online store

[Deleted member 137067]

Hello,
I'm looking into setting up an online store & would like to know what problems people with established stores encounter on a daily basis. Thank you

 

[fisicx]

The biggest problems encountered on a daily basis are:
1. Getting people to visit the site
2. Getting visitors to buy your stuff

 

[redspan]

Depends on what you're selling but one of the things you need to be aware of is the processing of returns. It needs to be a slick and painless operation for both the customer and you or your team.

Online clothes and shoe shoppers can sometimes buy two or more sizes of the same item, find the one that fits, and return the other(s). If you provide returns that are free to the customer but cost you then you'll need to price accordingly to cover the cost of processing all those returns.

 

[antropy]

The biggest problems encountered on a daily basis are:
1. Getting people to visit the site
2. Getting visitors to buy your stuff

Basically it is as simple as that at first.

When/if you get really really busy you may start getting problems with site/server speed caused by all the traffic but that's a nice problem to have.

 

[Mr D]

Complying with consumer law is a problem for some who set up online stores.
Look at your responsibilities. Look at buyers rights.

 

[Cart2Cart]

I double everything said above. Plus, I'd add inventory management to the list. It may be a real pain in the neck sometimes.

 

[Deleted member 137067]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I may get in touch with a couple of you, if that is ok

 

[14Steve14]

Finding enough hours in the day to get everything done.

I am sure days are getting shorter.

 

[Adam-Smith]

1. Your Online Store layout must be user-friendly so that anyone can make purchase easily.
2. Depends on what you selling and what are the best packages for your customer and consumer?
3. Online Store must be search engine friendly and it must be ranked high in search engines like Google and Bing etc.
   these are main issues and these are main things you need to consider to make and run a online store.

 

[Deleted member 137067]

@14Steve14, I agree with you, not enough hours in the day
@Adam-Smith, thanks for your feedback, I may get in touch with you, if that is ok

 

[deepvyas]

Hi Webgirl, what are your future thought after building such platform ?
Please provide me some information, I can help you with development

Regards
Deep

 

[WebshopMechanic]

Hey @webgirl, why do you want to focus on the problems? They are not problems. They are opportunities!! (ha ha)

Look, every business will encounter a few problems along the way but you have to ride these out. No business is ever easy or plain sailing.

As you grow you will find more issues because you start to outgrow your systems and processes. But that's a nice challenge and there is always a way around it.

I've worked in e-commerce for 14 years and I've had many challenges. If you want to free yourself up from the daily grind of work and be self-sufficient then you need to get your hands dirty and understand every part of your business (technical, finance, marketing, operations, production, logistics, customer service, etc).

It's fun to learn!

In my opinion, the good points far outweigh the bad points.

The advantages of an e-commerce business are:

• Your market is huge! You can reach customers anywhere in the world (unlike a physical store)
• The overheads are relatively low (No high store rents)
• The hours of trading are unlimited. (Open 7 days, 365)
• Unlimited shelf space (Your site can have 100s of products)
• You can contact customers via email in minutes (Free for small volumes with Mailchimp)
• FREE e-commerce tools - Lots around to help you increase sales
• FREE information - Lots available and tons of people to help you
• Automation - Lots of things can be automated to run in the background and make you money
  
• Passive Income - You can still take orders when you clock off, are in bed or on holiday.

There are some challenges like:

• Getting initial traffic to your store (You need patience and to focus on the right people)
• Converting visitors into sales (Entirely possible if you attract the right customer)
• Competition (Lots of it but it's easy to differentiate and gain sales)
• Making sure goods reach your customers (Couriers can be difficult during holiday season)
• Customer service (Should be fine if you have a good service and product. Great opportunity to create advocates of your brand and capture more sales)
• Postage costs (you need to be clever about this to keep costs low)
• Costs of packaging (Again, need to be creative to keep costs down)
• Time (never enough but you need to be efficient with your time. You can always outsource to Virtual Assistants if you need help. They are cheap.)
• Fraudsters (These scumbags exist but they are few and far between but worth being aware of)

I hope that helps? I could go on and on but there's never been a better time to start.

My advice to is:

1. Don't expect it to happen overnight
2. Make sure you have a unique proposition (Products, Service or You) - Read Purple Cow by Seth Godin (Available on Amazon)
3. Identify your target customer and stay laser focused on them
4. Put your customer at the heart of your business. Do everything you can to please them.
5. Have fun!

Good Luck!

Matt Thorpe
Webshop Mechanic / Grasshopper Web Consulting

 

[TLT Property Management]

time to optimize everything. You can outsource work but this might cause more problems and headaches and can be quite expensive. Building a proper store you look easy 2k - 5k plus ongoing work at 1k a year. probably more.

 

[webmto]

Your equation has infinite answers. Focused questions are required.
E.g.
Domain name: Quite important in online environment
Platform: Lot's of will tell what to do but few really now what are talking about. Not an easy job to find right people to trust.
Hosting: depending the website platform, that's why choose platform then hosting
SEO: Even more are SEO guru then website providers. Same issue. Find the right person to trust.

Overall, the right person to give you genuine advice is a big issue.