Launching an e-commerce business but don’t know how to get it off the ground? Aside from paid social media ads, e-commerce businesses also need an interested audience of potential buyers and a well-designed web store.

However, beginner sellers make the mistake of launching an online store with low-quality photos, no product descriptions, and no social media followers.

Keep reading to discover 5 common e-commerce mistakes and the ways to avoid them.

1. You Don’t Have a Business Plan

If you want to run a business online, you need a business plan for your e-commerce store. A plan will help you define budgets, niches, products, tasks, deadlines, employees, expenses, and profits. It’ll keep you accountable and give you direction when you don’t know where to go next.

Make sure to include a marketing plan in your business plan to define the activities for promoting your store. If you’re new to e-commerce, create a business plan for the first 3-6 months in business. As you gain more experience, you’ll adjust the plan according to the business needs and developments.

2. You Don’t Have a Defined Niche

One of the most common e-commerce mistakes is not defining a niche early on. You may want to sell whatever’s trending at the moment, but if you don’t have a niche, you’ll end up with zero sales.

Having a niche will help you define and target an audience that’ll be excited to buy your products. With a niche, you can also plan your marketing strategy, brand materials, and web store style.

3. You Don’t Have a Social Media Audience

Successful e-commerce stores turn a profit because they know how to sell with social media. To do this, you need to grow your social media presence and get an audience that’ll be interested in your products.

You can do this via paid ads but also organically, by posting fun, relevant, helpful content that’ll attract your ideal customers.

4. Your Online Store Is Quickly Thrown Together

Launching a new business is exciting, but it doesn’t mean you should rush the website design and just throw it together quickly. Your website is the equivalent of a store window. It needs to attract the customer, be easy to browse, and have clear information about the descriptions of products, prices, and policies.

The checkout page should be secure and easy to navigate to make sure customers complete their purchases. Not sure where to start? Check out NetSuite Ecommerce and find the perfect solution for your business needs.

5. Hidden Costs and Bad Return Policies

Customers expect to pay the price they see on your website. Don’t throw in some extra shipping and handling fees, taxes, or convenience fees at the end. This is the main reason for cart abandonment and losing customers for good.

Always be open and upfront about all fees and expenses and make sure this information is visible on your website.

Are You Making These Common E-Commerce Mistakes?

Whether this is your first online store or you’ve had one for a while, avoiding these common e-commerce mistakes can save you a lot of time, money, and hard work.

Need more tips on online and offline business? Read some of the other articles we’ve written on these topics and stay tuned for the latest industry news and trends.