The Most Common eCommerce Risks and How to Avoid Them

eCommerce is seeing unprecedented growth. While online shopping has advanced significantly over the last several years, it has become an indispensable service in the aftermath of the global pandemic. Retail eCommerce sales are expected to climb to $5.542 billion by 2022, according to projections. While selling online is frequently the primary business strategy, it is also proving to be a viable alternative for firms experiencing a drop in brick-and-mortar sales. However, there are certain eCommerce risks in addition to the benefits.

While an eCommerce platform eliminates the possibility of customers taking products from the store floor, there are several distinct issues and risks associated with digital enterprises. These risks include data theft, fraud, malware, and other security breaches, as well as problems with third-party platforms, data privacy laws, internet security laws, and customer service issues.

To help you, we have compiled a list of typical eCommerce risks and solutions that you can try:

1. Inadequate online identity verification

When a visitor visits an eCommerce website and signs up, you must ensure that this is a legitimate buyer. You won't have to deal with fake accounts or bots, which could cost you money when you buy things with cash on delivery (COD).

Solution: Take the necessary steps to validate the details of internet shoppers. When a customer registers, always provide them with a verification link. With COD orders, an automated call may be placed to the consumer, requesting that they validate the delivery address. Use automation to look for fake phone numbers and email addresses, as well as to see if zip codes are correct for the state or city they belong to, too.

And, of course, keep an eye out for any signals of questionable activity. This could be in the form of exceptionally high-value or huge orders.

2. No multi-channel support

Creating a seamless omnichannel shopping experience for customers is a major challenge for every online store. Customers anticipate they can reach out to your brand through any number of touchpoints, such as your website, phone, email, social media, your store, and more. All of these touchpoints need to be unified. Creating an omnichannel customer experience in retail allows companies to communicate with customers on all channels. In fact, any organization that isn’t moving toward an omnichannel retailing strategy will likely be left behind.

Solution: To design an omnichannel strategy that works, think about prospective customer needs, then adopt the correct customer experience technologies. Here are a few procedures to follow to tackle eCommerce difficulties:

• Start by identifying the most important distribution channels. What methods do your clients use to get in touch with you? What networks do they prefer?
• Integrate these channels well. Use customer experience technology to talk to customers via their preferred channels (such as phone, email, live chat, video call, online help centers, or in-app messaging) (like phone, email, live chat, video call, online help centers, or in-app messaging).
• Keep things in perspective. Use interaction history to inform dialogues. Unified view features in CX platforms can offer this capacity.

3. Absence of rivalry

One of the most competitive industries is eCommerce. Variations in several criteria — such as costs, service, supply chain operations, and so on — can make a significant difference for customers. Obtaining and retaining a customer base is one of the most difficult eCommerce problems. For example, if one of your competitors forms a deal with a delivery app, they may gain market share even if your prices or products are superior.

Solution: To design your digital marketing plan, conduct extensive research on rivals and the market. Invest in promotional deals to improve your brand's visibility. Remember that internet firms that offer customer loyalty programs are 88% more profitable than those that do not. Customer loyalty programs make online retailers more profitable. Invest in excellent customer service as well. It worked out well for furniture store Dufresne when they decided to go digital with their service and sales.

4. Outdated sales strategy

Keeping up with modern consumer expectations is one of the most important concerns in eCommerce customer service. Many businesses are unable to gain the required knowledge about how their customers behave and what they buy.

Solution: Think about selling your items on well-known marketplaces like Amazon and eBay. These eCommerce platforms already have a wide network of purchasers, so pitching and branding your goods (and figuring out what works and what doesn't) becomes slightly easier. Segment your data as well. A lot of things can be used to group people for eCommerce: customer journeys, previous conversations, geographic location, browsing habits, referral pages, and a lot more.

5. Abandoned shopping carts

Abandoning an eCommerce's shopping cart is a major problem for online retailers. Even the biggest names in eCommerce aren't exempt from it.

For instance, when brick-and-mortar heavyweight Nordstrom opened an eCommerce platform, they experienced large opportunity losses of eCommerce purchases through abandoned carts. Customer abandonment was being blamed on a lengthy and bug-infested checkout procedure. This eCommerce dilemma can’t be ignored.

Solution: Nordstrom had to come up with a new checkout design, turning checkout into a much easier two-step procedure. Enabling a two-step checkout process can help you optimize your eCommerce shopping cart and make it more user-friendly.

Consider revamping your shopping cart, too. Remove bugs or needlessly long forms. Offer immediate support tools that clients can use if they get stuck. Using visual aids during the checkout process might also assist in answering customer questions. For instance, if a customer has problems opening an account, your representatives can launch a co-browsing session to educate them on how to accomplish it. Applying this simple solution will dramatically enhance your shopping cart conversion rate.

