Here’s a sobering statistic, around eight out of ten online stores fail within the first 24 months of going live. So why then, when the eCommerce market is growing at around 13% each year, do so many new online stores fail? It boils down to this: In a highly competitive market, the basics can make or break your business.
No matter what niche your online store is centered around or whether you’re a new or an established business, it is easy to get bogged down by the day-to-day running of your businesses without thinking of the bigger picture.
Which is why I took to the internet and asked the experts, in search of the top six reasons why eCommerce businesses fail. Here are the top six mistakes others have made and some insights into how you can prevent it from happening to your store.
Let the countdown begin…
6: Lack of Product Focus
The first mistake so many fledgling online merchants make starts at the product planning stage. Before launching, they are tempted into loading their online store with as many types of products possible — because the more products you have, the more you sell…right?
Unfortunately not. Dropshipping everything and anything from shoes to cell phone covers will make a store look untrustworthy in the eyes of a consumer. Doing this leaves stores without an identity customer can relate to, which means stores don’t become an authority in any direction. Without the expert knowledge to help customers within the niche they are buying and being left with a diluted brand without any strong direction, a store will not get the sales it needs to survive long term.
Brayola is an example of a highly-focused online store doing it right. Picking their niche and becoming an expert and authority within it.
Related Read: Your Website is your business investment
The trick to avoiding this business-closing pitfall is to choose a niche, whether it is clothing or phone accessories or books, and become an authority within that niche. In other words, if you’re dropshipping from Aliexpress, instead of making your store a free for all, focus on one specific area such as smartphone accessories or DIY and become an authority in that niche that shoppers can trust.
