If you ask successful e-commerce owners about their online business journey, you will find out how difficult it is to make a mark in this highly competitive online store landscape. Many business owners and seasoned managers are guilty of making the mistake of thinking that an e-commerce business is a 'set-it-and-forget-it, get-rich-quick' proposition. But that is far from the truth. To experience success in the e-commerce world, you need to take two things into account:

Know what a serious undertaking it is.

Always look for opportunities to learn, grow and improve on past mistakes and shortcomings.

To experience the taste of success, online business owners have to face a range of hurdles and obstacles. With the countless number of e-commerce platforms available today, the question is why should customers choose you store over others? The answer is crystal clear; by creating a competitive advantage that will take your business to the zenith. But even before you find a unique selling proposition, it's wise to familiarize yourself with the common e-commerce mistakes that are responsible for the downfall of many successful businesses.

Whether you want to launch your first online store or are managing multiple stores, you will encounter problems that will prevent you from achieving your set targets. Avoiding certain everyday mistakes that could be the roadblock in your path to success is crucial.

Common e-commerce mistakes that can hold your business back

Choosing the wrong platform: If you are not a skilled web developer, creating your own CMS from scratch is not impossible, but is difficult. It can be a nightmare even for the experienced web developers. Running an e-commerce business is not easy and the last thing you want is to make it harder by creating your own CMS. Consult an expert regarding the right CMS for your online business. However, choosing the right CMS for your website can in itself become a cause of stress. Many e-commerce owners purchase a CMS platform from an open source or proprietary platform, which may not be of the highest quality. To avoid any quality issue, thoroughly research the different types of e-commerce platforms available before choosing the CMS for you.

Prioritizing sales over branding: As an e-commerce owner, it is your responsibility to present your products to your customers to encourage them to buy. Even if you want to design your own products, you have to keep customers' interests in mind. To achieve the sales goals you desire, brand your products in a way that combines your ideas with the interest and desires of your potential customers. By doing so, you will be able to strike the right chord with customers, ultimately increasing your sales. The biggest roadblock on your path to success is not taking customer preferences into account.

Not having a user-friendly website: To reduce the bounce rate on your website, create a hassle-free user experience. Confusing website navigation or bad quality pictures can frustrate your target audience. To avoid such situations, build a user-friendly website that offers customers easy access to your products, like custom printed men’s clothing. Here are the top features a user-friendly website should possess:

Easy access to the home page.

Clear, correct and compelling product descriptions.

Time-saving navigation and easy checkout.

An active, highly responsive customer support process.

Clear text-to-picture ratios.

No clear value proposition: If visitors are not able to understand what you selling, they will click the back button. The main goal of the home page is to quickly grab your visitor’s attention, clearly and concisely describe what you are offering, convince them to look further and purchase. Without this, you may well lose the e-commerce battle.

Aggressive shipping and return policies: It's a proven fact that you can't cover all the shipping charges for every product that customers buy. Sometimes shipping products on your own is just not profitable. It is also cost effective to maintain a large inventory of products if you are a small business; it will impact your profit margin. To avoid shipping and inventory costs, partner with print on demand service providers who will ship your products to customers on time, but under their own brand name. A drop shipping company will handle all your shipping needs, freeing up your time to focus on the appearance of your online store.

Not being active on social media: Social media is here to stay. For most e-commerce businesses, creating your presence on popular social media platforms is a prerequisite for running a successful online business. If your social media page is inactive you can't expect great results, be it sales conversion or simply creating a buzz for your products among the customers. To entice the customers to your online store, share valuable, visual content across a variety of social media platforms, like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Using stock product descriptions: It's tempting for budding e-commerce owners to rush the small stuff in order to launch the online store as early as possible. However, in reality, cutting corners, like using stock product descriptions, can ultimately harm your business. Using a manufacturer's product description will make it challenging for you to stand out in the crowd. If you want your e-commerce site to rank high in the search engines, create compelling, engaging product descriptions that will help people to connect with your brand and products.

Hopefully, this guide will help you to identify and avoid the common e-commerce mistakes that can prevent you from achieving your business objectives. Turn your online business into a successful venture with these online store tips.