Your eCommerce Isn't Selling: 3 Possible Causes
Estimated reading time: 6 Min
When you run an eCommerce, one of your main goals is sales—but what happens when they don't meet expectations? Certain factors may be affecting your customer acquisition and retention.
In this article we will analyze 3 possible causes that affect online sales. Evaluate how your eCommerce stands against each case and take action with the measures you need to implement.
My eCommerce isn't selling, Cause No. 1: Lack of an omnichannel strategy
Expanding into different sales channels is a good strategy for connecting with many more customers. When you make different contact and purchase channels available to your buyers, you are offering alternatives that fit their needs according to their tastes, possibilities, and interests.
Customers have different buying modes—some prefer to start the process on one channel and finish on another. For example, they may research the product on the online store and go buy it at the physical store, or vice versa.
In this case, omnichannel is not just about sales—it is also a resource so users can clarify doubts, file complaints, or make any other request to the brand. For eCommerce, it is an opportunity to increase brand presence and deploy strategies from different fronts that can help reach a larger number of customers. Opening new channels means new points of sale, but also new promotion points.
When you offer customers different support channels—online store, physical store, social media, contact lines, trade shows, marketplaces, etc.—you are not restricting them to a single purchase channel, which improves their experience and becomes an added value to the service.
Which channels are your customers on? Are you visible enough for your buyer? Maintain a presence on every channel where your potential customer is. To do this, research your buyer persona and their buying behaviors, preferences, and expectations—this way you will identify where it is most relevant to focus your efforts and how to develop your omnichannel strategy.
Remember that what works for one eCommerce may not work for another, even if they are in the same category—your actions should be focused on your type of customer and on the results of each channel. It is also important that the information published on each channel is aligned with and consistent with the overall sales strategy.
Implementing an omnichannel strategy reduces customer service time and increases positive impact on the brand
Check out these AMVO data points…
- 44% of Mexican shoppers prefer to touch and feel the product before buying it.
- 34% of Mexican shoppers prefer to research the product online but buy it in a physical store.
- 17% prefer to visit the physical store and get to know the product, then buy online afterward.
- The Mexican shopper spontaneously recalls pure-player stores first, followed by omnichannel stores when thinking about buying online.
- Interest in using the digital channel as a source of information before deciding to buy continues to grow. The physical store still plays an essential role, whether as showrooming or as the final purchase channel.
The data above shows why omnichannel will play an even more relevant role—your eCommerce should not be left behind.
Read also: Usability in eCommerce: boost your sales
My eCommerce isn't selling, Cause No. 2: I don't have experience in online selling
With current technological developments, launching an online store can be relatively easy—but that is not where the work ends; that is where it really begins. Running an eCommerce requires efficiency and knowledge in different areas such as logistics, digital marketing, business management, customer service, and more. How does your team stand against these competencies?
If your team is not expert in the different areas, you can seek advice from specialists in each field—companies like Cubbo, for example, specialize in eCommerce fulfillment, handling the entire logistics operation the business requires, avoiding the operational strain that the delivery process entails, ensuring customer loyalty and cost savings.
Have you evaluated how poor delivery service impacts your sales? This is currently one of the most valued attributes among online shoppers. If the customer does not find guarantees regarding time and cost on your eCommerce, they will not buy from you; if the shopping experience with their order was not good, they will not buy from you again.
Experience and knowledge are decisive in service quality, brand positioning, and business scaling. Without excellent logistics operations, you will not have loyal or repeat customers; without a digital marketing strategy, no one will visit your eCommerce or buy your products, even if you have the best products on the market; without good customer service, you will not have happy customers.
It is time to evaluate your operation—if you have gaps, focus on strengthening your team. If you consider outsourcing services such as marketing or logistics to be your best option, focus on finding those partners that help you scale your business.
My eCommerce isn't selling, Cause No. 3: Logistics challenges
Among the reasons online shoppers may decide not to buy are logistics factors. Take note of these data points:
- 21% of online shoppers consider online returns to be complicated.
- 17% consider shipping costs to be excessive.
- 12% consider delivery times to be too long
- 8% consider the service level during delivery to be poor (incomplete orders, damaged products, etc.)
After analyzing the points above, we can conclude that the logistics operation is truly important for being among online consumers' purchase preferences—delivery speed, order tracking by the customer, availability of different delivery methods, and ease of managing an exchange or return are characteristics users look for and that motivate them to buy.
How does your eCommerce stand against the aspects above? This is where you should evaluate how your logistics operation works from the moment the order is generated until it is delivered to the customer and how efficient it is. Does it meet buyer expectations or can you improve? What do you need to do so? If you do not have the structural and operational muscle, the best option will be to consider outsourcing the service with an eCommerce fulfillment specialist—these companies have emerged as an excellent alternative to help eCommerce businesses of all sizes improve their delivery process and customer service.
Read also: Fulfillment: the solution for customer loyalty in eCommerce
Having an eCommerce that sells requires planning and consistency. If your eCommerce has been on the market for a short time, be patient—keep making it known, build trust with your buyers, create excellent shopping experiences, and find ways to stand out from the competition.
If you have been on the market longer and have seen significant variations in your sales level, focus on evaluating what is happening, where you are falling short, and what is keeping customers from buying from you: quality, service, price, advertising, lack of differentiators...?
Set clear and realistic sales goals, start implementing improvement actions, and keep measuring—that is where you will identify how to boost your business. Keep in mind that the path will always have ups and downs—the important thing is to identify where your eCommerce operation is not being efficient and focus on being a better provider for your customers every day. Give them such an outstanding service that they do not hesitate to buy from you again.
Looking for a partner to boost your delivery process, fulfillment, and customer satisfaction? Don't hesitate to contact us—we are the best fulfillment center for eCommerce in Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil—just click here.
During 2021 at Cubbo:
* Our clients recorded 21% savings in operating costs
* 97.1% of products received were processed and ready to sell within 24 hours.
* We achieved 99.7% on-time shipping fulfillment
* We recorded 99.9875% order preparation accuracy—that is, 1 error every 8,000 shipments.
* 60% of our deliveries in Mexico City were made the same day
* We completed nationwide deliveries in an average of 1.3 days
Take your eCommerce to Cubbo!
If your logistics operation is falling short, relying on fulfillment in Mexico City will allow you to reduce delivery times and improve your customers' experience.
Information sources:
Lifestylealcuadrado / Pragma / Escuela Emprendedores Alegra / JoseFacchin / IEBschool / Ttandem
Online sales study, the Mexican consumer 2022 AMVO
