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The internet is flooded with ecommerce myths.
Fall for any of these, and you’ll find yourself getting very little to no sales at all.
And if that isn’t enough, not only will you fail to get sales, but you’ll even spend truckloads of cash on meaningless tools or strategies — without you getting anything in return.
To help you get more ecommerce sales and avoid falling for the traps that these ecommerce myths bring, allows us to bring to light some of the deadliest ecommerce myths that most ecommerce store owners fall into.
Let’s get to it.
1. Any Ecommerce Platform Will Do
Despite the many ecommerce businesses operating in the digital world right now, no one-size-fits-all formula can answer every business’ needs.
It’s crucial to choose the right platform that matches your needs and the niche you are working in.
Consider these points when choosing which platform to go for:
- Your ecommerce platform should be adaptable enough to allow you to grow and expand. Check if the platform offers features like backend flexibility and add-ons to determine its scalability.
- There are free online platforms that provide site builder and content management systems.
Other platforms offer more extensive features like extensions, web development, etc., but they can be costly and require a significant upfront investment.
- Skill Level Requirement. Determine the level of skill required to use the platform. Does it require in-depth technical knowledge like coding? Does it offer drag-and-drop page builder features?
There are plenty of ecommerce platforms to choose from, but the goal is to find the one that perfectly fits your business model and goals.
2. Choose Your Suppliers Based on Margins
The success of your ecommerce business also hinges on the capability of your suppliers to deliver quality products your customers need. Otherwise, there’s no point in continuing the business.
It can be tempting to go with suppliers who provide excellent margins, but you can also face higher costs if they fail to deliver efficiently or have poor overall reliability.
That’s why it’s necessary to find suppliers who not only have what you need but can also guarantee excellent customer service, timely product delivery, and dependability.
For instance, running a dropshipping store requires you to work with your suppliers closely to operate your ecommerce business successfully.
Since the suppliers will handle inventory management and product delivery in the dropshipping business model (among other things), you can’t afford to work with less than stellar suppliers.
The good news is, just by reading comprehensive guides about the tricks of the trade and the nitty gritty of dropshipping, you can uncover methods to ascertain (to some extent), that you find a reliable supplier.
Most guides, for example, will point you to a marketplace like Oberlo to find trustworthy suppliers, and to help you automate a good bit of the product integration process from the suppliers to your website.
The Oberlo plug-in lets you import product details and marketing materials to your Shopify store with just a few clicks.
With dropshipping, you need to exercise caution when selecting suppliers since they are the ones handling inventory, packaging, delivery, and returns.
Ensure that you work with suppliers that will streamline your business operations and not hinder it.
3. Don’t Bother With Keywords
No matter how appealing your ecommerce storefront looks, it’s still not enough to guarantee sales.
Both outbound and inbound strategies like PPC ads and SEO should be included in your marketing campaign to generate high-quality traffic.
Regardless of the strategy you are using, your marketing approach depends on the right keywords for brand visibility and to reach your target audience. Using long-tail keywords with buying intent is essential for SEO and sales.
With online tools like KWFinder, you can search for long-tail keywords and the average traffic they generate.
The tool will also give you other relevant details like related keywords, SEO difficulty score, Google SERP analysis, and more.
By using keyword research tools, you can obtain information that will help you optimize for the right keywords to improve your SEO. If your SEO strategies work, you’ll increase your sales opportunities.
4. Mobile-Friendly Themes Are Overrated
If you think optimizing for mobile is unnecessary, then let me tell you that you’re in for a world of hurt.
More and more users are using mobile devices over desktops to shop online.
With Google’s mobile-first indexing, search engine crawlers will use the mobile version of a page, instead of the desktop version, for ranking and indexing. It also means that if your site is not mobile-friendly, your search engine ranking can take a hit.
The implication is that if your ecommerce site isn’t ranking high enough in the SERPs, you’ll miss out on the traffic the search engines can bring to your site.
To improve your site’s mobile-friendliness and provide better user experience, use online tools like Google Mobile-Friendly Test.
As shown in the screenshot above and using the amazon.com site as an example, once you enter the website’s URL, the tool shows you the result of its analysis.
It also gives you a list of suggestions for optimizing your site.
5. I’m OK on My Own.
Relying on your skills to operate an ecommerce business is doable, given the availability of online tools. However, there are still aspects of the business that you will need others to do for you if you want to have a fighting chance at success.
Web design and development, copywriting, and business analysis, among others, are skill-specific aspects of ecommerce that are best handled by professionals.
You don’t need to hire an in-house professional or team to take care of them, though.
There are thousands of online freelance experts in the ecommerce industry who offer competitive rates, which makes them more cost-effective compared to in-house professionals.
The tricky part, however, is finding the right one who can satisfactorily deliver the services you need.
For example, if you are looking to outsource a freelance writer for your content marketing strategy, you will need to look into the freelancer’s industry experience and writing abilities, among other things.
Here are a few other tips to follow when outsourcing certain parts of your ecommerce business:
- Find people who have experience in ecommerce
- Look at their previous work
- Although it’s not a requirement, it is advisable to hire copywriters who are native English speakers
- Check the kind of tools they are using
Another way to find ecommerce experts is to use online platforms like Fiverr.
Just by typing in the specific service you’re looking for, Fiverr will show you several freelancers that you can work with.
Ecommerce Myths Debunked
Successful online entrepreneurship is achievable, and a crucial step to success is not believing in myths and, instead, following the right steps to correct common misconceptions about running an ecommerce business.
What ecommerce myths have you fallen for in the past?
How did it affect your ecommerce business?
Feel free to share your experience in the comments section below. Cheers!