Why Your Online Shop Isn’t Working And How To Fix It

Photo Credit

Initially, it started as a hobby. You sold a few items online and had some success. Your friends and family liked your products and placed a few orders. Word got around. Encouraged by this you took it to the next level and set up an online shop, and orders began trickling in.

However, it never really took off as you expected. You don’t receive as many orders as projected and you’ve had some problems with delivery. A couple of negative reviews have made things worse. What’s gone wrong and how do you fix it?

1. Review

Take a step back to review and reassess. Go through the sales process at each point and try to understand where things are going wrong. A good place to start is with your current customers. Ask them for some honest feedback about your product, the online shop, delivery, etc. There are lots of online survey tools you can use for this. Offer an incentive, such as entry into a prize draw to encourage customers to take part. When compiling questions, use some of the suggestions below to receive meaningful feedback.

2. Your Product

Regarding your product, ask yourself the following questions:

  • Is this a quality product?
  • Is there sufficient demand for your product?
  • Are other people selling it?
  • Is the pricing right?
  • Are you targeting the right customer base?
  • How are customers using your product and does this affect how it is marketed?
  • Is the packaging consistent with the product and relevant?

Presumably, you went through a process of market research before you began. If not, you should go through this process now.

3. Delivery

One common reason customers give for abandoning their shopping carts, is delivery. Either postage and packaging costs are too high, or the order cannot be fulfilled on time. We live in an environment where orders can be delivered quickly and efficiently. If you’re not able to fulfill these requirements, it might be time to consider an outsourced fulfillment center. Your products will be packaged and delivered professionally and in a timely manner. This will free you up to work on other areas of your business, such as marketing, etc.

Photo Credit

4. Your Website Isn’t Responsive

Gone are the days where customers placed orders solely from their desktop. They now expect to be able to place orders at any time on a range of devices. If your website doesn’t perform well when viewed on a tablet or mobile device, you could be losing a large percentage of your customers. You don’t have to invest in fancy apps. You just need to ensure your website is responsive. This means that it is optimized for different viewing sizes and will perform well regardless of the device.

When writing your website brief, you should specify that the site meets Google’s Mobile Friendly requirements. You may also have heard about AMP, which stands for Accelerated Mobile Pages. This is likely to become increasingly important, in terms of how your website ranks in the search engines. Essentially AMP is a streamlined version of the code used to create your website. It focuses on readability and speed. Expect to hear more about this over the coming months.

5. Your Design Isn’t User-Friendly

When you launched, a friend developed your website for you. And that was great because it saved you a lot of money. However, unless they are a digital expert, they are unlikely to be familiar with everything that goes into web design and development. For example, user journey, intuitive processes, SEO, user-friendly controls, page load times, etc. If your website is confusing or difficult to use, customers are likely to click away in frustration and shop with a competitor. A good way to check this is to set up a funnel in Google Analytics and work out where users are leaving the process.

Photo Credit

6. Your Photos Are Not Up To Scratch

Presentation is everything. If your product photographs are not up to scratch, they are less likely to sell. When a customer can’t see or pick up a product in real life, they rely solely on the product images. So, a few quick pics on your mobile phone won’t cut it. If the photographs are not professional, customers may deduce that the products and service are not professional. Either set up a small studio and learn how to take the images yourself, or outsource to a professional.

When arranging photo shoots, consider the following:

  • As well as cut-out images, would it be beneficial to show the products being used? This is important for items such as clothing, etc. as it provides context.
  • Can the customer see all angles of the product?
  • If the product is available in different colors, each color should be shown.
  • Video is also useful to demonstrate products further, in terms of how they work or behave, etc.

7. Your Marketing Isn’t Up To Scratch

If your problem is getting customers to your website, you need to review your marketing. Do you have a comprehensive marketing strategy in place, that includes everything from mailouts to mobile marketing? If you haven’t, it’s likely that potential customers are not even aware of your existence. You need to put together a comprehensive marketing plan that will address your core customer base and establish meaningful targets.

A good marketing plan should look at all aspects of marketing, including traditional offline channels and a comprehensive digital marketing strategy. Each of your objectives should be specific, measurable and timebound. A marketing plan isn’t something that you go to great pains to write and then leave in a drawer. It is an ongoing entity and should be the focus of your marketing activities. ‘Doing a bit of Twitter and Facebook’ just won’t cut it, and your business is unlikely to achieve growth. If you feel that this is not something you can comfortably achieve yourself, you should look for an expert to help you. They will work with you to establish and execute a comprehensive plan of action. Each step should be monitored and measured carefully. This will provide you with useful data for future campaigns and will identify areas for improvement.

There are many reasons why your online shop may be failing. The above are just a few. That’s why it is important to begin this process by performing a review and working out exactly what is going wrong. You can then take the necessary steps to turn it around.

0 Responses to “Why Your Online Shop Isn’t Working And How To Fix It”


  • No Comments

Leave a Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *