Owning a business may be difficult, and all business owners encounter obstacles that must be conquered in order to prosper in their sector. Whether you own a physical business and want to experiment with online sales or you're ready to dive fully into ecommerce, it's crucial to understand the ecommerce issues you may face.
The pandemic and consecutive events that lasted for over 2 years, accelerated the ecommerce adoption. Ecommerce's retail market share climbed as much in the first half of 2020 as it had in the previous five years. By 2024, global online revenues are estimated to reach $6.4 trillion. That's a massive market to possibly profit from.
Here are some of the challenges that might come your way while managing an ecommerce store –
Finding the Proper Market and Doing a Competitive Analysis
E-commerce enterprises may face greater competition than traditional retailers. In most situations, shoppers may compare a company's items to every other online offering available worldwide, rather than only those retailers or products offered in a specific town or region. A key problem of B2B e-commerce is keeping your company on your clients' radar. As a result, finding the suitable market and understanding the rivals operating in that area is critical for online retailers.
Faced with Greater Competition
You are not the only one who has noticed a significant increase in ecommerce sales. Many entrepreneurs and wannabe entrepreneurs are taking notice. Despite the fact that new stores are opening on a daily basis, there are still chances to get a competitive advantage.
Unless you're offering something absolutely unique, you're certain to have some competition. The trick is to figure out how to set your brand out from the competitors. What unique value propositions do your products provide that set them apart from the competition? Or, if your items are identical to others, how can you differentiate your brand or customer experience?
Finally, you must provide customers a reason not just to choose you above other similar offers, but also to be so pleased with the goods, brand, and experience that they both purchase again and persuade others to do the same.
Providing a Comprehensive Omnichannel Experience
According to research, shoppers are shopping more omnichannel thirsty than ever before. They may initially connect with your business on social media, then conduct pricing research on a marketplace, and lastly make a buy on your website. The key to a successful omnichannel strategy is to not only meet your customers wherever they purchase, but also to provide them with a consistent brand experience across channels.
According to recent BigCommerce and Retail Dive study, 46 percent of retail executives anticipate boosting omnichannel investment in the future, compared to their investment intentions prior to the COVID epidemic.
Marketing, Exposure, and Lead Conversion
Brick-and-mortar stores have an upper hand in catching customers’ attention. Ecommerce brands, on the other hand, might have to struggle to be noticed in the short span of time that a user is online, without spamming them. As an e-commerce firm, you will face a variety of marketing challenges.
Your marketing strategy should focus on increasing internet presence and turning leads into consumers. You should do the following to establish a successful marketing campaign:
- Determine your target market and tailor your messaging to them.
- Keep track of your leads and categorise them accordingly.
- Maintain constant contact with email subscribers.
- Create a consistent brand voice for your social media, website, and other sources.
Cybersecurity Concerns
Cyberattacks may threaten the security of your eCommerce website by infecting it with viruses, and they can also jeopardise the security of your customers' sensitive data, which can harm your brand's reputation and push them away for ever.
This scenario is one of the most crucial challenges to overcome in the eCommerce business, and it is undoubtedly one of every eCommerce owner's worst fears.
Product Refunds & Returns
Product returns provide a difficulty for eCommerce and online merchants due to the increased demand for online sales, since they are prone to worker inefficiencies and worse, refund fraud.
Return fraud occurs when a buyer purchases a high-quality goods, utilises it, but never plans to retain it. In exchange, the consumer requests that the store charge the full retail amount.
Platform Compatibility Issues
One of the biggest challenges for an ecommerce firm lies in making the brand easily accessible at every platform. Whether your customer is using a mobile application or a web browser or their PCs, the website/app should come with equal ease of use on every platform.
Magento is a platform that comes with a solution to issues like platform compatibility, cybersecurity concerns, delivering an omnichannel experience and much more. Migrating to Magento 2 is a good idea if you are looking to run an organised, hassle-free ecommerce firm.
Interested to know more? We suggest you read this blog – https://www.embitel.com/ecommerce-insights/how-magento-2-migration-provides-a-competitive-edge-to-ecommerce-stores
Lack of Physical Inspection
One big problem of eCommerce is that online buyers purchase things without first personally inspecting them.
