{"id":9080,"date":"2016-05-17T07:48:53","date_gmt":"2016-05-17T07:48:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mobisoftinfotech.com\/resources\/?p=9080"},"modified":"2024-11-11T15:45:50","modified_gmt":"2024-11-11T10:15:50","slug":"lesser-known-challenges-of-running-an-e-commerce-store","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mobisoftinfotech.com\/resources\/blog\/lesser-known-challenges-of-running-an-e-commerce-store","title":{"rendered":"Lesser-Known Challenges of Running an E-Commerce Store"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whether you spell it as ecommerce, <\/span>e-commerce<\/u><\/span><\/span><\/a> or eCommerce, one fact remains unchanged. And that is its huge importance in the business domain. Imagine the immense potential offered by this retail channel when the US alone accounts for <\/span>$349.1 billion<\/span> in e-commerce sales. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a> From aspiring entrepreneurs to dedicated shoppers, ecommerce has proved to be the buzzword. However, it\u2019s not all rosy when it comes to proper implementation of the technology solution or elevating user experience in this space. This explains why e-commerce <\/span>constitutes just 7.1% of the total retail sales today.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the challenges exist at all stages of the customer e-shopping process. Let\u2019s see some of the lesser knowns of these today: <\/span><\/p>\n

A. Before the Shopping <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

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    No Strong Verification Measures in Place <\/b><\/span>\u2013 There are practically no measures to ensure customer credentials during the login stage. Imagine the multitude of problems if a product under Cash-on-Delivery was ordered, shipped, and delivered to a customer, wasn\u2019t actually ordered by the customer? This is an actual problem that has troubled many e-commerce players for quite some time now.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Quick Tip <\/b>\u2013 Fortunately, help is at hand in form of technology development. From the advent of <\/span>smartphones<\/u><\/span><\/span><\/a> to better internet connectivity and messaging services, many channels are available to verify the buyer\u2019s credentials before the transaction has taken place. Sending a verification code to the customer mobile upon selecting Cash-on-Delivery mode will help alleviate the issue. Additionally, using an Interactive Voice System (IVR) can help verify the address and thus authenticate the user better. <\/span><\/p><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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      Logistics in Developing Markets <\/b><\/span>\u2013 Diversity in countries like India and China (that has almost 1\/3<\/span>rd<\/span><\/sup> of the world\u2019s population) poses a tremendous logistics problem. The absence of a robust logistics infrastructure in semi-urban or rural areas is a big challenge. Be it poorly developed roads, non- standardized pin codes, difficult access to smaller villages or even lack of logistics support, the problems are many when dealing in e-commerce fulfilment for a lesser developed town or village.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Quick Tip <\/b>\u2013 Ensure tie ups with government services (such as postal services in India). This offers a dual advantage \u2013 not only e-commerce players can expand their geographical reach effectively, but also bring in <\/span>revenues for the government services<\/u><\/span><\/span><\/a>. E-commerce owners can also integrate rural modes of transport in order to avoid last minute logistics issues in lesser developed areas.<\/span><\/p><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      B. During the Shopping<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

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        Integration Issues <\/b><\/span>\u2013 The technology stack to enable e-commerce solution needs to gel seamlessly in order to increase the value of the dollar invested into the technology. These include order management, order fulfilment systems, customer support, and dispatch system. Even if one of the system is out of sync, it will lead to big problems such as mismatching details, inaccurate information, incorrect status checks and these all things will diminish the reputation of your e-commerce business.<\/span><\/p>\n

        Quick Tip <\/b>\u2013 Utilizing an all-round contact center technology can help bring in all these functions from different sources available on a single interface and thus presenting the real-time status of the shipping. The customer support executives have all the information on their computer window whenever they are interacting with customers. <\/span><\/p><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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          Poor Search and Navigation <\/b><\/span>\u2013 The saying \u201cIf you can\u2019t find it, you won\u2019t buy it\u201d holds true for the e-shopping customers. Poor ability to search for a product or poor navigation is considered as the primary reason for shopping cart desertion. In some cases, the search bar is either not prominently displayed or is not made available at all.<\/span><\/p>\n

          Quick Tip <\/b>\u2013 Providing a categorized listing (with proper sub categories) will help the search happen faster. <\/span><\/p><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n