Gone are the days when users preferred to visit a brick-and-mortar store to get something. As in 2021, the majority of consumers search online for a particular product, and if they can't find it, they visit the store.
Web development in Pakistan is the first step towards establishing your online presence and diving into the ecommerce industry.
But that's not all you need. Just like the world around, online business in Pakistan is on the rise, and so are the ecommerce problems and challenges.
2021 proved to be a game-changer in the ecommerce industry.
According to the latest insights, The Total Transaction Value (TTV) touched 4.1M USD in 2021 in the digital commerce sector, and surprisingly, it is expected these stats will easily hit 5.8 or more by 2025.
Only businesses that foresee the problems and work to resolve them will succeed in the coming years.
Here we have mentioned the common problems business owners face in the online realm and possible solutions to overcome them.
Problem #1: Demand for Data Protection and Cybersecurity
Trust and loyalty are the key to boost your online business in Pakistan. Data protection is the main concern of customers when they visit a website. The majority of ecommerce stores never pay heed to cybersecurity-related issues.
According to the latest insights, since March 2020, up to 25% of online stores have faced cyber-attacks.
Mostly e-commerce stores are prone to these issues as customers add their personal information and account details for the transitions.
If your ecommerce store lacks optimal security, there isn't a chance you are going to succeed in the ecommerce industry.
Customers are more concerned about their data privacy these days, which is why they demand increased security at website checkout.
Furthermore, one cyber breach can cause all your customers' data and put your store at risk.
So building an eCommerce store should be your second priority, but making it secure and trustworthy should be the first.
Possible solutions to improve Data Security
Let's see them one by one.
- First of all, make sure you are availing hosting services from the most reliable web hosting company in Pakistan to take a good start on your business.
They will provide you hosting according to your business needs and requirements.
Many businesses mistake sharing web hosting with other businesses and slow down their uptime speed.
- Maintain some discipline and follow principles when designing an ecommerce website, keep your code clean and clear and also don't use default passwords on any of your website's backend or admin sections; better to create a completely new password.
- Buy an SSL certificate which will make your website more reliable in the eyes of your customers.
Even if your website doesn't host any sensitive data, an SSL certificate provides a sense of security to the users. Also don't make use of any old plugin; if it doesn't work properly, don't try to fix it.
Google ranks the websites that they see more reliable and trustworthy.
- Enable Captcha and secure all forms on your website and disable functions like guest checkout, user registration, and other features which allow a stranger to browse your ecommerce website.
All these features make your website vulnerable to security attacks.
An SEO expert will also recommend you to get an SSL certificate as soon as possible.
Problem #2: The Struggle to Beat the Competition
Since ecommerce is rising in the world, so is the competition. More and more wholesalers are joining the ecommerce industry, making it difficult for the retailers to beat them with pricing.
If you are just starting as an ecommerce business, you might not consider it a major problem.
But the more you grow, the higher the competition.
If you are smart and have farsightedness, you should implement different strategies from the beginning to outrank your competitors in the first hand and enjoy good leads.
As an ecommerce business that is growing into a successful one, you will have to learn how to deal with competition. You should always be ready for the competition.
The earlier you get the answer to these questions, the better.
- Who are your direct competitors?
- What are their strong points?
- What can you do to make yourself better than them?
Here are some solutions come tips for you to get started:
- Product display and quality: After selling for a while, you might notice that your competitors have already copied or imitated all your best products.
In this case, you should think of a new product that has reasonable audience but very low competition. Work on that product and establish yourself as the authority before the imitation part takes place.
- Your ecommerce website: Over time, your competitors will improve their websites and compete with you on the same level.
It is also not enough to introduce new products; you have to work on your website's user experience.
The whole ecommerce industry is experiencing a shift from B2C to C2B; you have to adapt.
- Social Media: In today's every business, social media is an important source of traffic. You should pay attention to the major social media channels to see how your competitors are using them.
If you have a good idea, you should implement it on your platform.
