Introduction
In one of our previous blogs, we talked about how you can hire the right eCommerce audit service and the questions to be asked before making the crucial decision. Through this article, we shall shed light on the eCommerce audit mistakes and how you can avoid them.
Almost every eCommerce brand is fighting for attention, and you can not afford to take your website store lightly anymore. You must pay attention to every small detail and make sure that the customers have a pleasant shopping experience irrespective of the device they are using. Even a small glitch or shortcoming on your eCommerce website can make the shoppers choose your competitors over you. And of course, you cannot afford to lose out on a customer as losing one customer translates to loss of considerable revenue.
How many times have you bounced from an eCommerce website just because of bad navigation experience or payment issues or simply because you couldn’t find the product you were looking for? Quite often, right? According to a report, 3000 bugs were found during the testing of top eCommerce sites. These bugs hampered UX and site performance, and the cost of 1 bug came up to USD 1 million in only 14 days.
To make sure that your website doesn’t end up in such a fate, we bring to you a list of the top 11 eCommerce audit mistakes to avoid.
eCommerce Audit Mistakes Eating Up Your Revenue
1. Inadequate Understanding of the Audience:
The first rule of any eCommerce business is to understand the audience and whether they need your product. Research well to get an idea of your customer’s challenges and how your product will solve them. Determine your buyer personas and formulate effective ways and channels to reach them. For example, If you are in the food and beverage industry, utilize the principles of Q-commerce. Apparel industry owners should consider the popularity of social commerce and establish their presence on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and other relevant social media channels.
Set the right price structure considering the spending capacity and preferences of your audience. There are two possibilities here. Either you end up with exorbitant manufacturing costs that are higher than the audience’s spending potential, or you have priced your products a lot less than what your prospective customers would pay. Both these scenarios can be detrimental to your eCommerce business. So, consider your audience expectations as well as your objectives before crafting your eCommerce website and marketing strategy.
2. Unsuitable eCommerce Platform:
Select the right eCommerce platform with all the necessary features for your store. If you are a small business, make sure you choose a platform that would not be too heavy on your pocket at the outset. At the same time, it should help you scale up in the long run. Check for any hidden costs and customization options. If you go for basic eCommerce platforms, they would be lacking certain necessary features. Research all the relevant eCommerce platforms. Get in touch with other store owners, read the testimonials on the eCommerce platforms, and sift through the online communities to understand how people perceive the platform. All these “behind the scenes” tasks are of utmost importance while building a successful eCommerce website.
3. Non-Responsive Website Design
Having a non-responsive eCommerce store will turn off the customers as the store will not render properly on small screen devices. To avoid this eCommerce website mistake, always create responsive stores and test their functionality across different browsers and devices. Check whether the CTA buttons like “Add to cart” or “Buy now” are available on mobile phones and tablets. Also, avoid keeping the links too close to each other so that your customers don’t click on the wrong ones. Choose the font size and spacing in such a way that the product descriptions are easily readable.
Take a look at the website version of Amazon.com to understand how a responsive website looks like. The “Add to cart” button is clearly visible and easily tappable with perfect color and button size. Even their mobile app renders beautifully on small screen devices, making it a breeze to shop on the go.
Image Source: Amazon
4. Sign-in Issues
According to a Databox survey, having to create a new user account is the #2 reason for cart abandonment.
Image Source: Databox
Allow the users to sign in through their social media accounts. Also, provide a guest checkout option so that the user can sign in even by entering limited information necessary to complete the purchase.
5. Lack of Social Proof:
Not adding customer reviews is a huge mistake and an opportunity lost. Social proof serves to build the visitor’s confidence and the brand’s authenticity. No wonder, 76% of customers confess that they are less likely to buy from a retailer without reviews. Always, include customer reviews and testimonials on your eCommerce website or individual product pages to compel the prospective customers to complete the purchase.
Here’s how Casper has used the power of customer testimonials right on their homepage.
Image Source: Casper
6. Dull Product Pages
With engaging product descriptions, attractive images, and detailed specifications, you can amp up your product pages to get maximum conversions. Include high-resolution photographs along with a 360-degree view of the product to give the customers an exact idea about it. Keep the descriptions informative but short so that customers don’t have to scroll too much on mobile devices.
Take a look at this product page to understand what a complete product page should look like.
Source: Boden
7. Poor Website Navigation
A broken layout can frustrate the customers and make them choose your competitors over you. Look for overlapping fields or any other rendering issues that can ruin the customer experience. Go for the hamburger menu and other mobile-friendly features so that your customers don’t have to struggle while navigating through your website on a mobile device.
8. Nothing New to Offer
There’s no dearth of eCommerce brands out there. So, how is your product or brand different? Do you have anything new to offer? Highlight your USP on the website to grab the visitor’s attention and stay ahead of the competition. Your products should have something unique for the visitors that would compel them to purchase from you.
9. Unavailability of Payment/Shipping Options
Offer multiple payment options like credit cards, debit cards, cash-on-delivery, and online wallets. Nowadays, there’s a huge demand for the Buy Now, Pay Later option, too. Make sure that the payment operations run smoothly without any glitches, as that’s where the real wealth lies. As far as shipping is concerned, allow the customers to “Buy Online, Pick up in-store,” “Buy online, Return in-store,” and “Reserve online, Pick up in-store.” Also, offer free shipping as people are likely to abandon their carts due to high shipping costs.
10. Security Issues
eCommerce websites involve several transactions and operations, all at the same time. They are storehouses of customers’ personal information, bank details, and card details. Even a minor security breach can lead to the loss of enormous amounts of data. What’s even worse is that customers won’t trust you in the future. Therefore, check for all the security parameters like two-factor authentication, SSL Certification, firewall, etc. Moreover, ensure that all the security features offered by your eCommerce platform are working well. If any issue is noticed, resolve it immediately.
11.Poor Integrations of Different Tools or Extensions
Suppose you have configured and installed a subscription extension or inventory management software in your eCommerce store. You must always check that these extensions are integrated well and in sync with the operations. The same applies to payment gateways, Google Analytics, and any other third-party tool you have installed on your website. A poorly integrated extension would lead to improper inventory counts, failed payments, incorrect data retrieval, and tracking issues. Hence, you must always track the API versions and implement proper API management. Failure to do so can hamper the entire digital experience for the customers.
Conclusion
Imagine it’s the Holiday season and customers are visiting your website, ready to splurge, but still not converting. The reason could be such eCommerce website audit mistakes and a lack of proper optimization strategy. So, how will you go about building the best digital experience for your eCommerce customers? The answer is in an eCommerce audit that will identify the issues for you and recommend solutions to overcome them.
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As Director - Marketing, Zenul leads the marketing and branding at Krish. He brings with him an in-depth understanding of the evolving digital ecosystem and has a proven expertise and experience in strategic planning, market and competition analysis, creating and implementing client-centered, lead-gen and brand marketing campaigns. He has a heart for technology innovation and has been a keynote speaker on various platforms.
Recommended Reading:
A Step-by-Step Guide to Perform an eCommerce Audit
4 November, 2024 An eCommerce website audit refers to a comprehensive (holistic) analysis of your online store. It helps evaluate the store’s performance from an SEO point of view. Through this exhaustive audit, you get a clear picture of all the web pages, such as the homepage, category pages, product pages, cart page, checkout page, their technical performance, and off-page SEO aspects such as backlinks. It is an elaborate process that involves several steps, such as checking and optimizing the site's content and technical aspects as well. Hence, it’s a good idea to keep an eCommerce website audit checklist handy. It will not only help you discover the shortcomings in your eCommerce store but also drive the optimization process while skyrocketing sales.
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