Nowadays, anyone can become a retailer. Unlike a real shop, there’s no need to worry about costs and inconveniences. Thanks to the internet, you can find a potential consumer anywhere in the world. The challenge is getting in touch with everyone, although it seems exciting. Despite the fact that your products are of high quality and competitively priced, it takes more than just a website to be successful. Luckily, there are several low-cost options available for connecting with online shoppers.
Just like there are several advantages of being an online retailer, there are many disadvantages too. Many newcomers in this eCommerce niche commit many mistakes and may find themselves in a very tough spot sometimes.
Let’s discuss some general mistakes a WooCommerce retailer commits and find a way to avoid them.
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Working on outdated versions of WooCommerce and plugins
You are putting your business at great risk by using an outdated and unsupported version. Security threats arise on a regular basis. You are susceptible to many attacks with an old version. Securing your system should be your top priority. Due to the simplicity of the mistake, its seriousness is often overlooked.
There are regular updates to WooCommerce and WordPress. Many store owners ignore those updates since they think WooCommerce works just fine, so upgrading is not necessary. That assumption is false. It’s common for outdated versions to be a security risk. Having your customers’ credit card information, passwords, and other sensitive financial and personal information online can be a concern for any online store.
When using an outdated or unsupported version, two primary risks might arise. It’s possible that the most recent version has security flaws that have been detected and fixed. Your shop is left unprotected while using outdated plugins. Many ongoing problems are only fixed in the newest versions.
Second, your site can stop working if you install a plugin to integrate WooCommerce with a service like a payment gateway or delivery method and the seller modifies how websites link to them. If you’re updating an existing plugin or installing a new one, make sure to test it on a staging site with the most recent version.
Solution
Installing the most recent version of WooCommerce and then testing your store are two ways to keep your WooCommerce website up to date. You can release the test in the production environment when it has been finished and successfully passes. Staying updated is an excellent practice. And in the case of the plugin update, it works just like the website updates for WooCommerce. If the test of your shop on the most recent plugin version is successful, you may load live.
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No well-designed products page
The product page is the first and most often visited page by customers. Users are discouraged from making a purchase when there aren’t enough customization options available for the product page, the page design is limited to fewer elements or both. To get visitors, a page must be outstanding. Product pages that cannot be customized often are basic with little appeal, however, one that has various add-ons makes it better in view.
Solution
The Extra Product Options for WooCommerce is a great choice to solve this issue. You can choose from 26 varieties of field types to display extra product options. Create additional sections and fields, and group them into similar fields. Display the created sections and fields using certain conditional rules. And you may set validators for certain fields (like password, account number).
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Neglecting website security
One of the most crucial aspects of websites is security, which is something you should never neglect. The cost of purchasing the SSL certificate may have been a concern for you. Unless your store is safe, you won’t have credibility. Consider a situation where a transaction is risked by any hacking attempt.
To boost trust in your website, security is a crucial component. An unprotected website is susceptible to software hackers and online attacks. It would be disastrous if hackers gained access to your website because it contains important data about your customers’ personal information. The majority of customers will avoid making purchases from unsecured retailers.
Solution
An eCommerce site that uses SSL certificates can better safeguard sensitive data. An SSL certificate is required if users of your online store are required to input their personal information.
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Not keeping regular site backups
Your eCommerce website acts as the foundation of your online store. If something were to happen to it, you would miss out on upcoming sales. Once you have backups, you can put your shop back on track. One of the frequent mistakes that the business owner makes on this platform is failing to conduct a site backup. It can be by accidentally deleting any product or maybe by deleting the entire database.
Solution
Easily schedule backups for your store using many tools available. Remember to save the old version before working on any changes each time.
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Poor checkout process
Each step a consumer takes on your website to purchase the things in their cart is part of the e-commerce checkout process. They provide their billing and shipping information, choose a payment option, finish the transaction, and receive an order confirmation as part of the process.
You should start with cart abandonment, which has an average rate of about 65%. In other words, despite spending money on marketing and other resources to draw in customers and move them through the sales process, firms still lose more than half of their conversions. Any online consumer will be put off by expensive delivery charges.
Solution
So, if you want to increase your bottom line, you must master the checkout process. Maximizing conversion rates should be your goal while you try to reduce process complexity. Offer clients free shipping with a minimum purchase total, rather than putting a stop to the shopping at the checkout.
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Failing to keep System Status Report
The system status report is essential for giving you a performance report for your WooCommerce website. Every developer makes a mistake while building up a new WooCommerce website by misconfiguring the code, theme, or plugins. System settings frequently change, therefore as the owner of a WooCommerce website, you need to keep everything in working order. A system status report function that offers frequent information on the website’s operations is included with WooCommerce. Important concerns include the PHP version, plugin version, web server version, accessibility to essential functionality, and current themes. Owners of WooCommerce websites frequently disregard these reports, and this is where the issue begins.
Solution
It’s time to think about the report and take action to eliminate the impacts if a red notification appears at the top of the page.
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Ignoring to respond to customers regularly
Customers are to be treated well for the reason, without them your business would go down the graph. As it’s their first time purchasing from your store they may have some doubts, suggestions, or any comments regarding the purchase. Not replying, replying late, or responding with very little information can make them not return to your store anymore.
Avoiding getting in touch with your old customers is another most important mistake you may make. The people who buy your product already know and love you, otherwise, they wouldn’t be buying it at all. If they are willing to endorse your product or become an affiliate or recommend it to others who need it, be sure to ask for their testimonial. You can ask them how happy they are with the product and if there’s anything that can be improved.
Solution
Regular updates about the customer’s orders, reply to their queries
with all the information they need. If you have staff for all departments of your store, assign a team for customer support to make the process easier.
In short
A good-looking, fully functional, and effectively converting WooCommerce store requires a lot of subtle technical details to perform well. Also harming their chances of ever-expanding their firm are the numerous technical errors that many online store owners commit. In addition to following the above-mentioned points, have a look at the WooCommerce services to help you prevent further technical errors like neglecting to backup your site, protect it from the inside out, cache the appropriate websites, and upgrade to new versions.
Tags: Retailerwoocommerce