Ecommerce Mistakes – A Summary of Common Ecommerce Mistakes
Here’s the summary of our #ecomchat session on ‘Big Ecommerce Mistakes’. Take a look through & feel free to add any others in the comments.
| danbarker: | It’s 17:30, let’s start #EcomChat. The topic this week is “Big #Ecommerce Mistakes”. @jamesgurd’s going to kick off with the first rough Q. |
| JamesGurd: | #EcomChat Q1) Which big, common mistakes do you see companies making around ecommerce/online marketing? |
| danbarker: | (more detail at https://t.co/G6EsJUm5 if you’d like more info. Just follow the #ecomchat hashtag & chip in otherwise) |
| danbarker: | RT @jamesgurd #EcomChat Q1) Which big, common mistakes do you see companies making around ecommerce/online marketing? |
| JamesGurd: | My starter A1) is not having a clear business plan that everyone buys into with clear goals/objectives/KPIs to measure against #EcomChat |
| JamesGurd: | #EcomChat A1) It’s really hard to prioritise investment and decision making when you have no clear goals to make decisions against |
| JamesGurd: | @gcharlton Hi Graham – are you around for #EcomChat tonight? Just kicked off….. |
| danbarker: | #EcomChat A1: @Magique83 pointed out the placement of https://t.co/1EwTs6uh‘s basket in the header is really weird. |
| pca_plus: | Big ecommerce mistake – making customers register to purchase something. #ecomchat https://t.co/4jAlmUCU |
| danbarker: | #EcomChat A1. One big mistake I often see is people forgetting the boring bits: it’s usually ‘process’ that makes the big difference. |
| agwp: | @JamesGurd #ecomchat I see a lot of paid search ads on keywords that are too broad. I land on the page and they don’t sell what I want. |
| danbarker: | #EcomChat A1. Another common #ecommerce mistake is focussing all optimisation effort on the basket/checkout process. |
| agwp: | If you’re free and into #ecommerce, follow the #ecomchat hashtag and join the convo now – topic tonight: big ecommerce mistakes |
| gcharlton: | #EcomChat A1 Not keeping sites up to date . Playmobil is incredibly popular, but website is a joke: https://t.co/3DfzLWqX Lego a better eg |
| JamesGurd: | @agwp #EcomChat Yes landing page relevance across all dig marketing channels needs to be carefully considered – make life easy for visitors |
| JamesGurd: | RT @danbarker: #EcomChat A1. big mistake I often see is forgetting the boring bits: it’s usually ‘process’ that makes big difference. Agreed |
| agwp: | @rocamike @JamesGurd Wow! Never seen that but that’s awful! Also arrived on sites via mobile which I can’t transact on #ecomchat A1. |
| JamesGurd: | @danbarker #EcomChat e.g. making delivery & returns policy easy to understand and follow with clear instructions of what to do, when etc |
| gcharlton: | RT @agwp: If you’re free and into #ecommerce, follow the #ecomchat hashtag and join the convo now – topic tonight: big ecommerce mistakes |
| danbarker: | @agwp @rocamike I’m always surprised when I see that. Sneaky of Google not to just kill off the ads immediately. #ecomchat @JamesGurd |
| JamesGurd: | @gcharlton Wow, just checked their basket page – so much red text making you feel like you have made errors #EcomChat |
| agwp: | @danbarker @rocamike @JamesGurd Agreed – I bet they don’t hesitate to penalise on quality score though! #ecomchat |
| danbarker: | @JamesGurd @gcharlton I like the ‘please order by December 13th’ note 😉 #ecomchat |
| StokedSEO: | @danbarker spending the time to craft totally unique keywords meta on every page #EcomChat #ecommerce |
| SEMantiks: | A1. Making it as hard as possible to contact them. Hiding phone numbers etc. https://t.co/IVScM5lv is a good example. #ecomchat |
| JamesGurd: | @agwp @rocamike @danbarker Interestingly, often PPC 404s due to changes in product catalogue – need good house keeping on URLs #EcomChat |
| EComplish: | A1. Big ECommerce mistake: Not hosting the payment component of the shopping cart on a secure platform that is PCI Compliant. #Ecomchat |
| gcharlton: | @danbarker @JamesGurd That’s another point – vague delivery timescales, especially at this time of year. #ecomchat |
