7 Worst Ecommerce Marketing Mistakes and How to Do Better

It’s no secret that the future of supermarkets and grocery stores lies in eCommerce. Digital marketing goes hand in hand with starting an online shop, helping retailers increase brand awareness, generate new leads, and retain their customers. While it’s easy to define these goals, the strategy to achieve them isn’t always that straightforward.

To ensure you don’t repeat what others have already learned the hard way, we’ve compiled the seven worst eCommerce marketing mistakes we’ve observed in the industry. Let’s get right to it.

1. Unintuitive Website Design 

One of the worst marketing mistakes to avoid is having a poorly designed website or eCommerce platform. Spammy pop-ups, stuffed menu listicles, mislabeled buttons, and products organized without any hierarchy—those and other unappealing impressions can make your website into a thorny experience for your visitors.

Instead, a clear structure and intuitive product hierarchies, and smart filtering help your visitors navigate your page and easily fill their virtual basket without any issues. So, make sure your strawberries are in the fruit category, your shopping cart button is in the top right section, and your menu offers a clear and hierarchized list of your available products.

2. Putting Branding Aside

You have already established a name as a grocer in your area, so what stops you from transferring your brand identity and brand design to your eCommerce (and maybe tweaking it a tiny bit to make it fit both purposes)? Many supermarkets and grocery stores underestimate the importance of a high value of being recognized—online and offline.

Digital branding uses eye-catching logos, graphic design, and brand colors that make your customers connect with your values. Let’s say your focus is on healthy foods—in this case, green is an ever-green—as psychologists have found, most people connect green color tones with vegetables, fruits, and a vegetarian and healthy diet. 

Cut to the chase of design branding when you are new to eCommerce: A fully customizable website builder will allow you to match your in-store design elements with the front end of your eCommerce store.

3. Flawed Product Descriptions

Let’s do a reality check: Customers mainly use your website to receive information on the products you are offering before they hit the purchase button. If you want to meet their expectations, you should provide informative and helpful product descriptions.

Imagine you are selling a “Hamburger-kit.” Describe the products you include, a recipe for home-cooking the delicious hamburgers, and some “spicing up the recipe” tips. Further, take care of potential allergies or dietary restrictions by indicating whether your products suit vegetarian, gluten-free, or low-fat diets. Check out Community Foods’ market as an example—they offer a complete ingredient list of all their products. 

4. Missing Product Search and Navigation Options

According to Forrester Research, stores lose up to 50% of potential eCommerce sales when customers can’t find the correct information. So, half of the people visiting a website don’t buy because they can’t find what they desire. 

Your website should offer a product search and an intuitive and logical navigation section, such as having a visible and prominent search bar. You can improve site search with website tools that have search queries auto-complete.  It can also be helpful to check whether the internal search engine of your chosen website host can identify words even with a misspelling and through synonyms.

5. Lacking Service Info or FAQ

Many food businesses make the mistake of not being clear about the terms of the agreement, curbside delivery, or payment options. However, customers want to know what overall shopping experience they will get. What happens if the product doesn’t meet the expectations? How long will the delivery take? Your audience wants the answers to these questions—and more.

That’s why we recommend clearing out all customer doubts in your terms of agreement and on your FAQs page. Do you need some further advice on what customers usually want to read about? Find some tips on what to include in the FAQ section here.

6. Bad Customer Service

After a bad customer service experience, 39% of customers will avoid a company for two years.

So, if your shoppers couldn’t find all the info they were looking for when searching through your FAQs and product descriptions, good customer service can turn over the cards.

Depending on your financial and human resources, you can choose between contact mail forms, automated message replies via chatbots, or a telephone line where customers can engage with you for questions, inquiries, and feedback as well. 

7. Falling Short on Promotions, Discounts and Loyalty Programs

Browsing through Seafood City’s online store, you will recognize they are playfully highlighting their delivery discounts. By doing so, the seafood market attracts new prospects and makes sure their customers come back frequently. According to Semrush, shops that drive promotions regularly increase their website visit rates by approximately 35%. So, our final advice is to vary between free delivery, free items, or discounts and make sure you advertise your special offers on your landing page.

Are you ready to improve your eCommerce marketing strategy? Local Express helps you run a successful online store and marketing tactic.