E-commerce as we know it is still relatively new, with the first online retail transaction in the UK being famously made in 1994 to order a pizza! In America, it is speculated that the first transaction made online was an illegal substance; however, that can never be confirmed!
Now in the 21st Century, it is easy to get hold of pretty much anything online, which is both an incredible and somewhat unbelievable notion. That being said, what might not be so often spoken about are the problems that e-commerce businesses can face.
This piece will discuss some of the difficulties that come with running an e-commerce business.
Not Conducting A Competitor Analysis
Competitor analysis is crucial when it comes to businesses, especially in a day and age where businesses are relatively easy to set up – especially online. Because of this, businesses must analyze other company’s strategies to do something different to separate and stand out from them. Use the information gathered by the competitor analysis to devise a strategy that will help your business shine brighter.
Make sure to utilize social media, blogs, and promotional offers to draw in customers and show them why they should choose you over everyone else in the industry. Find out what items are in demand, which are outdated, and go above and beyond to provide what customers want.
Account Suspension
One of the downsides of e-commerce is that it does not take much for a misunderstanding or a breach of contract, which can then result in an account suspension. This is especially true for large dominating e-commerce companies such as Amazon, which many businesses sell through. Amazon has a strong reputation to uphold, so there is little leeway when it comes to those who receive a certain amount of customer complaints, late shipment complaints, negative feedback on items, and policy violations to name a few. If an e-commerce business selling through Amazon experience these, they could have their account suspended, which could halt or even undo years of work!
If this happens, it isn’t the final say. Some companies deal with businesses that have found their Amazon account suspended, offering a professional appeal service that can get your Amazon account reinstated.
Not Delivering Great Omnichannel Customer Service
Customer service used to be relatively simple when owners and employees only had to man one website. The main customer service points were an email form or a telephone number for e-commerce. Now it is very much a different story, with customer service having to be offered from all different channels of a business such as social media, live chat, video calls, and even in-app messaging to appease customers. If your business doesn’t offer multiple contact platforms, it is highly likely it will get left behind.
The first step is to identify the key channels that will suit your business and reach your target demographic the most efficiently, the second is to make sure all employees are briefed on the same ethos and style of customer service for a continuous brand experience.
