You have a product idea you want to sell. You’ve figured out how to get it produced and launch your eCommerce store! Many young entrepreneurs take this path nowadays, and it’s never been easier to set up an eCommerce store, list products, and start selling!
But there is so much more to running an online store than having your products and website. To ensure you avoid these mistakes, we will discuss which errors we see most often and how to avoid them.
1. Not Having a Plan
As a new business, you need to set goals and have a plan as to how you are going to reach those goals. You need to clearly understand your products and how you will organise different aspects of your business.
We recommend having stages of your business. Once you have reached specific goals, that stage is complete, and you need to prepare for the next phase of growth and goals. Having a strategy is crucial. You can’t just wing this!
2. Not Knowing Your Target Audience
A common mistake is not knowing who your target audience is. You need to know who you’re selling to and what they like. If you don’t know who you’re selling to and what they like, how can you create content that appeals to them? You need to know who will buy from your store before investing in your marketing and advertising strategy for that strategy to be effective.
3. Your eCommerce Site Is Not Optimised
We see this a lot with new websites; their meta descriptions are missing, they don’t have good titles, images are too big, and slow site speeds and product descriptions are terrible.
Hiring someone to come in and develop an SEO strategy for your site will be vital to ensuring your website is entirely up to scraps with your competitors. But having some of the basics done will be a good start for new businesses who don’t quite have the budget for SEO. Mammoth has an industry leader we can connect you with if this is an area you need support with!
4. Failure to Provide a Great User Experience
Don’t make your website over-complicated. People have very short attention spans, so make sure your website is clean and easy to navigate.
5. Bad Customer Service
We know being a new business owner means you may be spread thin. But ensuring you answer all customer service enquiries promptly is essential. This is not just via email but on any social media platforms, you use.
Remember, how you speak to your customer will affect your brand’s reputation, so have patience and understanding, but don’t let people walk all over you!
6. No Customer Loyalty
When you’re a new business, money may be slightly tight, and thus you do not want to give any promotions. But promotions do two things:
- Push new customers into trying your products
- Help maintain past customers
Having sales, you publicise on your social media and email list will help obtain new customers and increase your returning customer revenue.
Another strategy eCommerce companies should use to offer a discount for first-time buyers in exchange for their email. This will help grow your email list and push new customers into making their first purchase!
7. Not Having A Social Media Strategy
You need to get your products in front of people. As a new company, we suggest starting with social media. As visual platforms, you can show your product differently and demonstrate who you are as a brand and how you are different from your competitors!
Social media ads are also cheaper than Google and give the scope to create different target audiences, thus getting your products in front of new customers!
If you are an eCommerce business that is thinking about running social media ads or already have ads running that just aren’t working, contact Mammoth today and schedule a 15 min chat where we can discuss your business and how we may be able to help!