Why Your Online Store Is Not Selling Well and What to do About it

The hard it is to start a business with investments, ideas, and infrastructure - The harder it is to keep the business up and running!

According to the data collected by Forbes 13,802 stores are getting closed in 2020 and the list will grow longer by the end of it. 9879 stores in 2019 and 5700 stores in 2018 were reported shut respectively.

With the growing demand for quality products and tough competition, many businesses are finding it hard to keep up in the market.

But, there is always a reason behind every success and every failure. To point out what mistakes might be committed and what solutions can be provided to those, we have created this article to shed light on the most important things that need to be kept in mind while running a business.

Whether you are a small business owner, an entrepreneur, or an eCommerce seller, we hope that the points highlighted will get you a better idea to keep your business in the competition.

Most obvious reasons why your eCommerce business is not selling well1. Unavailability of Trending Products

Your business is all about selling. Now if you are not selling what people want, then there is no way the customers are going to stop by. It applies to both, the eCommerce as well as the retail businesses.

The obsolete and not so trendy options can lead your business towards closure. There are many big brands and websites which are keeping their stock up-to-date and delivering the customers what is most trendy in the market. People are now living a lifestyle where matching the trend has become the way of their status. They now want more options, better quality, and reasonable prices.

Your lack of awareness about what people want or your reluctance to let go of the products which are not in demand could be the reason why nobody is buying from you.

2. Low Brand Awareness

Nobody is buying from you, simply because they have no idea that you exist. Despite having the most trendy and best quality products available with you, people might not be knowing that you are also an option to choose from. Spreading a word about your brand name and attracting more and more traffic to your business must be the key goal of your business.

3. Lack of Marketing

Marketing has become a common practice for every business. You can not survive if you do not market your brand, business, and products.

Letting people know who you are and what you have to offer is very important. Marketing helps to reach a large audience by sitting in one place. If you do not feel the need for it, think about the businesses that are using this method. Businesses are putting efforts into paid advertisements, high-quality content, giving compelling offers, and putting most of their time into marketing.

If your business hasn’t adopted any of the marketing methods, then there is no amusement in thinking about why nobody is buying from you.

4. Too Low or Too High Prices

When prices are too low, people tend to associate the product with being cheap or of low quality. When prices are too high, people start comparing and go for the most reasonable one.

Pricing is a very crucial factor in selling products. Not comparing with what your competitors are selling and at what price can reduce the chances of getting more customers.

5. Slow Website

If you are an eCommerce business owner, then this one is especially for you. Nobody has the time to grab the attention of the salesperson to get attended and nobody likes to wait in long queues for hours. And, that is the reason they turn to eCommerce websites to eliminate the hassle.

Now if your website gives them the same time-consuming experience, no wonder they will be likely to stay for more than a minute. A slower website can shoo your customer away and make them never visit again.

6. Lack of Commitment

If you are not delivering your promises, you are not valuing your customers. People are never going to buy from your business if there are too many errors in payment methods, delivery times, and bad quality service.

With growing competition and top class service available in the market, you are left with very little space of committing any mistakes.

7. Poor Customer Service

In selling a business, your job doesn’t end at a sale. The actual work begins after the sale in fact. Bad after-sale service is going to lead you to a quick closure.

Today people need assurance and a guarantee for what they are buying. If you don’t have good customer service policies and a team, your business is very less likely to grow and catch more customers.

Solutions on What You Can Do to Make People Buy From You1. Adding Trending products

Just add the products that are trending in your niche. Compare with your competitors what they are selling most. Taking a quick and short survey to find out what your customers want can help you identify the demand.

Google Trends is one of the great platforms where you can find out what is most trending in your industry around your region.

2. Implementing Well-Planned Marketing Strategies

Make marketing your key element towards your efforts in increasing sales. Marketing is the best and probably the only way to generate more traffic. There is more than one way to market your products and brand, namely:

Social media marketing

Social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram are a great means to reach billions of customers in one place. With more than 3.8 billion social media users, there is a huge chance of meeting your potential market.

We recommend taking high-quality product photos or hiring professional photo-editing service providers to get the most attractive product images. You can then post them over social media to catch the eyes of the customers. You can also post the offers and discounts your business is running or might be running in the near future.

Facebook Marketing and Instagram Marketing is also a great way to boost your brand awareness. The more socialized your brand becomes over such platforms, the more audience it will catch and reap the benefits.

• eCommerce websites that are on social media have an average of 32% more sales than those that don’t. (BigCommerce)

• 85% of orders from social media are generated from Facebook. (Shopify)

• According to Forbes 2018: 71% of consumers who have had a good experience with a brand on social media are likely to prefer the brand to their friends and family.

3. Improving Your SEO

Search Engine Optimization is an excellent way to make your website rank higher in the search result. As explained above, nobody might be buying from you because no one has the idea of your existence. SEO can let people know about you by bringing you to the top in search results.

When a customer searches for a product from your niche, it is required for your business name to appear on the first page of the search results. It is not only necessary for the eCommerce business but also for the retail business owners who have created their website.

Putting high-quality content and better-optimized keywords can make you rank higher and consequently make people aware of your existence.

4. Creating A Reasonable Price List

The price of your products creates a great impact on customer choices. Where low is associated with cheap, the higher price is associated with out-of-budget, setting up an accurate price could be very tricky.

A great way to determine your price is by adding at least twice the profit margin to the actual cost of the product. This way you can make sure that you are not undergoing any losses and also you are selling your product to its worth.

Looking at the price of the competitors is another considerable way to match the prices. This keeps the consistency maintained and let the other factors such as marketing and SEO put their effect.

5. Improving Website User Experience and Speed

Website speed can majorly affect your sale. User-friendly, good looking, and fast website can keep your customers engaged and encourage them to explore it further.

Keeping the layout simple and easy-to-access such as with a home tab, search bar, filter, and cart options doesn’t annoy the customers.

Hostinger is a web hosting provider that helps you in making your website loading speed better. A fast website symbolizes a professional brand.

6. Keeping the Promises and Offering the Best Customer Experience

People buy more from a trustworthy brand. Make sure that you deliver the products on a promise date and provide excellent customer service after the sale.

As per marketingchart - 85% of the global customers say that they will continue shopping from the brand they trust.

Human errors are not acceptable when people have hundreds of other options. Delaying the delivery or sending in a damaged product can break the trust of your customers. Such customers are also likely to spread the word about the tragedy of what happened to them. Hence, it is very necessary to handle such customers with care and avoid committing such mistakes first hand.

Such errors may also occur due to poor inventory management. You can read the article about how you can implement efficient inventory management in your business.

Conclusion

Approximately 80% of retail businesses and eCommerce stores fail because of the above-mentioned reasons. But, a lot can come back into the game if they work on the small but impactful changes to generate more traffic along with higher sales.

There are hundreds of factors that matter in making a business successful, but we have gathered the most important aspects that a business needs to keep in mind for expected results.

Chetan Menaria is Partnership & Collaboration Manager at PixelPhant, an eCommerce & fashion photo editing service provider. PixelPhant edit product images to make them look professional & eCommerce ready.