Top 8 Mistakes when Launching an Ecommerce Platform

Poor Website Design

Online shopping is popular due to its high level of convenience. However, if your website is making it difficult to purchase, the very purpose of starting an online store gets defeated.

Poor website design will definitely have a negative impact on your revenue. From site traffic to conversions, website design mistakes can literally ruin your online business.

If the navigation style of your Ecommerce platform is not in standard format or you are showing too many items in the navigation, it will lead to higher bounce rate.

Poor navigation means visitors cannot quickly find what they need, in turn leading to lower conversions.

Non-standard navigation style often makes it difficult for visitors to browse through your site. It indicates lack of user-friendliness which can break your business.

If the look and feel of your site is not up to the mark, visitors lose interest in browsing through your store.

Missing Customer Testimonials

How will you earn your customer's trust without showing testimonials? Considered as social proof, customer testimonials facilitate word-of-mouth marketing.

Online consumers check shopping websites thoroughly before making a purchase and if they find customer testimonials are missing, it can actually deter them from placing order.

Time and again studies have shown that an online store with customer testimonials will do significantly more business than the one with no customer testimonials.

Not Offering Customer-specific Pricing

In a B2B environment, every customer has its own unique needs as far as product catalog and pricing is concerned. Every B2B customer makes a contract, according to which customers get the products at pre-negotiated pricing.

If your B2B ecommerce solution is displaying the same catalog for all B2B customers, it is one of the biggest mistakes that can ruin your business.

Ability to provide customer-specific pricing is a pre-requisite to do business with B2B customers.

Not Providing Unique B2B Payment Methods

Offering customary B2B payment options is critical to grow your B2B business. Customers often purchase in bulk, hence ask for some time to make payments.

B2B customers are not comfortable making immediate payments. They expect their suppliers to give Net 15/30/60 payment terms on all orders. This payment option allows customers to make payments within 15/30/60 days from the date of purchase.

B2B customers also expect other payment options such as Company Check, Money Order, etc., while making an online purchase. If your B2B ecommerce software is not equipped to provide these payment options, it can negatively affect your business.

B2B Ecommerce Platform doesn't have Integration Capabilities

If you want your B2B customers to use your ecommerce platform, make sure it comes with strong integration capabilities.

For instance, B2B customers often use a procurement system to keep a track of their purchases. In such circumstances, it is imperative that your ecommerce platform integrates seamlessly with their procurement application. This in turn will simplify the purchasing process and customer retention.

Your ecommerce platform not having integration capabilities will make B2B success a distant dream.

Not Offering a Good B2B Shopping Experience

It is a myth that shopping experience does not matter in a B2B environment. B2B customers expect the same kind of shopping experience that B2C customers receive.

In other words, they expect a top-notch B2C experience when making purchases from your site. From easy buying to quick response to customer queries, to fast order fulfillment, B2B online shopping experience should be satisfying.

Your Site is Not Responsive

An unresponsive site means your customers won't be able to view your store properly on various mobile devices including smartphones and tablets.

It is estimated that US mobile commerce sales will exceed $420 billion. Moreover, 35% of US consumers use only their mobile device to make online purchases.

With increasing usage of mobile devices for online shopping, not having a responsive site can be one of the biggest mistakes that can cost your business a lot in the long run.

Whether it is B2B or B2C ecommerce, having a responsive platform is critical to increase website traffic and sales.

Not Keeping Track of User Behavior

Whether you are dealing with B2C or B2B customers, it is important that you use website analytics tools such as Google Analytics to keep track of site behavior.

When running an online business, it is necessary to understand how your visitors interact with your online store. Website analytics tools provide valuable insights about the buying behaviour of visitors. This information will help in devising strategies to boost sales.

Arnaldo is content contributor wrote article on VAR business management, eCommerce, B2B business and trending topics.