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7 Essential eCommerce Business Challenges That Owners Often Ignore + Easy Solutions

Shifting from the traditional brick-and-mortar business advertising to digital marketing has never been more difficult. The drastic change is undeniable, especially with the constant changes brought by the internet. The fast-paced inclusion of merchants online narrowed the possible outcomes for eBusiness into two scenarios: Excel or crumble.

Even an experienced entrepreneur might find online selling tough and complex. To prevent a small stumble from developing into a big fall, this blog will discuss the common challenges faced by the eCommerce industry and the winning solutions for each:

1. Cybersecurity

An unexpected cyber attack could cripple online transactions. Worse, crucial business files and data could be seized by hackers and scammers. Likewise, purchasing online comes with specific risks for the shoppers. When shopping online, personal info such as email addresses and credit card details are often required for a purchase to go through. According to a survey conducted by Statista, there are numerous data privacy issues that spark several concerns to many users when making online purchases.

Without a guarantee of data privacy, it is less likely that customers will buy the product nor patronize the brand

Solution: Review and Upgrade Technology

Modern problems need modern solutions, as in the case of online security. Incident response plans should be developed even before an attack happens. Conduct regular test runs of the online transactions. Prepare a backup operation system to sustain business operations even in the event of a downtime. There are other means of communication that can be used to stay connected with customers. These include the use of calls and emails to assure effective service and control the risk of losing sales.

2. Competitive Market

Competition is always present in e-Commerce since the majority of business owners market almost the same products. The race to success becomes even fiercer as more players with the desire to champion every customer have joined the world of online marketing. It is a challenge to establish identity and originality as every marketer comes up with different gimmicks and tricks to promote their products. With the ease of opening another tab and using a search bar, consumers could easily jump from one seller to the next.

Solution: Free and Speedy Shipping

The emergence of more online sellers may have tested small businesses, but quick and free delivery could easily win the credit cards of online shoppers. Highlighting customer convenience using free and speedy shipping is very effective in keeping them happy and enticing possible leads. The only downside to free delivery is how it could potentially compromise costs for labor and production. To help cut costs, some businesses reserve free delivery for shoppers who have spent a certain amount as reflected on the final checkout price.

3. Building Online Presence

It is difficult to be noticed and stand out on the internet as it is a network that connects many other businesses as well. Consumers increase on a daily basis. Thanks to the number of customers consulting search engines for product reviews and ratings, more and more items are made available through online shopping. Unfortunately, search engines are only able to display a limited number of search results per page. It is a real struggle for small firms to get noticed in bigger platforms such as Google and Bing.

Solution: Omni-channel Platform and SEO

Maximizing numerous channels for brand awareness and product marketing can help online sellers to garner more sales. Well-integrated omni-channels can enhance a shoppers experience through enabling seamless transactions; while readily available businesses on different marketing and purchasing channels deliver customer satisfaction. It makes their services accessible anytime, anywhere. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a marketing technique employed by several enterprises to enhance their online presence. Strong and quality SEO paves the way for websites to be discovered more easily on search engines.

4. Getting Customers To Buy

Every sales transaction is a marginal financial success that businesses, especially SMB’s, depend on. Making sales is a challenge for any business. It is a universal truth, regardless if the business is established online or if it is built with a physical shop. Customer visits on the business website may be pleasant but it is not deemed significant if it does not convert to sales. Clicks and views easily bring leads to numerous business websites. However, the real challenge lies in how business owners make these prospective clients stay, spend, and convert into new customers.

Solution: Creative Marketing

Paying for placement ads online and creating social media accounts for the business is a typical marketing strategy. Social media boosts online visibility and brings several  businesses as the front-of-mind for many audiences. However, digital presence is not as important as appealing content. Giving attention to website aesthetics and visual elements can engage and capture audience attention easily. Investing in high-resolution photos of the products and a user-friendly interface for digital marketing are all important factors in maintaining user interest. Offering a variety of options in the form of refund or return policy can engage the customers into buying and testing different products available. Organic web traffic is important, but the capacity to utilize that chance to convince possible customers to buy or subscribe is more meaningful.

