15+ Most Common eCommerce Mistakes in 2024 (+Tips to Avoid Them)

When you are starting something afresh, going forward it is important to think about every step very carefully. Especially when you are starting an eCommerce marketplace.

A numerous number of marketplace owners make some common eCommerce mistakes without even realizing it!

However, every mistake has a consequence and soon these mistakes will show their impact on your business.

So, how to identify those mistakes that you don't know you are making? We have made a checklist you can look at carefully that may relate to your journey.

Common eCommerce Mistakes You Don’t Know You Are Making

Nobody likes to talk about mistakes openly. That is why we have prepared this list so that you can prevent these mistakes from happening.

Let's go check it out.

Table of Content

1. Not Doing Enough Research

Creating and running an eCommerce site takes a lot of effort and time. But you need to make sure you are investing that time efficiently. Because some of the things you are doing can go to waste.

In that case, how do you prevent that? By doing extensive research of course. Before you start anything, you need to do your research and dig deep. Find out what may click and what not.

This may still not prevent some mistakes but it will certainly reduce some!

2. Over Use of Pop-ups

It is a true fact that ads are a great way to earn money if used intelligently.

A study reveals that over 55% of the visitors who come on your website leave within the first minute!

You have very little time to capture the attention of your customers. That is why Pop-ups are ideal. They are very flashy and great at capturing attention.

However, the common mistake the market owners make is, that they tend to overuse these pop-ups which overshadow their actual content. Pop-ups can be irritating and often overwhelm the user into quitting the website sooner than he intends to if he cannot access the information on the website.

3. Poor Navigation

This is another common eCommerce mistake that you need to avoid. It doesn't matter how cool and awesome your homepage looks, when your users can't find their way to the rest of your sites then it's all in vain.

You want your users to “click around” your site. However, you want them to do it with a purpose. If they click around trying to figure out where they want to go, then they will give up rather quickly.

4. Communication Gap

Make sure your customers can reach you. Yes, it may not look like it, but if you are always available for your customers then they will feel a sense of trust and also your efficiency will increase.

Most of the owners forget to add a credible way to contact them or create a helpline. It is a common eCommerce mistake.

5. Not Adapting an Engaging Website Design

Confusion is a bad thing in any circumstance. And if the circumstance is your marketplace website then it could result in disaster.

If your users come to your marketplace and get confused then they will immediately head back and go look somewhere else. Bad user experience designs are everywhere. Without a doubt, it is one of the most common eCommerce mistakes.

Moreover, if you look at the stats then you will definitely find that poor design creates friction that ultimately causes customers frustration.

6. Having no SEO Strategy

How often you have read about the importance of SEO. You will find this term in almost every checklist. We are not going to go over the things that you have heard over and over, everywhere in every checklist.

No matter how awesome your website looks or how exclusive your products are, it all comes down to how your website ranks on the search engine. SEO is not just about including a few keywords and popular search phrases on the website. SEO includes loads of other elements.

7. Not Optimising Your Site for Mobile Devices

Almost 50% of people use mobile devices to access any kind of website. Now think about it. If you only make a site that is awesome when users visit from their desktop or laptops but breaks down when they visit from their mobile phones.

You are losing about 50% of your customers. This is a huge opportunity missed. As an eCommerce entrepreneur, you should tap in and monetize this opportunity.

8. Lack of Payment Options

There are sites (online shops) I have visited where I could only pay using only my Mastercard or PayPal account. So, what about other payment options? Yes, that thought came to my mind.

And that thought will also come to other user's minds as well. So, there should be as many payment methods available as possible during the checkout process.

9. Ineffective CTA

CTA or call to action is one of the preferable ways to gain subscribers and also guide your customers in the right direction. However, you need to add that CTA button subtly.

Otherwise they can become too flashy and lose it's effectiveness. It is one of the most common eCommerce mistakes.

