Whether having an online store is your way of creating a passive income stream, or start a full-fledged business, there are a number of factors that play into running a successful e-commerce business. It takes a lot of hard work to get an e-commerce store established, so it’s sometimes easy to overlook the small things.

Here are five common eCommerce mistakes you should avoid.

 

1. Bad Hosting

 

According to this blog, 47% of consumers expect a page to load in under 2 seconds, and 40% abandon a website that takes any longer than 3 seconds. With so much competition out there, online shoppers do not have to look far to find what they’re looking for and don’t want to wait around for your pages to load. This is why good hosting is a crucial part of your online business.

So instead of going for the cheapest (or free) hosting out there, online sellers should consider all the options available to them and choose the one that best suits their needs, as this will most likely save you money in the long run.

 

2. Not Investing in Security

 

With the emergence of e-commerce as a lucrative space for entrepreneurs, so have some all the risks related to cyber crime.

When setting up your e-commerce website, make sure your platform offers good security features (WordPress is a great choice), and that your server maintains PCI compliance requirements, and get an SSL certificate at least for your checkout page if not the entire site.

 

3. Inefficient Navigability

 

Smaller e-commerce stores don’t have the extensive search capabilities of big giants like Amazon, but it can be important to implement an efficient system through which users can easily search for and find exactly the product that they’re looking for.

 

4. Poor Checkout

 

The checkout experience should be as quick as possible, as this is where customers are most likely to get frustrated and walk away. If a piece of information is not absolutely required, don’t ask for it.

Since 86% of users dislike having to create new accounts on websites, social media logins are a great alternative for users to create an account in a single click, where a user can just choose to log in via Facebook, Twitter, or Google+.

 

5. Lack of Product Branding

 

Although building distinctive product pages takes significant effort—not to mention money—using generic product descriptions lifted from suppliers is not a good idea.

After all, why would a shopper buy from you instead of going straight to the supplier if there were nothing that sets your product apart from theirs? The brand is an integral part of the shopping experience, and it is important to give the consumer something that your competitors cannot.

At the end of the day, it’s important to put your time, effort, and money into your eCommerce website if it is to be successful, and that means investing in convenience, security, and quality for your consumers.