E-Commerce is one of the easiest businesses to start thanks to a variety of online tools and services that can help you create a website. But on the flip side, it is also extremely challenging for smaller businesses to create one that is successful and profitable. There are many issues that tend to become a substantial pain point for those looking to start a business or expand their current brand. Here we will discuss some of the major obstacles and what small companies can do to mitigate them.
1. Customer Satisfaction
One of the biggest challenges of any e-commerce business is maintaining a high level of customer satisfaction which would not only attract new customers through reviews and word of mouth but also increase retention and build long-term trust. For a small business, this challenge is exacerbated by the fact that most small-scale ventures don’t have the capital or the resources necessary to build a strong customer support branch.
Creating responsive and effective customer support is both costly and time-consuming. It involves hiring at a large scale, buying the necessary equipment, and then training your staff for weeks on end. It also presents a unique human resource challenge since customer support is well known for having a high turnover rate which puts a company in a never-ending cycle of hiring and training.
Fortunately, being able to outsource e-commerce customer service is becoming easier than ever thanks to dedicated BPO’s that specifically cater to small businesses. Many BPO companies now offer flexible packages that can be tailored to give companies maximum benefit per dollar cost. Everything from hours, time zones, and even individual agents can be tweaked to your liking while cutting out unnecessary services included in a given package.
2. Website Monitoring
There are countless issues plaguing e-commerce websites these days; security breaches, bot activity, spam, viruses and malware, server downtime and so much more. Any one of these alone would be enough to cripple your website but they are in fact all together threatening any given eCommerce website. Small businesses that don’t have a strong technical backing are especially vulnerable to various problems that could hamper their fragile platform.
Other than the cybersecurity challenge, another big hurdle is properly maintaining and tracking your website. In order to recognize better sales opportunities, you need to constantly publish new and fresh content on your website while tracking which of those content attracts the most traffic. Doing this at a consistent and regular schedule can be incredibly overwhelming for smaller companies that can’t afford to assign one person dedicated to this task.
One of the easiest solutions for handling websites is to work with a web developer. Not only will an expert keep your website updated, but will also give you insight into your website’s performance using tools such as Google Analytics and Search Console in order to help you recognize growth opportunities. Developers also help keep your website up to date and safe from security breaches.
3. Marketing
Standing out among the crowd of millions of other online shops can seem like a near-impossible task. Especially when just a handful of major companies have taken all the spotlight.
Marketing can be a huge investment and if not done the proper way can have very little return to justify the cost. Not having the right marketing knowledge prevents the audience from connecting with your company. Even something as simple as not targeting the right region for your products can incur losses that would be catastrophic for small businesses.
There are many ways to create a strong marketing effort. However, one of the most effective ways to tackle growth hacking is by hiring a sales team. If you’re up against companies that invest more than in marketing, trying to overtake their global outreach is an unrealistic goal. Instead, a sales team will help you find customers and leads without relying on brand awareness. If you don’t need a large team right now, then even an individual e-commerce virtual assistant can help your marketing efforts.
4. Lead Generation
Consistently finding better and more lucrative leads is always an uphill battle. On one side, you need to reach as many potential clients as you can but on the other, you need to concentrate on a few high-value clients that are better for your long-term business health rather than focus on smaller leads. It’s a careful balancing act between volume and quality that can seem like an unsolvable riddle.
The solution is to have a dedicated team that pursues, analyzes and screens lead. But for small businesses, this is highly unfeasible as their workers are usually focusing on the core business. As mentioned earlier, this is where outsourcing a sales team can be highly effective.
Conclusion
It’s important to have the right expertise assisting your eCommerce business. Be sure to have a trusted BPO Company by your side who can not only develop a successful e-commerce business strategy but has the experience and the resources to implement them for you. Choose the right eCommerce support services for your small business!
