Barriers to Success of your eCommerce Site

Should we Go for Online Shopping? As a consumer, I need an answer. Every day when I open my inbox it is flooded with Sales Offers, Coupon Codes, last Minute Deals, Survey Wins, etc.
Should I open those emails and go through them one by one. Are these emails coming from genuine Sellers with real business?
We all know and believe that Online Shopping has become a necessity. Still why we as Store Owners are skeptical about those offers.
Even your site visitors are going through the same dilemma from buying through your Online Store.
Now imagine if you could overcome this barrier and gain a market following from this group of apprehensive shoppers – increase your sales figures and business growth?

1. Is this a real business?

Imagine a situation where you enter a shop and find a window broken, counter table all dirty. Shelves are broken and No one to greet you. The first thing is I am at the wrong address, and second if it is a real shop you will never go again. Now imagine landing on an eCommerce site that looks like it has been created in the early 90s and abandoned since. It is because of poor design and bad user interface with loads of bad graphics, little content, and lots of advertisements overcrowding the page.

When shoppers chance upon websites like these, they suspect something dodgy must be going on. There is no way they are going to trust the site and part with their cash. Alarm bells immediately start sounding in your head and your natural impulse is to zoom the cursor over to the left-hand corner of the page and close it.

Address This Fear

What you see you believe!!! Build trust in your potential prospects and stop people from going away before they have even browsed your products by firstly, looking after your eCommerce site design. Ensure that your site is clear and the layout is easy for customers to navigate and shop. Match the theme or layout of your site with the products you are selling. For eg, if you are running a Kids Book store, see that you have chosen pastel color theme keeping your buyers and products in mind. Keep images, cover photos that are appealing to your audience. Don't show many popups or heavy slogans that are distracting to enter your site.

Also, to build credibility for your online website, link it to your social media platforms (especially the profiles that you are active on) to allow for alternative channels of communication and touchpoints. Also, consider including customer testimonials to show that yours is a trusted business and not a fraud. Create an About Us page to tell something about you and your business so bonding is formed.
For inspiration, take a look at some great templates from Wix https://www.wix.com/website/templates/html/online-store

1. What Safety do I have? We hear about identity theft, credit card frauds, Internet scams, and other security breaches all the time. At times Handing one's credit card information over to even a known and trusted online store can turn out a moment of panic.

Address This Fear
Ease this security anxiety with the usage of a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) button and privacy policy on your website, stating clearly how you will use any information you collect so customers know that their information is in safe hands.
On top of that, use a well-known and respected payment gateways such as Paypal, RazorPay, Stripe or Authorize.Net to capture all payment information, and add the payment system logos to assure your customers that they will experience a hassle-free and smooth payment process.

1. How to Like This Product?

This fear is a tough one not knowing what the product is like – as customers are not able to touch, smell, feel the product before they purchase it.

Address This Fear
Best things online shoppers can do is see and read. High-Quality Images speaks 1000 words in itself and full product information so they can assess the item properly.
Customer buys a digital representation of a product when purchasing online. The photo tries to show the actual item. Make sure your product pictures are clear, include multiple angles, clarity detail, depth, are zoom-able, and look stunning.
Video demos of the product also work great but shoot in a way that describes your product properly.
Besides, social proof proves an advantage because consumers are also prone to external influences such as other customers' opinions when it comes to decision-making. Display positive customer reviews, ratings, and video product reviews in a prominent spot, and insert links to other popular and related products viewed by similar visitors. These will all go towards customer affirmation on buying the product and reduce the sense of regret after having made a purchase.

1. Is There Anyone I Can Talk To? Hello? Offline businesses always have a representative whom you can ask all kinds of questions before purchasing. They expect the same thing when they are buying online. The presence of a person not only resolves the queries of customers but also help them understand the product in the correct way and persuades them to make the right decision. Online business is devoid of this virtue but there are many ways to replicate the human touch. Address This Fear