5 Mistakes You Probably Made On Your Online Shopping Website For Small Business
5 types of online store pain points found that can be easily fixed!
5 types of online store pain points found that can be easily fixed!
I noticed that there are 5 types of pain points that are slowing sales! In order to help you, I’ve compiled the list so you can see if any of those areas are a pain point for you, along with recommendations/next steps.
1. PLATFORM – If your website doesn’t let you provide the functionality you want to customers, or is hard to manage without hiring your web developer all of the time then it’s likely you aren’t using SHOPIFY or you are using a LIMITING TEMPLATE.
a. RECOMMENDATION: Convert to Shopify or switch your template to something that will allow you to do all of the things you want to do for your e-commerce store.
b. SOLUTION: Look into upgrading to Shopify if you have the time and money for the simplest shopping experience and SEO performance. If you already have Shopify and don’t love your template you can upgrade it or add apps to get your website where you want it to be. Ask your local designer or get a quote from Pearl Resourcing.
2. LAYOUT – If the current organization and user experience is confusing to customers they can’t find what they are looking for quickly then they will leave your site without making a purchase OR without the largest purchase they might have if they found what they wanted.
a. RECOMMENDATION: Map out the users shopping experience to give them an opportunity to shop their favorite items and organize your other information to make searching simple. What are customers typing into GOOGLE to find your website? Are they typing in SEASONAL candy? OR is a better phrase “Christmas candy.” You know your customer so you can be the best critic of yourselves and the best one to and re-organize quickly before holiday to optimize sales.
b. POSSIBLE SOLUTION: See if you can re-organize anything confusing by yourself on your web platform ASAP before the holiday – jot it on a paper to be sure you’ve thought it out before you implement it. If you can’t do it, hire a designer. In the long run, invest in thoughtful customer experience whenever you next upgrade your site.
3. SHOPPING CART – Some shopping cart systems aren’t smooth because consumers can’t easily navigate between their cart and the main page OR when they check out there are not website suggestions to encourage customers to b
Online shopping for small business can be tricky if you’re the one making it yourself. How do you do it right?
uy more. A lot of carts aren’t enabled to allow easy follow-up on “abandoned carts.”
a. RECOMMENDATIONS: Double check to see if your customers are getting LOST in the cart and abandoning product. Check to see if your current cart can suggest to customers to buy more products. To improve things, upgrade your Shopify template and add plugins that will empower this. The best options (which will cost more) will also allow you to automize email FLOWS to customers when they abandon items (with average of 60% return shoppers) OR email them after purchase and upon delivery. This increases sales and returns customers!
b. POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS: Ask your current web developer to advise on how to improve your shopping cart based on your existing platform. What apps would they suggest and what are their pros and cons? The fastest solution that applies for THIS holiday is finding the app that works with what you have to suggest products. If your developer doesn’t offer this type of help, let us know and we can quote.
4. GRAPHICS – Old or inconsistent photos on busy backgrounds can make it hard for customers to SEE the product and understand what they are buying. If photos are not SCALED correctly to fit a website then people don’t know what you reselling. Photos of packaging that has a window but no pictures of actual product means they start to imagine the TASTE OF YOUR PACKAGING rather than the product!
a. RECOMMENDATIONS: New product photography on a WHITE background that is as large as allowed gets the best results in an initial photo. When showing fully packaged products 3D Mock-ups work wonders and allow for control of the lighting so it’s easy to read. Secondarily you can list lifestyle or more detailed photos to help customers feel enticed to imagine what they will experience why they buy.
b. POSSIBLE SOLUTION: Start small with a local photographer or hire Pearl Resourcing for larger bulk projects. Either way, share with your photographer your goals and inspect previous work to be sure your quote will help you create clickable images. If you can’t afford a professional – be sure you use the highest resolution camera/phone you have, use a plain white background and maximize the amount of light and resolution you export it in.
5. OFFERS – As a business owner focusing on a MILLION things it is easy to loose clarity about what to communicate on a website. But the result is missing an opportunity to sell your BEST products to your BEST customers with powerful offers.
a. RECOMMENDATION: Get clear on who is shopping your website, what do they want from you and how can you offer that to them in a way that is profitable for you? Take time to strategize and the benefit will be long term.
b. POSSIBLE SOLUTION: Hire an executive coach to help you get clarity on your offer, target customer, hero products and services, and a strategy for how to implement this so you increase your sales and reach your goals. Emily Page is an expert in product development and has built multiple product businesses past $1 million through to being sold: https://www.emilyannepage.com. Sign up for CONSULTING here: https://bit.ly/2B4Iebl
CONCLUSION: Your website platform must make it easy for shoppers to buy products and keep coming back! Take a look at YOUR website using these 5 points as a guide for your personal audit. Find where you need to grow and plan to make it happen.
If you identify with one of these core areas and you would like Pearl Resourcing to send you a quote, please email info@pearlresourcing.net with the category you are interested in to get a quote.
MORE ABOUT START TO SOLD
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MORE ABOUT EMILY PAGE
Emily is CEO of Pearl Resourcing and has managed and launched multiple 7-figure brands in Costco, Williams-Sonoma, Kroger, and Amazon. She’s bringing you the expertise, resources, and mentors you need so that you can develop products and make them sell.
http://instagram.com/EmilyAnnePage/
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