Top eCommerce mistakes to avoid

With a number of avid shoppers in the office (the DPD driver knows us all by name!), we’ve rounded up our key ecommerce grievances, set to send a customer running to your competitor:

Look and feel

First and foremost, the look and feel of your website should reflect the product you’re selling – if you’re selling high-end, premium products, your site needs to match.

Not having an SSL certificate

SSL certificates are the easiest way to provide assurance to your customers that you’re a valid retail provider and that any data provided, or payments taken are 100% secure - without one, customers will be wary of your site and highly likely to shop elsewhere.

Product pagination

Don’t be scared of listing multiple products and splitting these across pages – this will help with SEO and google ranking and remember, if a customer is looking for something in particular, they’ll be willing to browse or search for it.

Not having a search function

Unless you’re only selling a handful of products, include an easy to use search box which autocompletes as you type with suggestions to make it as easy and quick as possible.

Slow website

People are impatient; if the content doesn’t load quickly then prospective shoppers will leave and purchase items from somewhere else. A well written (from a behind the scenes / technology perspective) site will run quickly and keep customers happy.

Not having a ‘Save to favourites/for later option’

‘Save to favourites’ is an easy way to keep your audience engaged - quite often people browse for items only to return at a later date to purchase them. Save to favourites therefore has two-fold benefits – it allows you to capture customer information (as registration is required), but also means the customer can browse and then purchase at their convenience. It also offers a great way for you to remind users of items they’ve favourited via lifecycle emails.

Guest checkout

• Always make sure a speedy or guest checkout option is available – asking people to complete lengthy forms ahead of purchase is a sure-fire way to lose their custom.
• Post-purchase, users are statistically more likely to register or ‘save their details for later’ - including a ‘create an account’ option at the end of the purchase process is therefore a great way to capture customer information.

Not having postcode look-up

Customers are looking to purchase items as quickly and easily as possible. Asking them to complete lengthy address fields is not only frustrating but may force users to abandon the checkout process. Including a postcode look-up tool (which automatically completes the address fields) is therefore a must!

Not including the option to use the postal address as the billing address

Similar to the above, the aim is to make the checkout as streamlined and quick for the user as possible – adding the ability to use the same address for both billing and delivery is an easy way to speed things up.

Not including PayPal as a payment method

PayPal is a household name trusted by 17 million businesses worldwide (Expert Market, 2018). Whilst it does take the user away from the site, the payment process is quick and simple – allowing users with accounts to simply login and make a payment on the go (removing the need to dig-out a credit card!). It’s also a highly trusted payment gateway where customers are happy to spend their hard-earned cash through.

Not having a supporting app

Research shows that people spend 90% of their time on mobile apps when using a smartphone (YourStory, 2018); with app shoppers tending to spend and make more repeat purchases than mobile web shoppers (ZD Net, 2019). Having a supporting retail app will therefore not only help you to reach your maximum audience at all times, but could also lead to a higher basket value and repeat purchases.

Concerned about your eCommerce site or have questions for the team? Please do get in touch!