In the world of online commerce, it can be easy to make a mistake or two. Between web designs, product placement and marketing, there is plenty of room for things to go awry. In the past, most people did not have to worry about subtle mistakes as there was less competition and more understanding on behalf of internet users. These days, however, the culture of on-demand access to everything has created an environment in which the slightest errors or mistakes can send your potential customers fleeing to a competitor who did a better job than you in one area or another. If you are selling products online and want to make sure you avoid the biggest mistakes out there, then continue reading to find out more.

Separate Shops

Let’s say that you already have a well-developed online portal for your brand. Perhaps your brand started around information and slowly moved into the world of e-commerce. Many brands make the mistake of setting up a separate website for their e-commerce model, instead of retrofitting their existing websites to accommodate users. This not only can create confusion among consumers and leave them forgetful of where to go when they wish to make a purchase, but it also has negative implications for pinging search engines. Your rankings in this case will almost always underperform when compared to an e-commerce model that is integrated within an existing website.

Skipping Review Potential

If you are afraid of what your customers may have to say about your products, then you probably have shied away from the use of review platforms in your website’s design. Unfortunately, many users that make purchases online want to see what other individuals think about your products before they commit. While some websites use “testimonials” (most of which are often fake), a legitimate review system will add confidence to your website and convince others to make a purchase – even if all of the reviews in question are not sterling. For those less than ideal reviews, engaging with the customer via the review can be a good way to show attentiveness to their concerns and influence prospective customers.

Avoiding Mobile

It was easy in the past to shrug off the usefulness of mobile compatibility, but any e-commerce portal must take it into account now or face the consequences. As internet traffic continues to increase on mobile devices (it is currently hovering around 25% of all internet traffic), more and more people will be lost if your site is not optimized to handle mobile. In addition to this, research shows that people are even more likely to make a purchase from their mobile devices than from a traditional desktop. These considerations must be taken into account – a failure to embrace mobile can dramatically reduce potential sales.

Conclusion

Whether you are pinging search engines with products or simply want to boost sales among an already loyal base of followers, you want to avoid the three mistakes we outlined above that are still oh so common in today’s world of e-commerce. Keep your sales on the same website as everything else, be sure to take advantage of mobile and allow your customers to interact with your brand via reviews. These three elements can go a long way toward promoting success or failure, depending on how you handle each.