There is a significant rise in the popularity of eCommerce businesses. It has a 265% growth rate, from $1.3 trillion in 2014 to $4.9 trillion in 2021. It is expected that eCommerce retail revenue will hit $6.54 trillion by 2023. Being an e-tailer comes with its own set of challenges and problems that can affect sales, cause financial losses, and even lead to a reputational decline. This article will discuss eCommerce’s most popular challenges and offer realistic solutions for each of them. We will also look into some trends and opportunities for the eCommerce industry in 2021.

1. Customers Entering Fake Information

Unfortunately, some customers enter fake information, and because of that, you cannot know if they are interested in purchasing. This can result in massive losses in revenue.

Solutions:

• Look for signs of suspicious activity (e.g., Purchasing a lot of products, zip codes that do not match with their address)
• Send an automated verification link to make sure that the customer is real.
• For cash-on-delivery purchases, make automated calls.
• Request the customer to validate the delivery address.
• Use software solutions to identify fraudulent attempts by using multi-layered authentication.

2. Issues Regarding Cybersecurity

By infecting it with viruses, cyber-attacks can compromise your eCommerce website’s security, and they can compromise the data security of your registered customers.

Solutions:

• Ensure that your eCom website is hosted on an individual server dedicated only to you.
• Create a backup of your entire database and all your files.
• Install security plugins and safety components to prevent hacker attacks.
• Update your eCommerce platform regularly.

3. Customers Abandoning Their Shopping Carts

Statistics indicate that 68 percent of the time, online shoppers abandon their shopping carts, and in some stores, the abandonment rates are as high as 80 percent.

Solutions:

• Redesign the shopping cart, ensuring no bugs or extremely long and tedious form-filling processes.
• Have a support agent that will proactively reach out to and engage with the buying customer.
• Design your website to make it more suitable for mobiles.
• Employ retargeting marketing.
• Send emails to remind the customers that they have not completed their purchases.

4. Lack of Customer Loyalty

Customer loyalty is extremely important for brand integrity and the trust between the seller and the customer. Any company will fail without customer loyalty, as attracting a new customer is five times more expensive than maintaining a current one.

Solutions:

• Make sure your customers are happy with the entire online shopping process. This will give you a competitive edge.
• Improve your customer service.
• Be transparent about things like company address, phone number, and reviews.
• Use loyalty programs that reward returning customers with points, discounts, and coupons.
• Publish blog articles relevant to your audience.

5. Complicated Returns and Refunds Processes

It has been found that before making a purchase, over 60 percent of online shoppers look at the return policy of a store. If stores offered less confusing returns, 48 percent of consumers would buy more, and an inconvenient return policy deters 80 percent of customers.

Solutions:

• Be clear about your return and refund policies.
• Try to use simple language in return policies.
• Offer different delivery methods, payments, and refunds and bonuses like coupons and discounts for unhappy customers.

6. Manufacturers and Retailers Being Your Competitors

It is a common problem that many e-tailers face where the manufacturers and retailers are purchasing products in bulk from online stores and soon begin selling their products directly to consumers.

Solutions:

• Collaborate with smaller brands or brands that concentrate on manufacturing and distributing products to stores instead of directly selling them.
• Offer your products at cheaper prices or with additional benefits.
• In the manufacturer contract, include a statement that would prevent them from selling a certain product directly to a customer.

7. Providing Customers Omnichannel Experience

In a world with computers and mobile devices, the multi-channel shopper has many touch-points they can reach out through. If you fail to adopt an omnichannel customer strategy, you will be left behind.

Solutions:

• Identify the most relevant channels for your customers and personalize messages and one-on-one interaction.
• Keeping track of customer interactions and conversations.

8. Expensive Digital Marketing

On average, the cost of digital marketing has risen 12 percent across all platforms. Therefore, every dollar eCommerce manager invests has less impact than it had in the past.

Solutions:

• Target very specific audiences.
• Track your marketing analytics effectively.

9. Higher Costs in Influencer Marketing

Social media and Google algorithms force influencers to charge more to afford to attract more people with their messages.

Solutions:

• Try to find a popular blogger that writes articles specific to your eCommerce niche. Ask them to produce content about your products or business in exchange for product discounts, commissions, or social media shout outs.
• Use customer brand ambassadors and customer advocacy.

Common E-commerce Trends and Opportunities for Growth

1. Shopping Via Social Media-

Statistics show that more than 55 percent of customers have bought a product through a social media post. Social media can become much more than just a place for brands to connect with their audience and develop their credibility as this number continues to increase.

1. Mobile eCommerce-

Mobile accounts for 70% of global eCommerce revenue, which will grow to 73% by 2021.

1.  Virtual and Augmented Reality-

Virtual and augmented reality are pioneering industries that enable shoppers to see, sound, and even try the items they want to purchase.

1. An Online-

To-Offline Shopping Experience- Marketers are beginning to provide their customers with digital experiences to complement the in-store feel.

1. eCommerce Automation-

More businesses started to become automated to reduce human involvement as much as possible.

Conclusion

As an e-tailer, you may have already experienced some of these problems while managing your own eCommerce business. However, there are practical solutions for all these. Choose solutions suitable for you to ensure the sustainability of your business.