Reasons Your E-Commerce Store is Underperforming
By Shanon Roosevalt
06 Feb 2023
We all want to run a successful e-commerce store, but most need help figuring out where to start. Running an online store is easy enough, but once you start getting customers and moving inventory, you realize that the work required goes well beyond what many people can handle. While some people have made vast money selling things online, others have failed miserably. Knowing why your e-commerce store isn't performing is the first step in realizing why you are finding success or failing.
What is an e-commerce store?
An e-commerce store sells goods or services via electronic systems such as the Internet, mobile phones, or computer networks. E-commerce is the fastest-growing business segment and creates tremendous opportunities for companies that know how to leverage it.
When you sell products through electronic channels, you can focus on more than one aspect of your business and easily track everything from sales to profits. If your company operates primarily offline in brick-and-mortar stores, you must be much more involved in every aspect of the purchasing process.
Reasons Your E-Commerce Store is Underperforming
1: Lack of Social Media Presence
Your e-commerce store's presence on social media is crucial for attracting and retaining customers. Many people only go to one source for information about a store, so you must ensure you are where they are looking. Social media is not just a place for selling products; it can also promote your brand and increase awareness about your company.
2: Limited Marketing Tools
You might think that e-commerce stores rely on their products to make sales, but you will find that most businesses require an extensive marketing effort. Most people who buy online have never seen your products or even heard about them, so you must promote your store heavily to get customers in the door. It is one aspect where brick-and-mortar stores outperform eCommerce stores.
3: Low Conversion Rate
It would help if you had a high customer acquisition cost (CAC) to get customers to purchase more than once. E-commerce stores that sell products have higher CAC than those that don't. When you have a low CAC, you'll find it difficult to sell more than a few hundred dollars worth of products in a given month.
4: Low-Quality Products & Value for Your Money
Customers buy things that are good value for money. Customers will go elsewhere to get what they need if your products are not perceived as having good deals. Before you start, you must ask yourself if your products are worth the money.
5: Lack of Control Over Inventory
Your costs will increase if you sell many products that must be stored in physical locations and then shipped to customers. An eCommerce store can save a lot of money by purchasing goods directly from manufacturers and storing them in a digital warehouse until a customer purchases them.
Once you realize why your eCommerce store isn't getting the results you want, you'll be able to create a marketing plan to help increase sales and profits. It can be a complicated process and may take time. Once you start getting results, you'll find that it was well worth the investment in time and money.