While there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution when starting your venture online, there are common e-commerce mistakes that you should definitely avoid. Save yourself the trouble later by taking some easy steps right from the beginning.
1. Put a barcode on the packaging design
When you begin fulfilling your orders yourself, you probably know your own products. You know that SKU 123 is a yellow blanket, and SKU 456 is a green blanket. However, what happens when you pass your items to a third party fulfillment company like Flybear? Fulfillment companies deal with thousands of SKUs, and there is a big chance they will never remember exactly what item is which SKU without a barcode to scan.
You might be thinking ‘well, then, I can just put a sticker on it’. Yes, you can but it’s not cheap in the long run and there’s room for mistakes. Talk to your manufacturer and supplier and build it into the cost of production. That way, the SKUs are already on each product and you don’t have to worry about it any more.
2. Take into account required time to manufacture, ship and inbound
One large mistake that we often see is ‘out of stock’ SKUs. You order more stock from your manufacturer, but they don’t deliver in time and you lose out on sales because you no longer have anything to sell.
Talk to your manufacturer, get the amount of time it takes to make and ship your products. Then, talk to your fulfillment company and get the amount of time to inbound your items.
Remember to add at least a 40% buffer for time. The unexpected will always happen;
- Delay in production because they are a bit busy / holidays are coming up.
- Delay in shipping.
- Delay at customs because paperwork still needs to be filled and inspection needs to be done.
- Delay in inbound because the warehouse is busy and you are below on the list.
3. Focus efforts on a well branded webstore
Shopee, Lazada, and Tiktok Shop are great avenues to make money. However, do not rely solely on marketplaces. Marketing possibilities are limited and at the end, you might lose out on exposure because of things you can’t do.
Invest in a webstore. You could use Shopify or WooCommerce. Having a webstore will allow you to promote your brand more freely on Google, Facebook, Instagram andother social media sites.
4. Ride the campaign waves
Over the last year, there are patterns to when people generally buy.
- Double digit sales (1.1, 2.2, 3.3, etc)
- Pay Day
From our analysis, most sales on e-commerce will happen on the third and fourth week of the month. Make sure you plan your launches and sales during times when there is a higher propensity to make purchases.
5. It’s easier to get people to re-purchase than to attract new customers
Upsell, cross sell, re-sell – If someone buys from you once, there is a large possibility that they will buy once more. Offer discounts, bundle sales and more to customers who are loyal to you. They already trust you, and they already like you. At the end, they will also be the ones promoting your products to their friends and followings.
Common E-Commerce Mistakes Conclusion
At the end, these mistakes are easy to prevent. Take some time and make sure your foundation is stable. And remember, if you ever need a reliable partner, we are here!