- Customer service: Your customer service reps should be able to resolve the issues of your customers as quickly as possible.
If you have proactive customer support and your customers are satisfied with your services, that’s another plus for your business.
- Up-sell and Cross-Sell: You should explore diverse avenues for generating revenue, rather than merely relying on selling a product and neglecting other opportunities.
You should introduce up-sell and cross-sell; know that if a customer buys a product from you. he will probably need another one.
Now it’s up to you, what additional offers you can introduce to hook your customers.
- Shipping cost: Ecommerce competition is fierce; you can't just set the same shipping price as your competitors.
Because when it comes to international shipping, there are a lot of factors that affect the price.
It would be best if you learned how to reduce your shipping cost and keep your customers at an advantage, so they trust you and become return customers.
Problem #3: Managing Cart Abandonment & Increasing the Rate of Conversions
A common problem for ecommerce businesses is understanding why customers abandon the checkout page because there are many possible reasons.
In other words, it's difficult to find out what causes your leads to drop off without finalizing their transaction process.
Not a single industry is saved from the cart abandonment issue. The following stats prove which industries are suffering the most from cart abandonment.
Possible solutions to increase conversion rate and resolve cart abandonment
- It would help if you tracked your conversions and abandonments to determine where the most critical problems lie within your checkout process.
If you do not track these metrics, how will you know if your efforts are truly effective? You can implement lead magnet strategy to offer value to your customers.
Irresistible lead magnets can help you to increase your conversion rates.
- Segment customers based on the behaviour you see in their carts.
For example, customers who add items to their carts but leave without purchasing might be very interested in a discount or promotion.
Include call-to-action buttons throughout your site to entice these customers.
- Shorten your checkout process. Customers are more likely to abandon their carts if the process takes too long.
Keep it concise, but ensure that the process is user-friendly; also include guest checkout together with social sharing or login features to shorten the checkout process and increase conversions.
Refund assurances contribute to a rise in conversion rates and a decrease in instances of abandoned shopping carts.
- Market your site to increase conversions and reduce cart abandonment.
Use social ads, email marketing to get your customers interested in purchasing from your site.
If you are naive about running social ads or improving your website content, hire SEO agencies in Pakistan to save your time.
- Include item reviews within your site to increase conversions and reduce cart abandonment.
Customers typically read reviews for items before making a purchase decision, so they are very important to include on your site.
- Another crucial reason for poor conversion is your customers aren't able to find you in the very first place. Hence you need proper SEO optimization of your website.
Problem #4: Dealing with Product Refunds & Returns
The last problem is about dealing with refunds and returns. Despite having high-quality products, you will still have to deal with refunds and returns.
Customers check your store's return policies before making a purchase because they want the best experience possible.
To improve customer loyalty, you must have clear and straightforward refund & return policies that don't overwhelm your business, put off buyers, or create an overwhelming loss in terms of shipping costs and reputation.
Possible solutions to deal with refunds and returns
- The very first solution is to make sure you have the highest quality product as average products are more prone to return.
What businesses often do is create the hype of the product through high-resolution visuals and when customers receive the product, it is not as good as Perceived. Disappointment leads to more returns.
The stats below provide insight about how customers returns the products frequently.
- You must have a clear and straightforward refund and return policy and make sure your customers find the policy right on your home page.
According to the latest research, 67% of the customers check the store's return policy before purchasing anything.
The policy should include the possible method and time by which you will return the refunds to the customers.
- In fact, your good return and refund policy can boost your sales.
The research claims 95% of the consumers are more into buying from online stores if they have a good return and refund policy.
- Since you are a business, you need to protect your future as well. Make sure your policy has clear terms and conditions for possible returns and refunds.
The best possible way is to add customers to your mailing list; this way, if they return a product, you will have opportunities to sell more offers in the future.
The more the ecommerce industry is evolving, the competition is growing alongside.
Starting from the ecommerce solutions in Pakistan to implementing proactive strategies to overcoming major ecommerce problems, businesses are now more concerned for what matters in the online realm and what not.
