7 Reasons Why Your eCommerce Site Could Fail

eCommerce is booming. 

By 2021, the eCommerce revenues are projected to grow to USD 4.88 trillion. With 25% of the world’s population already shopping online, it is expected that by 2021, eCommerce will make up over 17% of the global retail sales. 

It is abundantly clear the future of retail is digital. It is no surprise that small as well as large retailers are working on devising a strong eCommerce strategy for their business.

But, running an eCommerce site has its own set of challenges. Going by the research –

• Only 2.86% of total eCommerce visits convert into a purchase 
• The shopping cart abandonment rate is 69%
• Same-day shipping matters a lot - For 54% of US consumers under age 25, it is the number one purchase driver

eCommerce shoppers place extremely high importance on user experience and overall customer experience. So, when most of the buyers head straight to the most popular eCommerce sites, how can you ensure that your site wins their heart? Well, there are several things that you can do. But in this post, let us take a look at some of the things that can make your eCommerce site fail and you must avoid at all costs- 

1. Slow Loading Page – When it comes to shopping sites, shoppers have unlimited options on their fingertips. Convenience and opportunity to shop anytime are some of the top reasons why people shop online. They want a speedy and hassle-free experience, and they don’t want to compromise that with slow loading websites. Did you know? Even a one-second delay in page load time on websites can lead to a 7% loss in conversion and 11% fewer page views. The solution here is to take necessary steps that can help increase the page load speeds. Optimizing the images, avoiding the use of heavy animations, compressing the website are some of the low hanging fruits that you can opt for increasing the page load speed of your eCommerce website. 
2. Security Loopholes – 84% of customers do not complete their online purchases from a site that seems to have security concerns. The checklist of a secure site includes having the site secured and protected by HTTPS, selecting the best eCommerce hosting service and platform, maintaining the safety and security of user information, ensuring that the site is PCI DSS compliant and keeping the website updated. While most of the steps need to be carried out at the backend, you can always display digital certificates on the site to win the trust of your customers.
3. Poorly Defined Product Categories – Category pages offer additional information about the products that are showcased on the site. Poor categorization of products makes it difficult for the users to navigate the site seamlessly and makes it hard for them to search for the right product as per their needs. Organize the products aptly, allow for intuitive navigation, and offer the visitors extra information that can help propel them towards conversion. 
4. Poor Navigation – Intuitive navigation is the mainstay of leading eCommerce websites. It provides a fantastic user experience to the customers who arrive at a site to purchase a product. Poor navigation, on the other hand, confuses the users, makes them feel frustrated, leading them to abandon the site. This problem can be overcome with the adoption of best UX design practices such as breadcrumb navigation that helps create hierarchy and reduce clutter. Another popular feature is to let the users sort the products by features and functionalities like – price, freshness, relevant, discount, etc. 
5. Lack of a Search option – A lot of customers like to jump to a product category or a product page without having to navigate their way through the site. This is where an on-site-search option is required. Lack of a search option on an eCommerce website can be detrimental, especially for medium to large sites having scores of products. Make it a point to include a search bar on your website that is easy to locate (above the fold) and use, even on devices with small screen sizes. 
6. Shoddy Product Photography – Hero images and banner images rule the roost on most of the eCommerce websites. While these do attract the visitors, when they want to compare two or more products, it is the product photography that matters the most. After all, they are not visiting a store to check the products in person. Along with making sure that the product descriptions are spot on, high-quality product photos are the winning features of eCommerce websites. Think of it this way, when visitors look at the products thoroughly and check the features that are important for them; it helps them make an informed decision. 
7. Complicated or Lengthy Checkout Page – When customers are determined to purchase products from a website, they would not like too many steps or obstacles in their way. They just want to get it done as quickly as possible. A complicated or lengthy checkout page deters them from completing the purchase and leads to shopping cart abandonment. The solution here is to eliminate unnecessary steps from the shopping cart checkout process - let them shop without registering on the site, give them access to coupon codes during checkout, offer them different payment options, display the shipping fees, have a chat option, etc. 

These are some of the main reasons why your eCommerce website might head towards failure. However, it is never too late to implement the solutions to these common issues and make sure that the site picks up steam and forges ahead towards success. For more handy tips on creating and running successful websites, keep a tab on this space!