| millerian: | @JamesGurd Simple thing that bugs me is inconsistency e.g. delivery promises/pricing more expensive in basket than delivery page #ecomchat |
| rocamike: | @JamesGurd @danbarker This is massive. I sent a rant tweet on exactly this just before joining the #EcomChat https://t.co/rRC4LrNe |
| danbarker: | @StokedSEO ah – I think I watched that video 🙂 Are you saying a mistake to spend the time, or a mistake *not* to spend the time? #ecomchat |
| CraigWSoftcat: | @JamesGurd A1) #ecomchat Having ecommerce run by IT or marketing. Niether can usually do it all. Needs “proper” ecommerce expertise/resource |
| StokedSEO: | @danbarker setting the default products per page to <10 #EcomChat #ecommerce |
| danbarker: | @EComplish thanks for that – do you have any opinion on hosted page vs iframe vs native? #ecomchat |
| JamesGurd: | A1) Pet peeve of mine – low contrast between background and content colour, making it headache land for visually impaired visitors #EcomChat |
| StokedSEO: | @danbarker to spend the time on the meta keywords…for 1000’s products… #ecomchat |
| millerian: | @JamesGurd A1 – Not backing up the site with customer service eg. Live help that isn’t, lack of contact details, poor returns etc #EcomChat |
| danbarker: | @JamesGurd that one gets me. Especially with text. At my age it’s tough picking out grey on grey. #ecomchat |
| JamesGurd: | A1) and sites with no site search – regardless of brand, people use it so why aren’t you providing it? e.g. H&M #EcomChat |
| danbarker: | @StokedSEO ‘most viewed but not from search’ is a good way of prioritising which to focus on. What do you think? #ecomchat |
| millerian: | @StokedSEO @danbarker Got that exact problem. Was told that meta keywords drove site search index, nothing else is used. Doh! #EcomChat |
| JamesGurd: | A1) and forcing me to wait for a flash content zone to load before I can do anything on the page https://t.co/O9wFWtjX #EcomChat |
| danbarker: | A good list of #ecommerce mistakes on #ecomchat. Anyone else have any? |
| CraigWSoftcat: | @JamesGurd Any site with “Skip Intro” is just skipped 🙂 #ecomchat |
| JamesGurd: | RT @semantiks: A1. Making it as hard as possible to contact them https://t.co/50Uvr3zW is a good example. #ecomchat Yep that is annoying |
| brandbillie: | Agree >> RT @danbarker: #EcomChat A1. Another common #ecommerce mistake is focussing all optimisation effort on the basket/checkout process. |
| gcharlton: | @danbarker #ecomchat No mobile site.. Some desktop sites can be Ok on mobile, others are impossible. Like this: https://t.co/nxUs16as |
| JamesGurd: | @ecomplish Which e-commerce sites would you give as an example of hosting payment on an insecure platform? #EcomChat |
| gcharlton: | #ecomchat A1 slow reponse to emails. I hate calling up, so this should be a good option, but responses are often v slow. |
| StokedSEO: | @danbarker biggest profit 🙂 #ecomchat |
| EComplish: | @danbarker To ensure PCI compliance, it’s usually best to go with a specialized hosted site that fulfills all the requirements. #ecomchat |
| JamesGurd: | @millerian Yes that can hit basket abandonment as well. Can be hard when many del options, but some default to standard cost #EcomChat |
| danbarker: | @gcharlton I agree with that. I’m hoping the ‘separate mobile site’ will make a bit of a resurgence next year ‘post-responsive’. #ecomchat |
| agwp: | @JamesGurd @ecomplish https://t.co/VvHnAVtD Have a really dodgy checkout process – I think (not sure) it’s on osCommerce #ecomchat |
| danbarker: | @gcharlton great post too 🙂 #ecomchat |
| danbarker: | RT @gcharlton: @danbarker #ecomchat No mobile site.. Some desktop sites can be Ok on mobile, others are impossible. Like this: https://t.co/nxUs16as |
| CraigWSoftcat: | @gcharlton @danbarker #ecomchat Similarly driving traffic to a non mobile optimised page with a QR code, that you scan on a mobile!!!! |
| JamesGurd: | RT @craigwsoftcat: A1) #ecomchat ecommerce run by IT or marketing. Niether can usually do it all. Needs “proper” expertise – yes agreed |
| danbarker: | @EComplish hosted vs iframe? do you offer both? have you ever measured the effect of each? #ecomchat |
