An online store front is a great idea for businesses who do not want to operate from a brick and mortar store and want to save on the associated expenses. More importantly, they are a cost effective way of running a business solely backed by a web presence. But, the problem here is that the failure rate amongst ecommerce solutions is extremely high. There are some that do very well, but there are others who fail.
The reason for their failure can be many, but one major inadequacy that leads to the failure of the ecommerce website is problems with its design. Here are three design centric reasons why ecommerce solutions fail to become profitable.
Design is unable to talk to the Visitor
Every website visitor who comes to an ecommerce website is a prospective customer. Now, in the absence of sales people who usually man the counters of traditional shops, it’s the design that needs to take up this role. The design and its various elements should play the role of salespeople and must be able to convince the user to buy the product or services available on the site. If the design is unable to do this, the site will be unable to generate the requisite revenue, leading to losses.
Design is not engaging
When a website visitor lands up on an ecommerce solution, he/she needs to be kept engaged. /This is only possible, if the design is interactive and intuitive. The design should encourage the visitor to spend more time on the website, which means there is more time to convince the visitor to choose from the products on the site. If this does not happen, visitors are bound to leave the site before they are entirely convinced of making a positive decision regarding the products and services provided by the ecommerce solution.
Design is not User Friendly
This is the crucial differentiating factor that separates the successful designs from the rest. The difference between profitability and loss is usability of the design. Ask any reputed website development firm about that one factor that defines a profitable ecommerce website and they will tell you that it is usability. The user should be able get the information that he/she wants quickly and effectively without any problems. If that happens they do not have to spend a lot of time on the website, searching for the products and services that they want to buy. A fact that is appreciated by online shoppers, but if they are made to spend valuable time searching for information related to the products and services because of a design that is complex and not user friendly, they do not buy products from such sites.
By taking into account these three reasons, it is possible to avoid cardinal errors in the design of ecommerce solutions, which in turn ensures profitability.
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3 comments
Jane says:
Mar 11, 2012
I truly respect your opinion, but would really love to hear any solution to choose instead of ecommerce. Would that be social advertising or deals like Google deals? Please advise.
Edward says:
Mar 12, 2012
I completely agree with your statements above. That is why I refrained from these solutions and opt in to get some affiliates instead. Getting an affiliate is much better in terms of sales. Plus, it delivers backlinks to one’s websites.
Jason says:
Mar 14, 2012
I too agree with these reasons. I can recall going to sites with such poor ecommerce solutions that you couldn’t even tell they were selling something! Edward makes a good point about affiliates to help with promotion, however I would recommend to those affiliates to utilize well-designed ecommerce-friendly sites.