Check out the common misconceptions of eCommerce websites

Common Misconceptions of E-Commerce Websites

E-Commerce has gone a long way to vis-à-vis conventional marketing.  It has created a revolution by taking commerce and trading to the next level.  A suitable website to showcase your product is the order of the day.

On a regular basis, we get inquiries for creating E-Commerce websites.  Very few have good ideas that are really well thought-out; whereas, there is nothing to write home about the rest.  Most of these inquiries are rife with some misunderstandings that linger for long.  If you scrutinize it, you will observe these are disguised under the term ‘startup’ which simply construes that the mistakes can be condoned.  But it is not so.  If you are a startup, you should be thoroughly oriented in the subject.

The First Misconception: E-Commerce is a child’s play and one needs no business experience to thrive online; only luck and a well-designed site will do the rest

Start an E-Commerce, if monotony has taken the better of you doing the same job even if you are fed-up competing in the rat race.  This is the basis for many decisions to get into an E-Commerce concept. The same decision-makers may not imagine opening a physical store. What is the primary difference in an online store? Or simply put, what makes the online business appear easier than a physical business? A basic misconception – online business is easy, which is not so.

The Second Misconception: From the moment you launch the website, customers would pour in and sales will sky-rocket in the online marketing concept

Many E-Commerce enthusiasts have thought that just by building the website, the customers will rush to your online website. By some fallacy, the marketing fundamentals have been misunderstood. But, we shall set to rest such misconceptions.  One has to work really hard for every sale online, as you would do in a conventional set-up. All successful E-Commerce companies work on their offerings, marketing messages, trends and strategies quite hard.  Therefore, it should not be interpreted that life is easy in an Online business with the only primary difference that the offerings are digital and it is not meant to be easier, anyway.

The Third Misconception: Great Profit Generation in E-Commerce Platform

Taste this common misconception. A prospective customer had registered more than three dozen domain names and wanted his friend to help him in generating revenue. For him registering/owning the domain name is something of great achievement and triumph. However, his anticipations were quite unrealistic about online market perception. Hundreds of entrepreneurs hold onto some foolish idea or theory expecting to become rich overnight.  Mind you, if you are entering the E-Commerce business you may better have something more than just a fancy domain name.

The Fourth Misconception: Easy conversion of real-world experience and expertise into the online world

One must not forget that in the world of E-Commerce overconfidence caused by real-world experience is a disastrous mistake. One must also remember that there is a steep learning curve even for a successful businessman when going online. One can expect radical customer behavioral patterning an online business with high expectations and anonymity. E-Commerce is analytically driven and the real world shops are relationship driven. E-Commerce is about giving unreasonable attention to statistics and numbers, which may drive one crazy. With unique visitor, bounce rates, conversions, funnels etc. can be puzzling to traditional business owners who were more used to simple walk-in customers.

The Fifth Misconception: Running an E-Commerce store is much cheaper than a real-world store

This misconception is promoted by web design agencies who design E-Commerce sites at dirt cheap price. But E-Commerce is a process is much more than not just a catalog or a shopping cart.  It is a challenging journey with an interactive provision to improve customer experience, each time they shop. It is not just about cost, it is an investment. But very soon those who try to pull down on cost are bound to realize the truth about running an E-Commerce business does not come cheap.

With all the due respects these misconceptions are not to dampen the spirits of anyone about E-Commerce concept, instead to give a reality check and challenges involved to those who have not understood it properly.

We would advocate:

• Carefully plan your ventures considering all the important factors
• Have realistic expectations from the venture
• Look at the long term proposition and the viability
• Rejoice at the experience of a unique concept