Ecommerce Problems and Solutions Guide Jordan Crown

1. E-Commerce
Problems & Solutions Guide

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Problem No. 1:
Your website doesn’t inspire customers to return multiple times.
Earning customer loyalty is a matter of building trust and making the shopping experience as easy and pleasant as
possible. Unless your e-commerce site establishes why customers should trust it and creates a seamless shopping
experience, customers will seek an alternative for the next time.

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• Add a live chat option to enhance customer service.
• Build loyalty programs that reward customers for
repeat business.
• Add customer testimonials to boost credibility.
• Include profiles of your staff to add a human element.
• Always emphasize customer service as your
highest priority.
Here are some tips for inspiring
your customers to come back again and again:

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Problem No. 2:
Your website design is weak.
A poorly designed website can do more than make your business look bad — it can sabotage your e-commerce
efforts by confusing customers and making their shopping experience more difficult. Even if your e-commerce
website looks attractive, you’ll risk losing customers if they can’t navigate it to find what they want.

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Here are some basic tips
for ensuring your website’s design doesn’t work against your business:
• Use drop-down menus to keep your page design clean.
• Invest in professional photography to make sure your
products put their best faces forward.
• Keep the checkout process as simple as possible,
with no more than three pages necessary before
customers complete a purchase.
• Don’t overwhelm customers with flashy animations
that could slow down your pages’ performance.
• Make sure your products are organized in easy-to-
understand categories that will make it obvious for
customers how to find them.

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Problem No. 3:
Returns and refunds are too difficult for customers.
You may not want your customers to return their purchases. However, making the returns process as simple as
possible for your customers is an essential part of creating an optimized e-commerce experience. If customers are
confused or discouraged by your e-commerce returns policy, they may think twice about purchasing from you.

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Here are some ideas to keep in mind when
it comes to creating the returns and refunds policies for your e-commerce site:
• Make sure your returns and refunds policies are
easily found on your site.
• Don’t use impenetrable legal-speak when writing
your returns policies.
• Give customers multiple options for getting their
money back and returning the merchandise to you.
• Be sure your staff knows and understands your policies.

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Problem No. 4:
Shipping costs too much and takes too long.
Part of the appeal of e-commerce today is how easy shopping is for customers. Major online retailers such as
Amazon have created the expectation that customers can have their purchases almost overnight. That puts a
lot of pressure on e-commerce sites to keep their shipping costs down and improve the service they offer their
customers. Asking customers to spend a lot on shipping and wait more than a few days for their merchandise
can be a deal-breaker for many people today.

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Here are some tips
for improving shipping to your e-commerce customers:
• Distribute inventory to major fulfillment warehouses.
• Automate as much of your fulfillment process as possible to speed the process.
• Take advantage of technology such as RFID tagging to create greater efficiency in your inventory.
• Offering as many unique products as possible creates incentive for customers to purchase from your site.

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Problem No. 5:
Your e-commerce site is vulnerable to fraud.
One of the biggest potential problems e-commerce retailers face is the possibility of fraud. If e-commerce sites fall
victim to fraud — whether through identity theft or a criminal taking control of a customer’s account — they may
be financially responsible for the loss. Protecting themselves and their customers should be a top priority
for e-commerce retailers.

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• Ensure your e-commerce site adheres to Payment
Card Industry Security Standards.
• Use fraud tools that can verify a customer’s credit
card information by checking it against his or her
physical address or requiring the CVV code on the
back of the card.
• Employ strict password requirements that will reduce
the risk of accounts being stolen.
• Always keep your software up to date.
Here are a few ideas
about how e-commerce sites can protect themselves:

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Problem No. 6:
You’re not taking advantage of social media.
There’s far more to establishing a successful e-commerce presence today than simply having an e-commerce
website. Consumers expect a lot more connectivity and interactivity with the brands they buy from every day. That
means, social media needs to be part of your e-commerce strategy.

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Here are some suggestions
for building your e-commerce brand on social media:
• Use your social media feed to highlight your staff as
well as your products to help put a human face on
your brand.
• Encourage customers to reach out to you on
social media by including links to your profiles in a
prominent spot on your page.
• Monitor social media throughout the day for
customer service inquiries and respond to
them promptly.
• Create hashtags for promotions to encourage
your followers to share them and make it easy for
customers to find them.

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