Overcome the common barriers to e-commerce success in this in-depth article. Check it out!

When the pandemic hit, retail stores saw a record drop in sales, but e-commerce reached a record high.

From February to May 2020, retail e-commerce sales nearly doubled while total retail sales fell to 17.9%. In a post-pandemic marketplace, e-commerce has become the go-to way to do business. Many business owners, however, face common barriers to e-commerce and setbacks when it comes to launching or running an e-commerce store.

In this article, we’ll discuss some common barriers to e-commerce success and provide simple solutions to overcome them. Let’s get started!

1. Getting Traffic to Your Site

The Problem: You set up a beautiful e-commerce store, only to realize no one is visiting. You’ve hit one of the most common barriers to e-commerce success.

When you open the doors to a brick-and-mortar store, you have neighborhood buzz, special events, and eye-catching signage to draw potential customers into the store. Launching your e-commerce store can fall flat if you don’t have any shoppers.

The Solution: The e-commerce equivalent of community buzz is digital marketing.

A strong digital marketing strategy for e-commerce stores might include running Google Ads, Meta (Facebook and Instagram) Ads, YouTube Ads, and/or LinkedIn Ads, depending on where your audience is most likely to be spending time online.

But it doesn’t stop there.

If your e-commerce site is set up to receive and track traffic, you’ll be able to dial in which marketing channels and which ads are best connecting with your audience. You’ll break one of the barriers to e-commerce success because you’ll know the value of every lead and the demographics of customers who are most likely to purchase from your store.

2. The Issue of Cybersecurity

The Problem: Another one of the barriers to e-commerce success is that it removes some control over the purchasing process.

In a traditional in-store setting, customers tap their credit cards onto a machine and are handed the product immediately with a paper receipt to confirm the purchase. When buying online, customers are often required to provide more personal information, like an email address, home address, and phone number. Some even require personal details like occupation, age, and preferred language. Often, the receipt is sent later, via email, and the product is not received for days or even weeks.

Storing so much personal and financial information about customers is a big responsibility for business owners, which is in itself one of the barriers to e-commerce success. It makes them an easy target for cyber-attacks. Not only can viruses attack the site and sales platform, but they can also hack and expose customer information.

The Solution: To avoid security breaches, business owners must be proactive. Here are four ways to keep customer information safe and secure:

1. Back up your data.
   Data loss caused by cyber-attacks is common and can lead to customer loss or even eventual bankruptcy. The most efficient way to back up data is by using an automatic system update.
   
2. Download a plugin to avoid getting hacked in the first place.
   WordPress offers plugins like Sucuri Security, iThemes Security, and Wordfence Security that protect businesses against a variety of attacks, with features like blacklist monitoring, file scanning, firewalls, and post-hack actions.
   
3. Use HTTPS encryption across the entire website.
   Outdated HTTP protocols make websites particularly vulnerable to cyber-attacks. HTTPS is also a higher ranking factor on Google – bonus points!
   
4. Don’t store financial info.
   Credit card information should never be stored on your database. It is a liability and makes you a target for hackers. Consider using third-party software, like PayPal, Stripe, or Worldpay, to process payments off-site.

3. Customer Experience

The Problem: When it comes to selling products online, one of the barriers to e-commerce is not actually completing a purchase.

E-commerce stores make the shopping experience more effortless than ever. It’s so easy, in fact, that customers feel little to no pressure to buy. Shopping in a retail store comes with an implicit pressure to make a purchase when browsing. Online, the user can close a window and move to something else.

The stakes are high in e-commerce. Converting browsers to buyers requires a strategy. All it takes is one slow-loading form, an unclear site hierarchy, or a misplaced button to turn a new prospect away forever.

First impressions are everything in e-commerce. Providing a top-notch customer experience is critical to getting conversions and attracting more targeted prospects to the site.

The Solution: The first step to ensuring a positive customer experience is to assess your website. Ask yourself the following questions to determine how customer-friendly your e-commerce store is:

1. Is the customer able to find what they want?
2. Are the product descriptions visible and easy to read?
3. Is the checkout process seamless and fast?
4. How difficult is it to find a specific product on the site?
5. Is it easy to view and change the contents of a shopping cart?
6. Are customer service queries answered promptly?
7. Is content written in casual, easy-to-read language?
8. Are there any common pain points in the customer journey?

If the answer to any of these questions is “no” or “not sure,” you need to rethink your strategy.