5. Retaining Customers

A single sale no longer makes a huge difference in today’s marketing scene. Retaining existing customers and convincing them to spend on more products is a more promising sign of long-term success. Maintaining customer relations is tough and complex. There will always be the pressure of consistently meeting the ever-increasing customer demands and maintaining user-friendly transactions.  To top it all, building trust between the customer and the seller becomes more difficult since no physical interaction happens and all transactions are done virtually.

Solution: Superior Customer Service

What is a better serve than excellent customer service? Customers who had smooth transactions or recieved freebies tend to stay and advocate for the product. From extending store hours to making customer service hotlines available, these practices in customer service help create a trustworthy image for the customers. Transaction histories and information can be analyzed to determine what the customers need and entice them to come back. Repeat customers are pleased to return when presented with exclusive online offers, in-store events and personalized discounts and promotions. In fact, personalization is the key factor in making customer experience memorable and special. Every customer craves for excellent customer service and attention more than what a typical store can offer. The business should be able to keep their customers’ best interests at heart.

6. Maintaining Credibility

Customers tend to look for product reviews first before deciding to try a product or service. A few negative words mixed with fallacious claims easily discourage potential customers to buy a product, making reputation easy to build, hard to protect, and even harder to maintain. When the competition intensifies, it becomes difficult to figure out where the disparity between businesses could lead. Presently, millennials are the biggest drivers of sales. They often prefer to believe and trust user reviews online rather than what the company or business claims on their websites.

Solution: Branded Community and Forum Moderation

A natural and balanced distribution of opinions attract numerous users and make them trust the brand more. When searching for a product online, customers consider word-of-mouth as more convincing and reliable sources. A branded community provides an easy way for eCommerce businesses to build competence. Branded communities encompass feedback, advocacy, and support.  All three are the key elements for increased customer retention. Moderation experts like Chekkee are adept at attaining excellently branded online community. They apply forum and community moderation services to ensure discussions are focused on the brands and products.  More importantly, they ensure that businesses get the customers’ approval all throughout. They protect and fortify business reputation online by monitoring comments and reviews, which, in turn, help win the loyalty of potential buyers.

Learn more about Chekkee here.

7. Achieving Long-term Growth

Maintaining online presence is as difficult as creating one. Although loyal customers provide adequate sales, it will not take long for them to discover another provider that offers the same product and service. A consistent and long-term presence is difficult to sustain for SMEs (Small to Medium Enterprise) because money and consumers hardly come by. Establishing a long-running service is perhaps the trickiest to achieve amongst all the challenges of e-business enumerated in this blog.

Solution: Choose the right partners

More than an online presence, branding and deep customer relations becomes the goal in the long run. Growth, like in any other aspect, can only be optimally achieved with the presence of the right elements. Employing a partner to handle some of the activities, like accounting and marketing,  helps in managing the business more efficiently. Owners could focus more on creating business strategies and on solving current issues. Business partners could become an e-Business solution or a liability in no time. Employed partners should be trustworthy, like Chekkee.

Failing Is Good, Quitting Is Not

Failure is inevitable in the realm of e-Commerce if the cut-throat competition is met with a lack of discipline and dedication. Even the most notable business figures had to overcome a bumpy road once. Technological advancements and the internet may bring several changes, but these challenges can be championed; otherwise, the inability to adapt to changes might even cause a business its potential and breakthrough. That said, playing safe should not be an option especially to an aspiring business owner. After all, business is built through taking risks. At the end of the day, business success cannot be measured by increase in sales alone. Rather, it is measured by how every well the brand is imprinted on every customer’s mind because of a remarkable business transaction.

If you need an efficient content moderation agency, Chekkee is here to help you regulate user-generated posts and feedback on your eCommerce website. Our team offers content moderation services that suit different websites, social media platforms, and online communities.

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