The eCommerce market is constantly rising. According to Statista, the average per-user revenue in eCommerce is £1,121.99 in 2019. And China is leading the way with a generated revenue of £557,743 million. It's followed by the United States which reached a value of £425,215 million and the United Kingdom which hit a level of £71,233 million. Also, the number of eCommerce users is expected to surpass 66.7 million by 2023.

Because eCommerce revolves around developing optimum solutions to cover buyers' needs, the industry is growing, diversifying and adapting at a fast pace. And digital marketers around the world must pay close attention to the new trends and leverage the unique opportunities to generate leads and increase sales. So, here's a list of the 5 rookie mistakes which you should avoid when you're operating an eCommerce business.

The Wrong eCommerce Platform – a Costly Mistake

An eCommerce platform is your online store's backbone. And choosing the wrong one can break your business' online performance. It determines how well you highlight your products and impacts your online marketing strategy. Also, your eCommerce platform establishes if and how much you can scale your business in the future.

So, when you're choosing an eCommerce platform, consider the nature of your products, how you plan to showcase them, what level of control you want over your site, the tools which are available as third-party integrators, your budget, and if you want to use a template or a customized design. Also, account for your buyer's persona and establish what user experience you would like to provide.

If you select the wrong platform, you could restrict your business' online growth and incur high costs when you migrate your store to a different platform. It can also lead to lower conversion rates, revenue loss, security issues, and low traffic.

Vague Value Proposition

Another common mistake is not defining your buyer persona, which, in turn, leads to having an ambiguous value proposition on your online store's homepage. If your prospects can't immediately understand what you're offering, they'll hit the back button or close the window. For example, take 24MX. If somehow you didn't know what 24MX does, or what the company offers, a short visit to their online store will show you what products they offer. The main goal of your store's homepage is to grab a lead's attention and convince him to buy. Otherwise, you're leaving money on the table.

Cluttered Navigation

A complex navigation structure is one of the main reasons why shoppers leave online stores. The UX of your store aims to help shoppers find products in the easiest and most convenient ways.

A cluttered and highly layered navigation structure including incorrect organization of categories, complex filtering, confusing homepage design, and unclear CTAs will only drive away prospects. So, your site's navigation should guarantee a seamless sales funnel, which will lead to increased sales.

Non-Optimized Checkout

One of the major challenges which online stores are facing is the high rate of shopping cart abandonment. And marketers are constantly looking for better ways to engage with prospects. But checkout is the most powerful section of the entire sales funnel. It's where consumers finalize the transaction and place their orders. But a non-optimized checkout impacts your store's rate of cart abandonment, causing losses to your business. The main aspects which users find disturbing about the checkout process include a long and complex series of steps, the requirement to register for an account, a limited number of payment methods and too many irrelevant fields to fill in at checkout.

Using a Non-responsive eCommerce Platform

People use a variety of devices and browsers when they're shopping online. Your job is to make your e-store available across the entire range of devices. So, discover your target audience's favorite internet browsers and devices and make sure that they can access your online store using any one of them. Also, your store should have the same look and performance whether a prospect is using an iOS, Android or Windows device.

Also, considering the growing number of mobile users and Google's mobile-first indexing, you should understand the importance of optimizing your store for mobile display. And account for the difference between a mobile and desktop UX. You must only use high-quality images, specific sizes for CTAs and highly intuitive navigation structures.