{"id":373,"date":"2016-11-09T09:59:42","date_gmt":"2016-11-09T17:59:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.agiliron.com\/blog\/?p=373"},"modified":"2025-11-25T04:04:05","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T12:04:05","slug":"e-commerce-no-nos-seven-common-e-commerce-mistakes-to-avoid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.agiliron.com\/blog\/e-commerce-no-nos-seven-common-e-commerce-mistakes-to-avoid\/","title":{"rendered":"E-commerce No-No\u2019s: Seven Common E-commerce Mistakes to Avoid"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.agiliron.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/October-Post-2-1.png\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-370\" src=\"https:\/\/www.agiliron.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/October-Post-2-1.png\" alt=\"october-post-2\" width=\"675\" height=\"372\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.agiliron.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/October-Post-2-1.png 675w, https:\/\/www.agiliron.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/October-Post-2-1-300x165.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/a><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many first-time e-commerce entrepreneurs struggle to turn a profit. In fact, even the most well-intentioned business owners <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shopify.com\/in\/blog\/business-mistakes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">stumble out of the gate<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But, why?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is an inherent voice in each of our brains saying, \u201cIf I have something valuable to sell, someone will buy.\u201d It sounds farfetched, but it is a fundamental bias of most business owners. For the aforementioned statement to be true, potential customers must (at the very least):<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Value whatever you\u2019re selling<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Be able to easily find your product<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Choose to purchase from you over a competitor<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the business owner, you have the most control over the second and third bullet points. Ideally, you wouldn\u2019t be in business without first validating the need for your product. So, this post will focus on points two and three.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Launching an online storefront gives you the ability to sell products; it does NOT mean that you <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">will<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> sell products. If you want your potential customers to be able to discover and purchase your products, you need to avoid the most common \u201cbeginner\u201d mistakes. So, we\u2019ve put together a list of several common e-commerce mistakes to avoid when launching your first storefront.<\/span><\/p>\n<div style=\"background: #fffb90; border: 1px solid #fffb90; padding: 15px 15px; margin: 0 0 20px 0; font-size: 18px;\"><strong>Exclusive Bonus:<\/strong> <a class=\"manual-optin-trigger\" href=\"#\" data-optin-slug=\"h24rtz8duycs0npi\">Download the FREE Cheat Sheet<\/a> that includes a 7-step checklist to scale your e-commerce business quickly<\/div>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Seven common e-commerce mistakes to avoid when launching your first online storefront<\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1) Choosing a platform that won\u2019t scale with your business<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Setting up an online storefront is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, an ever-growing number of platforms have made it easier than ever to sell products online. On the other hand, choosing a platform can be a burdening task in and of itself.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First things first. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consider what you actually <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">need<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in a platform. Not just today, but three, six, 12 and even 24 months from now. Write down exactly which functionality your storefront will require. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You want to consider things such as ease of use, out-of-the-box features, pricing, add-ons, scalability and so on.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Migrating platforms can often be a pain, especially for inexperienced owners. So, you\u2019ll want to choose a platform that has the power and flexibility to grow along with your business. <\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2) Underestimating the importance of design<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How well or poorly your site is designed directly impacts your bottom line. If your customers cannot easily find what it is you\u2019re selling, they will NOT buy. Yet, time and time again, first-time e-commerce sellers overlook the importance of design.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consider this:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A poorly designed storefront directly affects your conversion rate (how often a visitor makes a purchase). What\u2019s more, a poor user experience can negatively impact organic search rankings (whether or not potential customers can find your storefront in search engines). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In fact, a <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/backlinko.com\/search-engine-ranking\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2016 study<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> conducted by the industry\u2019s top SEO companies found \u201cwebsites with low average bounce rates are strongly correlated with higher rankings.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, yes, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">how<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> your site is designed is just as important as <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">what<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> you\u2019re selling.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some of the <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.awwwards.com\/the-most-important-parts-of-ux-for-ecommerce.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">most important design elements<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> you need to consider include: navigation, product search, checkout, post-purchase and customer support, among others.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do NOT sacrifice design.