| EComplish: | @JamesGurd Any site where when reaching the checkout, there is no secure https in front – you’d be surprised this still happens #ecomchat |
| FintanCostello: | #ecomchat big mistake is a blank space for a coupon / discount code. How many customers when seeing that do a google search? |
| JamesGurd: | @millerian Live Chat is wonderful….but not if there is never anyone online! I’ve seen that a few time and it frustrates #EcomChat |
| redbarrington: | @JamesGurd not doing full usability testing. Some sites are like a minefield to work through (can’t think of examples) #ecomchat |
| therustybear: | #ecomchat stock photos / stock responses – it says a lot about your brand if you use default imagery and text when communicating |
| FintanCostello: | #ecomchat forcing customers to register in order to make a purchase |
| JamesGurd: | @danbarker Ha ha. Yep and for Mr long-sighted here, my eyes go all fuzzy, it’s like Freshers Night all over again! #EcomChat |
| CraigWSoftcat: | A1) #ecomchat A lack of cross browser testing. Especially in B2B many users are still trapped on IE…old versions too. |
| JamesGurd: | @ecomplish I’ve rarely seen it for a well known brand but for some small companies, yes have come across it = immediate exit #EcomChat |
| redbarrington: | @JamesGurd @danbarker black websites also frustrate me (like Orange) #ecomchat |
| JamesGurd: | @fintancostello An interesting point – some would argue that discount code box at basket page can increase drop out. #EcomChat |
| SEMantiks: | A1 – Thumbnails used as full product images, or even worse ‘product image not available’ text #ecomchat |
| danbarker: | @CraigWSoftcat that’s very true. I’ve did some bits with a site where ie6 is still >10% of traffic. public sector. #ecomchat |
| CraigWSoftcat: | @danbarker Scary isn’t it!! #ecomchat |
| danbarker: | @SEMantiks oh yes! tiny thumbnails that can’t be enlarged. #ecomchat |
| EComplish: | @danbarker If you’d like to read more about it, our HostPay product page and downloadable white paper is here https://t.co/qYPNXPsT #ecomchat |
| JamesGurd: | @therustybear ah my favourite – the corporate image for customer services of a polished man/woman with a headset #EcomChat |
| JamesGurd: | @redbarrington Do you not think it’s hard to tell which sites have done full usability? Not always obvious… #EcomChat |
| danbarker: | @redbarrington that would be a very interesting one to test. entire website colour. #ecomchat @JamesGurd |
| danbarker: | @FintanCostello I like the subtle link that brings up a box when you click/mouseover. #ecomchat @JamesGurd |
| JamesGurd: | RT @redbarrington: @JamesGurd @danbarker black websites also frustrate me (like Orange) #ecomchat Yep and https://t.co/ESrvVioC |
| EComplish: | Have to add another ecommerce pet peeve: No mobile site! Here’s why it’s VITAL to have one: https://t.co/vmptt070 #ecomchat |
| danbarker: | @FintanCostello also interesting when sites give them a different name, eg. ‘gift code’, you often see it mirrored in searches. #ecomchat |
| rocamike: | @JamesGurd @therustybear #EcomChat You mean this lady doesn’t work for 5,000 online retailers? https://t.co/uf1iHtKF |
| JamesGurd: | A1) Obsolete product pages that stay on the site and in product listing pages/search index but aren’t ever available again #ecomchat |
| FintanCostello: | Your customers have a smartphone, laptop and a tablet. Make sure your site works on all three #ecomchat |
| FintanCostello: | @rocamike @jamesgurd @therustybear I don’t know where she gets all the time https://t.co/q4l0nUAW #ecomchat |
| danbarker: | @JamesGurd that’s an interesting one. I think Amazon’s stay forever if you know the URL, upselling to the newer model. #ecomchat |
| JamesGurd: | @ecomplish You have to put the investment in perspective though – if mobile <1% of audience, why invest in mobile optimised site? #ecomchat |
| redbarrington: | @JamesGurd it’s not but it amazes me how many sites who rank well in search engines have such poor check out processes #ecomchat |
| EComplish: | RT @FintanCostello: Your customers have a smartphone, laptop and a tablet. Make sure your site works on all three #ecomchat |
