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There are two classes or categories of errors / problems that can severely compromise the results of an e-commerce site: technical errors and administration errors.
Administration errors are all that are not directly related to the website development and maintenance platform, but with other actions that are the responsibility of whoever manages the website, such as support options and clarifying doubts.
It is these types of errors / problems that we will be dealing with today…
What are administration errors on an e-commerce website?
Administration errors in an e-commerce, but which can also happen in other types of sites, are those that involve the decisions and choices made by the people responsible for its general management.
That is, there are problems associated with the technical part, which includes the CMS used, the hosting infrastructure, integration with other systems (payment gateway, finance, tax, etc.).
Technical issues should have another type of treatment, as well as solutions and, therefore, this is not what we will talk about today.
As for those of an administrative nature, they are linked to actions – or, if you prefer, omissions / negligence – that may result from policies – or the lack thereof – of the company, operational processes and procedures, partnerships and the supply chain, and even knowledge and experience of the operation.
In other words, they are errors / problems that can often be avoided, or whose solution often depends on people and not on the technical part, such as programming or server configurations.
In addition to the loss of established customers whose impacts are unnecessary to remember, a virtual store that makes a succession of mistakes, builds a terrible digital reputation and “wins” many detractors customers, greatly reducing the chances of getting new customers.
5 “deadly” mistakes in managing an e-commerce website
The list of errors/problems we prepare may have different levels of influence depending on the nature of the business.
In this way, a delay of one day in the delivery of a durable consumer good, although it is a problem, in the case of an order for a medication, becomes a very serious problem, especially if it is a medication for continuous use and which the customer needs it within a stipulated time frame.
In other words, despite all the aspects that we will discuss being relevant, in certain circumstances the problem can be even more serious.
At the same time that we present each situation, we will also talk about the causes, consequences and solutions, when these are not so evident.
However, there are measures that are more comprehensive and that include the solution or anticipation of more than one of the “sins” committed by e-commerce companies, such as a contingency plan. Those that do have one, which is quite rare unfortunately, in the event of a problem occurring, they have the appropriate set of corrective measures and there is no need to run desperately to put out the fires caused.
Or another common finding that can also prove to be worrying is strategic planning.
The better the planning, the more detailed and comprehensive it is.
With that in mind, reaching the goal of zero errors in terms of delivery time requires knowing “what” needs to be done, “how” to do it, “who” is responsible for doing it, “when” to do it and “why” ” to do. The same kind of reasoning applies to the other problems.
1. Delivery times
We start precisely with the situation given as an example earlier, because it is one of the most committed sins on e-commerce sites in Brazil.
It is a frequent cause, being one of the main complaints from consumers, because many companies do not understand the seriousness of the issue and because they only think about selling. Not to mention the fact that it is the step that involves the greatest number of variables in e-commerce sales.
In addition to the price and shipping cost, one of the criteria that buyers observe when deciding which store to buy from is the delivery time, especially in cases like the example, but in other situations, such as a gift that needs to arrive before the date celebration (Mother’s and Father’s Day, birthdays, Christmas, etc.).
But there are other situations in which it matters when the purchase will be delivered, when an item will be needed for a scheduled trip, for a specific job, an event, among many reasons that the buyer has to trust that the deadline stipulated on the website will be met.
Or else, be none of that and be “just” something that the client has always dreamed of having and is finally fulfilling his dream! A “simple” purchase, routine for the seller, but for that customer, surrounded by expectations and happiness.
Whatever the reason for counting on the deadline and that it was not met, frustration, sadness, disappointment and even concern are caused in the case of the medicine.
It turns out that even knowing that delivery depends on efficient logistics, which usually involves third parties (partners / suppliers), many processes / procedures, in addition to extraneous and sometimes uncontrollable factors (traffic, weather, etc.), the seller often informs a deadline shorter to beat competitors who have prices and freight rates similar to yours.
By doing so, he assumes the risk and, above all, lacks transparency and respect for the customer.
The solutions are the most diverse and depend on the cause. Here are some examples:
- Deadlines that are too short – when delivery times are reported at the minimum that can be practiced and the cause is the one mentioned, it is necessary to rethink practices in relation to customers. Perhaps even a sense of ethics is lacking;
- Suppliers / partners – if the “fault” for not meeting the deadlines is due to the partners / suppliers of the delivery service, it is necessary to look for alternatives that are committed to what the company stipulates, with its policies and philosophy;
- Inventory – there are cases in which, for financial or other administrative reasons, the company either does not work with inventory or has them in insufficient quantities to meet demand. In addition to the obvious solution, it is possible to operate with “just-in-time” models, as long as you have suppliers capable of meeting the need;
- Logistics – the origin of the problem can also be in logistics, which can be inefficient or even non-existent. The processes and procedures in these cases must be improved or created, respectively.