Many firms are looking at new technologies like as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to obtain a competitive advantage over this eCommerce difficulty.
Augmented reality enables eCommerce brands to show customers what a product would look like in their real space (imagine visualising a sofa in your living room), whereas virtual reality enables showrooms, for example, to allow customers to visualise the product in a virtual setting but from the comfort of their own home.
Logistics Woes
The worldwide pandemic's state-wide lockdowns have caused a disruption in production, a temporary halt in the movement of completed goods and raw materials, and a scarcity of chips used in automobiles, game consoles, and other devices.
With the worldwide supply chain issue affecting over 169 industries, including the warehousing industry as one of the most affected, it might get overwhelming to tackle this challenge.
Customer Satisfaction
Customer loyalty is a fickle beast. Your firm may struggle if you do not have client loyalty, because obtaining a new customer is five times more expensive than maintaining an existing one. Customer loyalty stems from a seller's brand integrity and mutual trust with the customer. Because there is no face-to-face connection in an eCommerce shop, building trust and loyalty requires more time and work.
What can be the Solutions to These Challenges?
- Search engine optimization geared at your target demographic, messaging that establishes a planned conversion funnel, and powerful calls-to-action that define the user experience may all increase your website's conversion rates.
- Review client complaints and conduct customer surveys on a regular basis to evaluate your customer service. As required, update your procedures and rules to guarantee you're fulfilling client expectations.
- According to an American Express survey, 40% of consumers prefer to speak with a live person on the phone for more complicated concerns such as payment disputes. While providing automated customer care is handy, clients still prefer to speak with a human agent when dealing with complicated financial concerns because they want rapid and correct responses, as opposed to chatbots, which provide a scripted and automated response.
- Making a backup of your whole database and all your information is critical in the eCommerce industry. The usual rule of thumb is that the larger the website, the more frequently it should be backed up
- When you include all costs (including delivery fees) in the pricing of your goods, it becomes more appealing to your buyers.
- Sticking to trusted partner brands can be useful in tackling labour shortages.
- Purchase materials in bulk: Do you require poly mailers (thin plastic envelopes) or bubble wrap for your packaging? When you buy materials in bulk, you may save up to 25%!
- Make your return and refund policy clear: Make sure your clients can readily access thorough information about this in your Terms & Conditions, FAQ sites, and even your checkout page, and that the rules are clear.
- Implement a multi-language website: By providing product information in several languages, you can assist your diversified client base while also opening up your business to previously unreachable target markets.
- Target particular audience segments: Targeting specific audience segments boosts your chances of greater conversion rates and prevents you from spending time or money on consumers who aren't interested.
- Track your marketing data carefully and keep track of how effective your digital marketing strategies are. If something isn't functioning, examine it and make changes to make it better.
- Try to make the ecommerce experience as seamless as possible. Starbucks' loyalty rewards programme is an excellent example of an omnichannel strategy. While the rewards programme is largely administered via the rewards app on a participant's mobile device, users can fund their rewards account through a variety of methods, including their mobile device or using the website.
Embitel as a Magento Partner Company
Having or establishing an e-commerce store comes with the above discussed challenges. If you're wondering how to create a flawless and one-of-a-kind user experience, we've got you covered. Magento commerce includes a plethora of complex features. Working on an e-store has never been easier, whether it's updating existing material on your website or offering choices for future development. In addition to providing a personalised online experience, migrating to Magento 2 will improve your website's speed and performance.
Selected Magento Solution Partners across the world are now offering Magento accelerator solutions. Embitel’s Magento accelerator solutions, also known as Rapid Deployment Packages, are easily affordable to all sorts of enterprises.
If you are looking to partner with a reliable Magento development company for a successful ecommerce journey, drop us a mail at sales@embitel.com
Bottom Line
What is the takeaway from all that we read? Transparency is essential for developing a sustainable online business. Managing your own ecommerce firm for the first time can be a difficult endeavour, especially given the industry's numerous hurdles. Recognizing the potential problems ahead and planning for each scenario, on the other hand, will help you navigate each issue efficiently.