| JamesGurd: | @ecomplish not saying it isn’t important but not everyone can afford to create a mobile optimised site – bigger priorities #ecomchat |
| danbarker: | @gcharlton @LarnerC i’ve done a couple of tests where the desktop site outperformed mobile on mobile 🙂 #ecomchat |
| JamesGurd: | @danbarker Yes if you have a relevant onward journey it’s ok but not if it’s a dead end as can happen #ecomchat |
| danbarker: | Another #ecommerce mistake: Sites with zero character – particularly b2c. #ecomchat |
| JamesGurd: | @danbarker Simple solutions can work e.g. change product copy to explain out of stock and use page to promote alternatives #ecomchat |
| EComplish: | @JamesGurd Definitely, but some components should be streamlined. e.g. the checkout/payment section. Too fussy to fill out fields. #ecomchat |
| JamesGurd: | @rocamike Ah no, I was going to use that pic on my new Clients’ websites….. . #ecomchat |
| redbarrington: | @JamesGurd @danbarker oh and sites that ask you to rate them via a survey when you just arrive & actually have no clue! #ecomchat |
| danbarker: | @EComplish very true. one of the big reasons being paypal’s amazing growth recently. #ecomchat @JamesGurd |
| JamesGurd: | @ecomplish Yes agreed that it’s best to get the basics right as a starting point #ecomchat |
| _JakeTucker: | @danbarker play is guilty of this #ecomchat |
| danbarker: | #EcomChat Q2: What are the biggest ecommerce mistakes you’ve seen? |
| JamesGurd: | Woah we’ve been going for 40mins and still on Q1) for #ecomchat – better move us on to Q2 and drag out some skeletons……. |
| FintanCostello: | @JamesGurd @ecomplish why do you think mobile is <1% of audience. I know companies who do a majority 55% of transactions on mobile #ecomchat |
| JamesGurd: | So Q2) of #ecomchat is: What’s the biggest ecommerce/online marketing mistake you’ve ever made, or seen someone make? |
| cranberrypanda: | RT @danbarker: #EcomChat Q2: What are the biggest ecommerce mistakes you’ve seen? |
| EComplish: | @danbarker @JamesGurd Exactly. Our mobile payment solution is very popular bc it can be added to any site. https://t.co/7FWrK6sy #ecomchat |
| danbarker: | Interesting point from @_JakeTucker re the ‘sites with no character’ point. https://t.co/SCzi4Ntj has very little of it. #ecomchat |
| SEMantiks: | A1 – Also hate ‘continue shopping’ buttons that take you to the homepage. #ecomchat |
| JamesGurd: | But I have to throw in a last minute addition to Q1) – pages that have had zero UX design logic applied e.g. https://t.co/hIM866gV #ecomchat |
| FintanCostello: | @JamesGurd bad PPC landing pages which are not relevant to the ad or the search term #ecomchat |
| rocamike: | @danbarker #EComChat A pop up earlier on https://t.co/3LBV3LMA asked why I didn’t complete checkout – at the order confirmation page! |
| danbarker: | @FintanCostello very big! i’m guessing not physical products? #ecomchat @JamesGurd @EComplish |
| danbarker: | @SEMantiks good one. What do you think is best to do? #ecomchat |
| JamesGurd: | @fintancostello I’ve seen SMEs with minimal mob (exc tablet) visitors – they have bigger fish to fry before optimising for them #ecomchat |
| danbarker: | @rocamike haha – oh dear! I hope you called & cancelled the ugg wedge sandals 😉 #ecomchat |
| EdwinBongo: | @danbarker see the Internet: 1997-2000 #ecomchat |
| JamesGurd: | @fintancostello @ecomplish e.g. if they improved main site they could get greater ROI than by optimising for mobile #ecomchat |
| JamesGurd: | @fintancostello @ecomplish of course it shouldn’t be ‘either, or’ but with finite budget, priorities have to be set #ecomchat |
| SEMantiks: | @danbarker Personally I prefer resolving back to the product page. Category is ok if I’m notified. Eg ‘Continue shopping in shoes’ #ecomchat |
| NeilkWhitehead: | RT @JamesGurd: So Q2) of #ecomchat is: What’s the biggest ecommerce/online marketing mistake you’ve ever made, or seen someone make? |
| danbarker: | A couple of things that have been perceived as big #ecommerce mistakes: Olympic tickets & Kraftwerk tickets. Bad with hindsight? #ecomchat |
