5 Mistakes Brands Should Avoid In Ecommerce Strategies

About 10 years ago, eCommerce was a very lucrative field since success was more or less guaranteed. It is no longer the case today due to several reasons, including competition. If you Google ‘kids leather jacket’, you will come across countless online stores offering the said item.

Of course, you only need 1 jacket, meaning that out of 100 possible options, only 1 will end up taking your money. It means 99 stores fail to convert the user into a customer. How can you ensure that the user shops at your store and not others? The answer is to avoid making mistakes that can easily your store’s success.

What are these mistakes? In all honesty, the list is quite long, almost endless. But our focus will be on the top 5 which tend to have the most significant impact. Without further ado, let’s discuss the top 5 pitfalls that brands should try to avoid at all costs, especially if their store is based on a platform such as Magento 2.

Top 5 Mistakes to Avoid in Your Magento 2 Store

1. Failure to Set Up Multiple and Secure Payment Options

Yes, we do understand that enabling multiple payment options increases the store admin’s workload and impact profitability. But the problem is that one of top contributing factors to digital cart abandonment is the unavailability of preferred payment options. This is shown below.

 magento-2-stores

Source: Statista

As you can see for yourself, 17% consumers abandon their cart because their preferred payment option is not available. Therefore, store owners should try to offer the maximum number of payment options. They can use FME Extensions’ Magento 2 Restrict Payment Methods Extension to control costs.

For example, suppose merchant A is charges a 3% transaction fee, whereas merchant B is charging 2%. Using the extension, merchants can disable merchant A for low-value items, certain product categories, or specific customer groups. This can improve profitability without compromising on user experience.

Of course, offering multiple payment methods is not a guarantee of success. Since customers are required to share sensitive financial information, they need to be 100% sure that the website is safe. For this, having an SSL certificate is the bare minimum. PCI DSS compliance is another key requirement.

2. Missing a Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

Let’s revisit our earlier example about leather jacket for kids. Out of 100 possible options, why do you think visitors should choose your store? This is where most online store owners fall woefully short. They themselves don’t know what value they are offering to their target audience. In the rare case they do understand the value, they are unable to communicate it effectively.

Therefore, give your customers a reason to buy from your store. It doesn’t have to be unique. It could be simple as free shipping, same day delivery, lowest prices, or exclusive products. Once you identify your USP, you need to find ways to communicate it. Social media campaigns, dedicated blogs, or website banner image are just some of the ways you can reach out to your target audience.

3. Lack of Personalisation

Based on our experience and market research, simply including the recipient’s name in the email body increases the email opening rate by up to 35%. Yes, this is not an exaggeration! Users are tired of generic experiences. They want everything to be customized based on their preferences.

Therefore, when sending emails, ensure that they are personalized. If it is a product recommendation email, ensure that the recipient has shown interest in it based on past interaction or purchases. Of course, you don’t need to do it manually since they are dedicated software available for it. It automates the entire process.

For example, Magento 2’s advanced personalization tools such as product recommendation or personalized landing pages makes things a whole lot easier for merchants. Likewise, personalized pricing and discounts can be a great way to encourage repeat purchases i.e. build long-term customer loyalty.

4. Overlooking SEO Best Practices

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the most effective way to increase organic traffic to your website. With people learning SEO from online courses, everyone claims to be an SEO expert nowadays. This means that they often have their ‘own’ way of improving a website’s search engine ranking.

If your go-to SEO person is such an individual, you should re-think your strategy. Without proper SEO, it can be near difficult to rank the website on Google, let alone the first page. Fortunately, search engines like Google have dedicated forums on SEO, sharing best practices for others to follow.

Apart from this, Magento 2 is quite SEO-friendly, allowing you to add canonical tags, configure meta title & description, create user-friendly URLs, and more. Therefore, your first focus should be on configuring the in-built features correctly and then moving towards Magento 2 extensions to add advanced functionality.

For example, Magento Open Source does not have a blog feature, meaning you will need a Magento 2 SEO-Friendly Blog Extension. Similarly, FME Extensions’ Magento 2 SEO Ultimate Pack combines 8 powerful SEO extensions into a single extension. Use it to boost your search engine rankings.

Read More: 5 SEO Mistakes to Avoid in 2025

5. Ignoring the Customer

We all know that the customer is always right, but very few actually mean it. When brands start ignoring the customer, they start losing ground. Always place the customer at the heart of each process to ensure long-term success. For instance, when designing the website, ensure that it is easy to navigate and visitors can find the relevant information without any hassle. Likewise, the website should be optimized for all screen sizes since individuals use a variety of devices to access the web nowadays.

Poor optimization means the website won’t load properly, leading to negative user experience. This will force them to competitors. Moreover, if you obtain customer feedback through surveys or social media channels, act on it since it shows the customers that their opinion is valued. Interacting with the customer on social media channels is another way to improve online visibility and foster greater loyalty. Lastly, excellent customer service can compel customers to keep shopping at your store.

Final Thoughts on Most Common Mistakes by eCommerce Brands

This concludes our article on the top 5 mistakes brands should avoid to maximise growth. While they may appear easy to follow, most brands end up failing in these areas. This leads to decline in fortunes and eventually store closure. If you are facing any challenge with regards to the above 5 areas or anything else, don’t hesitate to reach out to our support team. Thank You.

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