As ecommerce is growing more rapidly, there are more businesses shifting towards digital platforms to extend their reach and boost their profitability. Despite the transformation, there are several common myths about ecommerce platforms that may lead businesses astray. This article will debunk three of the most common myths about ecommerce platforms.
One of the most common misconceptions about ecommerce platforms is that having a website is enough to ensure the profitability of a business. While having a website is undoubtedly vital as it helps gather people to contribute to a business’ profitability, the contributors to the success of ecommerce are multifaceted, including performing market research to identify customer demands, devising effective marketing and promotional strategies, and constantly assessing potential risks. By conducting market research, you can easily find your target audience, their pain points, and how they can benefit from your product or service. By leveraging useful data, you can conduct research more effectively, in turn gaining a deeper understanding of the competitive landscape and identifying untapped opportunities in the market. On top of that, understanding the potential risks such as fraud and cybersecurity threats is also crucial in ensuring the safety of your ecommerce platform and your customers' data.
While sales are often viewed as the primary measure of a business's success, this is not entirely accurate. It is necessary to consider other things such as shipping, expenses on product acquisition, as well as other overheads when it comes to defining how profitable a business is. Meanwhile, minimising different expenses allows you to determine your business’ net profit and from that, you can make informed decisions to increase the profitability. Minimising expenses incurred while running an ecommerce platform, such as marketing costs, website maintenance, and salaries for employees, is crucial to ensure the profitability and success of your business, whether you operate a B2C or B2B ecommerce platform.
Customers may purchase a product or service because of low prices, though that is not the main determinant of their purchasing decision. Brand popularity, customer reviews, and shopping experience can also be other important factors. That is why creating an overall shopping experience that meets the customer's needs and wants should be a marketer’s focus. To be specific, providing excellent customer service and multiple payment options, as well as offering a seamless checkout process can ensure customer satisfaction, ultimately leading to customer retention.
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All in all, ecommerce platforms have opened up new avenues for businesses to approach potential customers, besides boosting their profitability. To avoid making costly mistakes, be aware of the common myths surrounding ecommerce platforms. Debunking the myths mentioned above brings you a step closer towards setting up a successful ecommerce platform, ensuring that the needs of customers are met, and that profitability is optimised.
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