2. Security
Not necessarily the second in importance, the errors involving security – more precisely the lack of security – have origins that are not only of a technical nature.
No programmer designs a system to be insecure. But the security of a site does not depend only on programming, but on a series of variables.
Those responsible for the site need to understand that digital security is a highly complex factor, which is why there are professionals specialized in this area. When you give up one, for example, to reduce costs, you are making an administrative decision that will impact the technical aspect.
The same applies when updating is neglected, the choice of development platform, auxiliary systems, other layers of protection and everything that means a safer shopping environment.
Data leaks, site or database intrusions, DDoS attacks and any other security-related problems can have their probability of occurrence greatly reduced, if administrative managers are willing to provide them with existing solutions.
Some say the question is not whether a system can be hacked, but when. Therefore, companies that face the issue with the seriousness it deserves, not only work for prevention, but also for eventuality.
3. Infrastructure
As with the security aspect, every website – and not just e-commerce ones – depends on adequate infrastructure to function as expected.
There are indeed performance problems, slowness, execution errors and other situations that seem to be of a technical nature, but sometimes the cause is in the administration.
No matter how good and optimized the programming is, if a site sees its visitation double compared to normal levels, due to Black Friday or something like that, the infrastructure on which it is hosted needs to be able to support the demand increase.
Finally, the basis for determining whether a site is supported by a VPS, a dedicated one, or needs a Cloud Computing and/or CDN solution, is technical. But the decision of which one to adopt, which often finds a barrier in the financial factor, is an administrative one.
It is not uncommon to see the decision-maker ask the technician if it is not possible to “fix” what we have today!
Nor can we forget that precarious infrastructure, or one that is not appropriate for the project, weakens or interferes with the previous issues – security and deadlines.
Yes, because infrastructure does not only refer to the one that serves to host the e-commerce site, but also to accessory systems, such as integration with the supplier responsible for deliveries, for example.
4. Maintenance
Maintenance is the fourth of the mortal sins that companies behind an e-commerce, commit more often.
Here again there are errors both because it is inefficient and because sometimes it does not exist.
Maintenance is just one of many technical aspects, although it also involves them.
Feeding the site with new information, images, technical specifications of products, providing it with new features / functionalities, few payment methods, improving the FAQ, are examples of administrative decisions and maintenance activities.
Sometimes it is also infrastructure related, requiring system/software upgrades, but which may have cost or other licenses. Or perhaps, if you switched to another vendor, there would be a solution that would make maintenance easier.
5. Information management
The last big sin, but which is by no means the least important, deals with the management of the information that e-commerce produces.
It is understood as being from the statistics resulting from the navigation that the CMS makes available, through the data from Google Analytics, as well as the other channels through which the customer interacts, such as the emails received, the assistance via chat, via telephone, ombudsman / ombudsman, after sales, technical support, etc.
Information is of no use if it does not generate at least one corresponding action. Otherwise, it only serves to increase the size of a database, which in some cases is more like a “database”.
E-commerce managers cannot forget that competition is increasing. A Y model of the XPTO smartphone will be exactly the same device on the 293 websites that sell it and that price alone is not what determines whether a customer buys it or not.
Listening to and interpreting everything the customer expresses directly or indirectly is essential to create a sales website on the Web that is not just one among many.
Including listening to those who don’t have many good things to say. Companies should not be afraid or see how I work with customers who complain. When that happens, they are giving the company an incredible opportunity to improve.
It is undeniable that many of the large sites of the genre are increasingly abolishing human – and also humanized – service channels and are moving towards intelligent virtual assistants, extensive FAQs and resources that reduce their service infrastructure, most of the time. , in the name of cost reduction.
However, if the small ones who do not have the same financial strength follow the same steps, they will lose one of the few points that can differentiate them or they will have to surrender to the models of marketplaces and their rules, as most already do.
Conclusion
Dealing with and correcting errors of administrative origin on an e-commerce site is something that few companies do, but which is the cause of many other problems.
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