6. Unsatisfied Customers

Your company will struggle if it lacks client trust and loyalty

Your company will struggle if it lacks client trust and loyalty. Obtaining and retaining clients, on the other hand, necessitates a significant amount of effort. One of the reasons eCommerce businesses struggle to create client trust and loyalty is that the seller and buyer frequently don't know or can't see one another. Interactions become less personable as a result. This eCommerce problem will only be overcome with time and effort. Eventually, the organization will be able to create this trust and loyalty through many purchases.

Solution: First, ensure that your customer service processes, from online ordering through shipment, are efficient. Consider the following:

• On your website, including your address, phone number, staff photos, client testimonials, and badges of trust.
• Creating useful content.
• Making customer service a higher priority than profit is the same as making profit a higher priority than customer service.
• Requesting comments from customers.
• Refinement of loyalty schemes.

7. Client Disputes and Refunds

One of the major concerns with online shopping in the eCommerce business is that clients are now able to claim refunds on disputed items. The most common reason for a dispute is the non-receipt of the ordered item after the customer's credit card has been charged. Some customers are charged twice, and other times the description of the goods does not match what the consumer receives.

However, when a product is returned, the company suffers a significant loss in both shipment and reputation. Shipping costs have always been an issue for sellers in this situation when it comes to eCommerce.

Solution: Having good return and refund procedures is unavoidable. However, you may need to carefully craft your policies and express them effectively. Consider the following suggestions:

• Avoiding the distribution of erroneous products.
• Make sure all things have been dispatched and delivered before charging the buyer.
• Use a unique tracking number for each and every order.
• Scanners that read barcodes reduce the possibility of payment-related mistakes.
• Be open and honest.
• Set your expectations. Provide a variety of payment and shipping alternatives.
• Staff should be educated. They must be aware of your return rules in order to successfully help clients.

8. SEO Ranking

Among the many eCommerce concerns, SEO and digital marketing for your company can pose a major risk. Google's algorithms are constantly changing, which has a significant impact on your ranking. A low SEO score means less traffic to your website, which leads to fewer purchases. As a result, you must also concentrate on your eCommerce business's digital marketing.

A low SEO score means less traffic to your website

Solution:

• If you don't have a good SEO expert taking care of your internet marketing, your website traffic could go down.
• Find the most appropriate keywords to market your products.
• Use the correct tools to find what you're looking for.
• Create a strong social media strategy.

9. Competitors include retailers and manufacturers.

Many internet retailers acquire in bulk from manufacturers or distributors and resell them online. This is the fundamental eCommerce business model. However, because of the low barrier to entry in eCommerce, product makers and retailers have begun selling directly to customers as well. Your competitor could be the same company that sells your items.

Solution: Even though it's impossible to stop manufacturers from selling their products directly to customers, there are a few things you can do:

• Priority should be given to manufacturers who are less inclined to sell directly to customers.
• To enhance sales, provide the goods at a reduced price or with additional features.
• Limit the manufacturer's ability to sell the goods directly to customers by stating this in the contract. In this case, it won't be possible for every manufacturer to do this, but it's possible to work with smaller ones in this way.

10. The increased requirement for data security

Security concerns might result in nightmare scenarios. Spammers may send spam and infect websites with viruses. They may obtain access to sensitive information such as your clients' phone numbers, credit card information, and more. Keep your eCommerce customers secure from security flaws.

Security difficulties when customers use credit cards and enter personal information are a regular eCommerce challenge for online retailers. Consumers, on the other hand, don't care what you do; they expect you to fully safeguard them. Security should not be seen as one of the problems with eCommerce. Instead, it should be seen as a simple thing that everyone needs.

Keep your eCommerce customers secure from security flaws

Solution: Here are some suggestions to ensure the security of your website:

• Manage your own servers.
• Don't use standard FTP to transmit files.
• Use cybersecurity experts or engineers.
• Have efficient verification methods in place (as described in #1).

Passwords and other personal data can also be stolen if a developer copies files in an open Wi-Fi network. You can reduce the risk of stolen data by regularly updating the shopping cart. The majority of content management systems keep their data in a database. Developers should create backups at regular intervals and recover data if it is stolen.

Conclusion

It is prudent to be aware of the hazards that exist in your immediate internet surroundings. You should also be aware of how to defend yourself from and prepare for these eCommerce risks.

Surviving the intense eCommerce competition necessitates exceptional strategies. Prepare to solve any potential eCommerce issues and focus on developing a customer-centric culture. You will not only be able to address customer service issues, but you will also be able to discover what makes your customers tick and provide them with an online purchasing experience they will remember.

Contact Groove Technology now for further support in controlling eCommerce risks!