Customer experience goes beyond just web design. It is the full package experience, and includes a multitude of elements like site speed, accessibility, font size, typeface, font color, responsive design, and branding consistency.

Tips to Optimize the Customer Experience on Your Site:

1. Always communicate your value proposition with simple language at the top of the page.
2. Include high-quality photos and relevant information like size, color, and weight on product pages.
3. Ensure copywriting is informative and on-brand.
4. Always have a “pay now” button visible.
5. Offer a guest checkout for those not interested in making an account.
6. Engage with customers on social media to help build out the community.
7. Always offer free shipping – customers will love you for it.
8. Engage with customers post-purchase with follow-up emails.

4. Maintaining Customer Loyalty

The Problem: Building trust and loyalty with your customers is one of the barriers to e-commerce connection because you can’t speak directly to them.

If you’re a customer looking for a specific product, a simple Google search will reveal thousands of e-commerce companies at the ready. Sifting through these results can be overwhelming. Unlike retail stores, where sellers can connect with buyers face-to-face, selling online is different because it removes that human element.

The big question, then, is how can an e-commerce store build that connection through the screens?

The Solution: There are many ways businesses can build trust with their customers. Here are a few ideas to help you get started:

1. Consistent Branding
   Where and how you promote your business can significantly impact customers and potential prospects. A company with consistent branding across all channels—website, social media, emails, newsletters, and other platforms—is much more likely to gain customer trust than a company with mismatched or inconsistent branding.
   
2. Transparency
   Build trust with the audience by displaying the company address and phone number, employee and customer testimonials, and any badges, awards, or certifications achieved by the business.
   
3. Quality Content
   Blogs are a fantastic way to build trust with a new audience. Content should be engaging, informative, and accurate. By publishing consistent, high-quality content, users are more likely to trust the brand and see the company as an industry leader.
   
4. Live Chat
   Interactive and prompt live chat is a surefire way for e-commerce sites to build trust and relationships with website visitors. It is also the most efficient way for customers to get answers to their pressing questions.

5. Product Returns and Refunds

The Problem: Did you know that at least 30% of online products are returned, compared to under 9% for traditional retail stores?

Return and refund policies are a vital consideration for most customers, and one of the common barriers to e-commerce profitability. In fact, many shoppers choose their e-commerce companies based on these policies.

The Solution: Customer satisfaction is a non-negotiable factor in getting an e-commerce business on the map and in customers’ good books.

Tips to Optimize Return and Refund Policies

Don’t let your online shop be the victim of buyers’ remorse.

1. Offer full transparency. Never hide your return policy from customers.
2. Use plain and simple language to explain policies.
3. Avoid salesy or technical jargon. It can be confusing and seen as a ploy to hide fine print regulations.
4. Provide various shipping and refund options to accommodate all types of customers.
5. Be prepared to eat the cost of any mistakes made on your end.

6. Online Identity Verification

The Problem: Another one of the barriers to e-commerce success is fake or fraudulent buyers.

When “John Jones” enters their information into a website form, there is no way to tell whether he is a real person or if his email and contact information is fake.

Many e-commerce shops have been victims of significant revenue losses due to fraudulent purchases, blacklisting of the company’s IP address, and tarnished email lists. Depending on where you live, there may even be legal requirements around collecting valid data from customers.

The Solution: Do what you can to make sure your contact is legitimate.

Tips for Online Identity Verification

1. Monitor high-value orders closely.
   Keep a close eye on large orders by checking whether zip/postal codes match the region and phone numbers match a certain province or state’s area code.
   
2. Send a verification link after purchase.
   One of the easiest ways to verify a new contact is to send a verification link to the submitted email address after a purchase. If the email is not verified within a specific time frame, consider removing the contact from your list.
   
3. Automate the process.
   Checking emails and contact information by hand is not sustainable. Human error is always a part of manual processes. Consider using a knowledge-based authentication service or plugin to do the tedious work.

Wrap-Up

E-commerce shows no signs of slowing down.

If you run an online store, you will undoubtedly face most, if not all, of the barriers to e-commerce success we discussed in this article. As your business continues to grow, you need a team on your side to help you attract and manage your traffic and turn it into regular, raving customers.

Take our advice and follow the steps in this article to ensure these barriers to e-commerce are tackled efficiently and smartly. Please read our article, Importance of Search Engine in E-Commerce, for further reading on eliminating the barriers to e-commerce.

To learn more about which marketing services PaintedRobot offers small and medium-sized e-commerce businesses, get in touch with a member of our expert team today.