| danbarker: | RT @EdwinBongo: @danbarker see the Internet: 1997-2000 #ecomchat |
| JamesGurd: | So any offers for an answer to Q2) for big mistakes you have made or seen? #ecomchat I’ll kick off with a big balls up when Client side.. |
| JamesGurd: | A2) selecting an SEO partner when I didn’t know enough about SEO to know what skills were the most important #ecomchat Bad decision! |
| redbarrington: | @danbarker https://t.co/SVHQgnCD? Let’s buy it? Ideas before their time. #ecomchat |
| JamesGurd: | @semantiks @danbarker Good rule of thumb is back to the page shopper was on before hitting the basket with breadrcrumb preserved #ecomchat |
| SEMantiks: | A2 – Ebuyer’s recent flash sale tanked because of high traffic and a lack of scalable hosting. Site was down for hours. #ecomchat |
| danbarker: | @redbarrington very true! the https://t.co/swhQW3xe technology turned into venda i think, now spawning powa & mpowa & locayta, etc. #ecomchat |
| EComplish: | @JamesGurd @FintanCostello Improving main site is vital but leaving all mobile users out in cold often deflects repeat visits. #ecomchat |
| NeilkWhitehead: | @JamesGurd #ecomchat once encountered a site with a ‘delete all’ in checkout. Mistakenly wiped basket. Dangerous on a small mobile screen |
| JamesGurd: | @semantiks Ah yes the failure to provide hosting that can cope with major spikes for campaigns – Debenhams a few years ago also #ecomchat |
| danbarker: | @SEMantiks sales is a good one. the Debenhams site used to habitually die whenever they had a sale. #ecomchat |
| danbarker: | @SEMantiks the Google Nexus 4 launch similar to that. Something you wouldn’t expect from them. #ecomchat |
| EComplish: | A2. #ecomchat We’ve seen ecommerce mistakes with servers that can’t handle sale demand, and shopping carts that don’t allow checkout. |
| EComplish: | Some of the worst ecommerce mistakes we’ve seen, detailed in this blog post: https://t.co/00CnU1kR #ecomchat |
| JamesGurd: | @danbarker @redbarrington Interesting that https://t.co/qFix0zrG redirects to https://t.co/ZC7vHtdW (a site I like) #ecomchat |
| JamesGurd: | RT @neilkwhitehead: #ecomchat once encountered site with ‘delete all’ in checkout. Mistakenly wiped basket. Dangerous on small mobile screen |
| danbarker: | @NeilkWhitehead I’ve seen that on charity sites. @thegrok had a good example of one with ‘Cancel’ next to ‘Complete Donation’. #ecomchat |
| EComplish: | @NeilkWhitehead @JamesGurd There’s a site we’ve seen where once you hit the checkout button, it takes you back home again. Fail. #ecomchat |
| JamesGurd: | @ecomplish Have you seen many issues where a company changes hosting provider and doesn’t inform payment provider…. #ecomchat |
| danbarker: | Just a few minutes left of #ecomchat. Very active & very quick today. Anyone else want to chip in with #ecommerce mistakes? |
| JamesGurd: | @danbarker @neilkwhitehead I also find checkouts where all buttons are identical can confuse customers e.g. https://t.co/mzSEhZUP #ecomchat |
| JamesGurd: | A2) #ecomchat My main mistake – not finding a role where I had a switched on/experienced e-commerce mentor to help me learn #ecomchat |
| JamesGurd: | RT @danbarker: Just a few minutes left of #ecomchat. Very active & very quick today. Anyone else want to chip in with #ecommerce mistakes? |
| EComplish: | We have to run out of #ecomchat a little early today – if anyone wants to chat more, come hang with us on Facebook https://t.co/HyKkADD8 |
| EComplish: | And the rest of you we will come back and chat with later! #ecomchat |
| JamesGurd: | @ecomplish thanks for joining in and sharing your thoughts. Hope to see you here again for #ecomchat |
| JamesGurd: | Ah the end is nigh once more for the children of #ecomchat. Big thanks to everyone who took part, some great comments as always |
| JamesGurd: | Please keep an eye on https://t.co/rDDwlzK2 for the write-up plus info on next week’s #ecomchat with myself and @danbarker |
| danbarker: | Thanks all for chipping in to #ecomchat tonight. We’ll summarise and write up as ever. Good night! |
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