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3) Not understanding how to optimize product pages for search<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are a number of on-page factors that can influence how a search engine indexes each of your product pages. You\u2019re doing yourself a grave injustice if you fail to optimize each of those pages accordingly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For starters, do NOT repeat a keyword over and over again on any given product page (a practice commonly referred to as \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bigcommerce.com\/glossary\/keyword-stuffing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">keyword stuffing<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d). Google frowns upon this activity. In fact, keyword stuffing can get your site removed from Google\u2019s search listings.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What\u2019s more, you should understand (at least directionally) the search demand for products that you\u2019re selling. Otherwise, you may waste valuable time and resources promoting the wrong products or optimizing the wrong pages. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Still, there is more to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/neilpatel.com\/blog\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">on-page optimization<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> than just keywords. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For instance, page URLs, product descriptions (more on this in a minute), title tags, heading tags and alt tags all play a significant role in determining how search engines interpret the content on a particular page.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Understanding (and properly implementing) the <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/backlinko.com\/ecommerce-seo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">basics<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> gives you a leg up on the competition.<\/span><\/p>\n<div style=\"background: #fffb90; border: 1px solid #fffb90; padding: 15px 15px; margin: 0 0 20px 0; font-size: 18px;\"><strong>Exclusive Bonus:<\/strong> <a class=\"manual-optin-trigger\" href=\"#\" data-optin-slug=\"h24rtz8duycs0npi\">Download the FREE Cheat Sheet<\/a> that includes a 7-step checklist to scale your e-commerce business quickly<\/div>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4) Using product descriptions supplied by the manufacturer<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Adding manufacturer product descriptions to your product pages is one of the fastest ways to ensure your site is filtered by search engines. This is the exact opposite of what you want.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In other words:<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Write <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shopify.com\/blog\/8211159-9-simple-ways-to-write-product-descriptions-that-sell\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">custom<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> product descriptions<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for each and every product on your site. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s the thing:<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A manufacturer will often distribute \u201cstock\u201d product descriptions to each online store who sells its product(s). Predictably, resellers often upload those product descriptions to their respective product pages. In such a scenario, Google could easily penalize each site, citing duplicate content issues. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If your storefront sells hundreds or even thousands of products, writing custom descriptions for each product can seem a bit overwhelming. Consider tackling product descriptions in batches while tagging product pages you haven\u2019t gotten to just yet. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Manufacturer product descriptions are often poorly written anyway; they aren\u2019t designed to persuade someone to <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">buy<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One last thing on product descriptions:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recovering from a Google penalty is not a cheap undertaking\u2014both in time and dollars. If your site is penalized by Google for duplicate or thin content issues, you are almost assuredly fighting an uphill battle that will cost you more time and money than you can imagine. <\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">5) \u00a0Not fighting back against rising cart abandonment rates<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The average shopping cart abandonment rate currently sits at <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/baymard.com\/lists\/cart-abandonment-rate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">68% percent<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. That means that only one in every four customers actually goes through with a purchase. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Customers abandon online shopping carts for a variety of reasons, including unexpected shipping costs, confusing checkout processes or payment security concerns. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whatever the reason, cart abandonment costs you money. Thankfully, you can combat shopping cart abandonment using a number of <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.wordstream.com\/blog\/ws\/2016\/03\/17\/shopping-cart-abandonment\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">proven tactics<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Remarketing, however, is one of the best options.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You absolutely must remarket to customers who have abandoned their carts. Otherwise, you\u2019re betting on the fact that customers will convert on their first visit. And that\u2019s not a good bet.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you aren\u2019t remarketing (often called retargeting), you need to start now.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Remarketing is one of the most powerful tactics available for anyone who sells products online. In a nutshell, remarketing means presenting relevant ads to customers who have added items to their shopping cart, but have yet to make a purchase. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.optimonk.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One online store<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> has been able to reduce cart abandonment by as much as 17% using on-site retargeting.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unfortunately, you will never stop abandonment entirely. If you are proactive, however, you can take tangible steps to reduce your cart abandonment rate and increase revenue. <\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">6) \u00a0Failing to provide more than one shipping option (or free shipping)<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Almost <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/intersectretail.com\/insight\/why-do-so-many-customers-abandon-their-online-shopping-carts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">one-third of shoppers will abandon a shopping cart if there is an unexpected shipping cost<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. There\u2019s no way around it; shipping is a critical piece of the e-commerce puzzle.