10. Never Do Any Experiment or A/B Testing

Want to understand customer preferences? Do A/B testing. Yes, it is a very big part of your shop's success. This testing helps you to understand what your customer wants, also what is working and what is not.

You can test different theories and get customer feedback. Then you can use those feedbacks to upgrade your online shop to the next level.

It is a very simple trick when you think about it. But most of the owners fails to recognise it.

11. Not Following the Trends

“Eureka!” If you know about the famous Archimedes Principle then you have probably heard about this word. It was a moment of great discovery that created history.

Unless you have a life-changing idea like that, don't try to do something out of the box right from the start.

It's better to stick to the basics of the eCommerce system and try to come up with the best approach for you and your marketplace.

Who knows, you will discover your Eureka moment along the way that will take your marketplace to the next level.

12. Lack of Detailed Product Information

Your sole intention of creating an eCommerce marketplace is to sell your products. You have uploaded pretty images of your products and that's perfectly fine.

But if you don't have any descriptive information about your products then you are losing out on a lot of customers. Online marketing removes the interaction part and that's common sense. Because customers can't touch, feel or relate to the product like they can in any physical shop.

They read the product description and try to get an idea about the product when they are shopping online. Therefore, it is a terrible mistake to keep a customer wondering about a product. Also, there is a pretty high chance they will quickly move onto another online shop.

13. Incomplete Contact Information

There are a lot of marketers that have underestimated the importance of having an About Us Page. This page will be your second or third most viewed page. You can see the statistics to be sure.

It is one of the common eCommerce mistakes that marketplace owners make that they skip the page or don't provide enough information. It hampers the credibility of your marketplace.

Also, the About Us page is a great opportunity to tell your story and add the necessary information.

14. Not Analyzing Data Effectively

Data is the key to Success!

No matter what kind of business you are doing or what kind of marketplace you are running, analyzing your customer data will bring you success. The success will come slowly but eventually.

A lot of marketplace owners make the mistake of ignoring customer demographics. That stops them from expanding their business further and also stops the growth of their marketplace.

This is a very crucial common eCommerce mistake to avoid for the marketplace owners out there!

15. Lack of Effective Policy

Trust is an important factor between a customer and a seller. And it becomes more true when you are running a marketplace. There are a lot of things that help build trust between seller and customer.

One of those things is having an effective marketplace policy. It is crucial to anticipate what common shoppers want and what they question about.

Many of your users are concerned with the payment methods, the shipping amount, and the return and exchange policy, right? Hence, you must have clear tabs for these that would immediately address the unsaid potential objections. 

16. Overlooking Website's Security Issues

As an admin of a marketplace, you are not only responsible for the security of your own information but also to protect the private information of your customers.

Needless to say, you’re going to want any and everything having to do with your business to remain safe and secure at all times. And, while you never want to truly let this aspect of security slip to the back burner, you also don’t want to have to continually worry about keeping all this data safe all the time.

Bonus: Some Actionable Tips to Make Your Marketplace Standout

So, we have talked a lot about mistakes. At this point, it is normal to start getting worried that it is very hard to maintain a marketplace.

Don't worry. We have prepared another list that will help you to not only prevent those mistakes but also take your marketplace to the next level.

• Create unique and relevant content that helps define your marketplace and products
• Focus on the entire customer experience. From visiting your store to a clean and simple checkout process, they shouldn't have any complaints
• Spend some of your energy and time on building customer trust
• There should be multiple payment options
• Establish strong and effective store policies (including the return and refund policy)
• Create a strong social presence, use all the social channels
• Last but not least, never stop experimenting!

Common eCommerce Mistakes – Ending Note

Mistakes are a part of life, but what is important is to understand those shortcomings and try to improve on them.

It is not necessary that these are the exact mistakes you are making in your marketplace. There may be other mistakes you are making that are not on our list. In that case, review all your actions and find out the exact cause.

That can take time, but in the long run, it will help your cause.

Also, you can share your experience with us in the comment section below.