You get only 2 seconds to convince your visitors about your relevance. If you fail, the visitor clicks the back button and leave your site for good. Here’s how you can stop it.
We are living in a highly competitive e-commerce industry where consumers have the best tools we can think of – choices and alternatives.
Unlike the good old days, now every consumer (read potential customer) gets about a dozen of results when they search for their needs on Google. Even if you make it to the top ten bracket of leading search engines, you can’t really sit on your laurels anymore. A single mistake will eliminate your chances of making a sale. In other words, a very silly issue on your website may send a potential customer away with disappointment, which, truth be told, also hurts your brand value and loyalty at the same time. And, make no mistake- the competition is an alligator that awaits every opportunity you let go of. If you want to treat your customers with respects and ward off any potential incidents as explained above, make sure you website takes care of the following aspects from the day one it goes online.
Loading Time
Did you ever think the bounce rate your web analytics shows include people who turned away from your website because it took an awful lot of time to load or, worse, didn’t load in the first place? Loading time issues have long been talked about and they still remain a major issue for many e-commerce websites. Quite a few ambitious business owners demand their web development companies to build websites using a lot of flash, frames and heavy images that add to the loading time of a website. As a result, it creates problem for consumers accessing your website from a slow internet connection. To avoid this trouble, consider discussing the pros and cons of using the heavy images or flash on your website. Usually, your web development company should advise you the best tools and methods to decrease the loading time as much as possible and help create a pleasing experience for your potential visitors.
Competitive Pricing, Comparative Pricing
Pricing is a decisive factor for most of the consumers who buy your services online. Some websites prefer not to show their pricing on their websites – it’s a strategic failure. More often than not, your potential customers are in a buying mode every time they’re out shopping. They want to see the prices, compare them with the prevailing rates in the market and take the decision in a jiffy. Not mentioning the prices of your products can cost you a potential sale. Moreover, if you believe you have the best pricing or going rates in the industry, make sure to help your customers understand the same. If possible, show them a comparative chart and how much they save by buying your services.
Customer Reviews
When you’re putting products for sale, your potential buyers would expect you to have a client testimonial to boost their confidence. A couple of customer reviews (from current and past clients) should help your buyers believe in what you are saying. Gone are the days, when textual reviews would instil confidence in the mind of the buyers and influence them to purchase your products. Today, they want to see real buyer telling them why they should buy your products. So, you may want to request your clients for a video testimonial. This seems like a lot of work, but then it’s necessary to stack up well against the competition.
Efficient Payment Options
Seriously, nothing sucks like losing a customer from the payment threshold. If you’re an e-commerce company with the vision, you will understand the importance of having a secure, efficient and encompassing payment platform that just works. It would be downright stupid to assume your clients will come to you conversant and compatible with the only payment options available on your website. Try your best to incorporate all standard payment options and payment gateways to help your customers buy your products. You can specifically mention that you accept a variety of payment options from your customers.
Live Chat
Don’t underestimate the importance of a Live Chat tool on your website. Your customers include people who may have queries before they buy your products. However, in reality, the Live Chat is one of the most ignored aspects of running an e-commerce website. Even the absence of a Live Chat tool is far better than the one that never works for your customers. At least, be available on your Live Chat during the normal work hours. You can mention your availability alongside the Live Chat and offer an alternative option where your visitors can leave a message which you can address as soon as you’re available.
There are tools available on the Web that let you integrate your Live Chat tool with Instant Messengers so you never miss a message when you’re not around your Live Chat. Talk to your web development company regarding every minute detail and you can save yourself every lost opportunity. So, these are five silliest and most prevalent mistakes your website can’t afford to commit. Before you build an e-commerce website, sit down with your web development guy and make sure he understands and takes care of these aspects while building your website. These aspects matter a lot to your customers and unless you take care of them, there is always a whole vista of options for your customers to move on to.
