product abroad. Find an international shipping fulfillment center and track packages.
Customers typically expect to pay more for shipping with items that are being shipped overseas. Do your homework to see if there is a viable opportunity for your business to ship overseas and prepare for what you’ll need. It’s never been as easy to include international businesses in your ecommerce strategy as it is now.
