If you have an ecommerce business, it’s highly important that your site performs well with search engines, social media, and email marketing. Unfortunately, there are many reasons an ecommerce site fails, which is why people often ask us: “Why do ecommerce sites fail?”
Why Do eCommerce Sites Fail?
eCommerce sites fail for the following reasons:
- Unattractive ecommerce web design
- Confusing site structure
- Poor website performance on search engines
- Low quality content on the website
- Unsecure shopping platform
- Lack of conversion optimization on the site
- Inconsistent social media marketing
- Ineffective email marketing
Let’s dive further into each one to full understand why ecommerce sites fail.
Unattractive Web Design
An ecommerce business is much different from a physical store. Customers cannot walk around your store to look at different products or pick them up to decide if they want to purchase them. With an ecommerce business, you have to show people as much as possible through the use of product photos and text. If that’s not done in an attractive way, people won’t feel compelled to purchase.
The impact of web design on content marketing for an online business is significant, so make sure your website’s design promotes your products in the best way possible.
The other thing to keep in mind is that web design trends change often. If you haven’t redesigned your website in the last two years, it’s likely time to do it. You can read more about that here:
How Often Should You Redesign Your Website
Confusing Site Structure
eCommerce website visitors should be able to find the products they want in as few as two clicks. If they have to click through to several pages before finding what they are seeking, the chances of them converting are lower.
What’s even worse is if the ecommerce website’s site structure is too confusing that people can’t find what they want. Your online store should be organized well and there should be no redirects to alternative pages as your site visitors shop.
Poor Website Performance
Speed and performance are the top most important factors in a successful online store. Website users do not want to wait for sites to load. If it doesn’t load under 2 seconds the chances of them leaving the site are higher.
In addition to page loading speed, performance matters too. This includes pages should function correctly. For instance, when you press add to cart, it should add the item to cart. Any issues like that can cause the site to suffer greatly when it comes to search engine visibility.
Google and other search engines serve their users. They want to rank websites their users will love. If your website isn’t set up in a way that impresses search engine users, Google and others won’t rank it well.
The above information means that not only can your site suffer in conversions but it can suffer in search engine visibility as well if there is a poor website experience.
Low Quality Content on the Website
It’s all about content on websites. It is HIGHLY important that product description are thorough and unique. DO NOT copy and paste product descriptions from the manufacturer’s website. Many ecommerce business owners do this and it does account for ecommerce failures.
Product categories are important in product offering as well. When your target customers are looking for a particular product, they are likely interested in similar ones. Having products in categories can help boost your sales from your customers.
Remember – people can’t see or feel your products. You have show them and make them feel the products through content – imagery and text. The more information you provide the less likely you’ll fail.
Unsecure Shopping Platform
Security means everything to online customers these days. With so many hackers steeling credit card information, it makes sense.
Whether you’re building a new ecommerce store or redesigning a current one, always keep security at the forefront of the designing of the site.
Lack of Conversion Optimization on the Site
One of the main reasons for why do ecommerce sites fail is lack of conversion optimization. When your potential customers leave the site without a sale, you need to identify why and make adjustments to increase the chances of converting new customers.
Some times on how you can do that are:
- Analyze the pages that do lead to a sale vs. the pages that don’t to identify what the differences are with them.
- Consider the target audience and your online marketing strategy. If you’re not targeting the right audience, you will have more people turn away from the site when they come to it.
- Identify how close people get to making a purchase. Do they add items to the cart and then abandon it? Do they spend a lot of time on a page and then leave the site? Do they go to several pages through the site and then leave? All of these factors can say a lot about the content, price, and how well the site leads people to a sale.
As you identify possible reasons people are not buying, make changes to the site. Assess any increases and decreases due to the changes, and then move on to try to increase conversions again.
Inconsistent Social Media Marketing
Your business plan should include social media marketing. Ecommerce companies and ecommerce startups that wonder why do ecommerce sites fail often don’t have a social media marketing campaign.
With billions of people using social media every day, it’s likely your customer base is there. Online retailers need to take advantage of that by building an online presence on social media networks.
The challenge isn’t starting social media marketing, though. It’s remaining consistent with it. Online retailers must be active on social media nearly every day. Many people shop on social media, so even if your ecommerce store is on your website, you can promote it on social media to funnel those users to your site.
The more work you put into social media, the more success you’ll have. Always remember that social media is “social”. Don’t sell too hard, but instead, go to where your target consumers are and help them by getting to know them. The sales will come from your socialization on those networks with your potential customers.
Ineffective Email Marketing
It’s a good idea to use every opportunity on your website to catch potential and new customer’s email addresses. It’s a great way to bring people back to the site for a first time or repeat purchase.
Just capturing email addresses isn’t enough, though. You must also have an ineffective email marketing campaign. This includes serving your target customers what they want in email.
A few options include:
- Reminding people if they have left items in their shopping cart with a link to the shopping cart to complete the purchase.
- Sending new customers a discount to use towards another purchase works well.
- Sending product photos of new items each week or month depending on how often you have new ones.
- Promoting online sales to get more people to purchase or make a repeat purchase.
- Remind customers when it may be time to purchase again or having a subscription service.
With so many opportunities for online shopping these days, your business has to stand out. That’s why you always have to provide excellent customer service and meet your target customer’s needs through every avenue possible.
Why Do Ecommerce Sites Fail?
A new business is risky in and of itself. Even with the best business model and business plan, many ecommerce startups fail. With the above recommendations, you can put your ecommerce company ahead of the rest to decrease your chances of ecommerce failures.
How Atiba Can Help Your Ecommerce Business
Atiba is your answer to all your tech services needs. We can take care of everything having to do with your existing or new ecommerce store from web design and development to maintenance. We have a team of experts in online search visibility, social media and email marketing.
If you’re worried about why ecommerce sites fail, turn to us for guidance on anything that has to do with your online marketing. We can help you navigate the challenge to put you in the best position to succeed.