“In 2017, retail e-commerce sales worldwide amounted to 2.3 trillion US dollars and e-retail revenues are projected to grow to 4.88 trillion US dollars in 2021”, as per a report from Statista. The figures include sales from eCommerce retailers that occurs over C2C (Consumer To Consumer) platforms like eBay and also sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers and by gas stations too.
Another report reveals that: “$1 in every $3 of monthly discretionary income is spent online”
Numbers of that scale are hard to wrap our heads around. They point towards the huge potential of online retail growth and the opportunities at hand. If your organisation is starting down the $4.8 trillion barrel and wondering where do you begin? rest assured that you are not the only ones. As Harvard Business Review puts it perfectly, “Business leaders are scrambling to adjust to a world few imagined possible just a year ago.” A lot has changed over a short span in the e-retail domain.
Both small and large players in the industry have to take care of a range of things from thorough website maintenance to impeccable customer service. Here are a few challenges that retail eCommerce businesses face and a solution for them:
Challenge #1: Providing consistent omni-channel customer service
Most eCommerce companies offer multiple customer touch points which includes the website, social channels, messaging platforms, agents etc. The challenge is to offer a consistent omni-channel customer service. The customer expectations are high and the moment there is a hitch, the result is a switch to a more savvy competitor.
What can be done?
Use of right technology is the answer. If the customer support staff has all the necessary tech set-up to reach out to the customers via their preferred channels (phone, eMail, chat, social, in-app messaging etc.) while maintaining the context (by keeping a track of the user profile, past conversation, behaviour, shopping preferences, etc) most part of the job is done.
Challenge #2: Offering seamless user experience
User’s today need fast, reliable and engaging shopping experience. Considering that 79% of customers order online via a mobile device, eCommerce merchants have no option but to fulfil the needs of on-the-go consumers who demand lighting fast, app-like browsing experiences.
What can be done?
Perhaps you can explore PWA. PWA or Progressive Web Apps is the future and with the introduction of Magento PWA studio project on top of Magento 2.3 and above, this has become a hot topic of debate lately. PWAs are like native apps that are quicker to deploy and update and enables to create a fast and reliable user experience . The most important advantage from the customer’s viewpoint is that they do not need to download the app, it just gets added to the homescreen of the browser. From the merchant’s viewpoint, it comes at a much lower cost than the nativce apps.
Challenge #3: Reducing high cart abandonment rates
On an average 69.89% of online shoppers abandon their cart. This is not a small percentage and there are several reasons that account for this- a lengthy checkout process, lack of assistance in checkout, slow site speed, etc.
What can be done?
A thorough look at all aspects of the checkout process to identify bottlenecks can do the trick. Some solutions that can help include identification and removal of any bugs in the checkout, a live chat support at the checkout page, etc.
Making the checkout process small and less time consuming for potential buyers is another major step that can assist in the reduction of cart abandonment rates. To substantiate, several of our clients have reported a substantial decrease on their cart abandonment rates by introducing one step checkout in the Magento 2 Stores.
The last Word
Surviving in the competitive retail eCommerce scenario is no less than fighting a constant war. Strategies, extra efforts, proactiveness, preparedness all help in facing challenges and maintaining growth in the business. Most importantly, the use of the right technology equips the business owners with the necessary things needed to face the challenges and bloom in the changing business scenario.
Worried about anything eCommerce? Contact us using this form and we will get in touch to gather the basic information about your project to suggest the best approach. As a premium magento eCommerce development company, we have been instrumental in improving processes and overcoming eCommerce hurdles for several of our clients worldwide in the ever changing business domain.