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thanks to Amazon (Prime and Prime NOW), fast, free shipping has become the standard. While you may not be Amazon, your customer expects the same result. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s the good news:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Free shipping can actually <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/pulse\/benefits-providing-free-shipping-your-ecommerce-store-i95dev-?trkSplashRedir=true&amp;forceNoSplash=true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">boost your bottom line<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Free shipping puts customers in a better mood, leading to increased order values (they buy more stuff). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And the bad news:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Free shipping eats into your profit margins, impacting your bottom line. Fortunately, you make the decisions for your business. So, consider your margins and evaluate whether or not free shipping is doable for your business.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the very least, you need to provide more than one shipping option. <\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">7) \u00a0Displaying review counts when you don\u2019t yet have any<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People tend to trust other people, this much we know. Ratings, reviews and recommendations consistently rank as one of the most important factors when an individual is deciding whether or not to make a purchase. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is especially true online. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More importantly, positive reviews can often lead to a direct increase in conversions. Therefore, it\u2019s in your best interest to solicit honest reviews from satisfied customers. Not only do positive reviews boost conversions, but they can also be considered a marketing asset which you can re-use for a number of different marketing purposes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, what happens if don\u2019t have any reviews yet?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re just starting out, consider holding off on adding reviews to your product pages until you actually have <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">real<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> reviews to display. And not just one review. You\u2019ll want a handful of reviews for each product before you begin displaying review counts. If not, your product pages can act as a STOP sign for potential buyers. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That\u2019s not what you want.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To recap: <\/span><\/h2>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Launching an e-commerce store for the first time can be overwhelming; it can also be a highly successful, profitable business venture.<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, there are no guarantees.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In order to set yourself up for the best chance at success, you must master the basics:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<h5><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Choose a platform that will allow you to scale your business.<\/span><\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<h5><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ensure your site is designed to convert (do NOT skimp on design).<\/span><\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<h5><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Understand how (and when) to optimize product pages for search.<\/span><\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<h5><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Always, always create unique content (do NOT use manufacturer content).<\/span><\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<h5><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Implement a retargeting strategy as soon as you launch (address cart abandonment).<\/span><\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<h5><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Provide more than one shipping option (or offer free shipping).<\/span><\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<h5><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wait until you actually have reviews before displaying on product pages.<\/span><\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You\u2019ll likely make a number of mistakes in your journey (only a few of which are listed in this post). Running an e-commerce business is just like running any other business \u2026 you must take an active role.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you can avoid a few of the beginner mistakes, you\u2019ll be well on your way to a profitable venture.<\/span><\/p>\n<div style=\"background: #fffb90; border: 1px solid #fffb90; padding: 15px 15px; margin: 0 0 20px 0; font-size: 18px;\"><strong>Exclusive Bonus:<\/strong> <a class=\"manual-optin-trigger\" href=\"#\" data-optin-slug=\"h24rtz8duycs0npi\">Download the FREE Cheat Sheet<\/a> that includes a 7-step checklist to scale your e-commerce business quickly<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many first-time e-commerce entrepreneurs struggle to turn a profit. In fact, even the most well-intentioned business owners stumble out of the gate. But, why? There is an inherent voice in each of our brains saying, \u201cIf I have something valuable to sell, someone will buy.\u201d It sounds farfetched, but it is a fundamental bias of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":370,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[36,51,50,53,52,17],"class_list":["post-373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ecommerce","tag-business-management","tag-ecommerce-business","tag-ecommerce-mistakes","tag-online","tag-retail","tag-sales-strategy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.agiliron.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.agiliron.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.agiliron.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.agiliron.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.agiliron.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.agiliron.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.agiliron.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.agiliron.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.agiliron.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.agiliron.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}