Online shopping trends have been experiencing rapid growth in recent years. This growth is attributed to the changing consumer habits and developments in the online world, such as the rise of e-commerce platforms, mobile shopping apps, and better internet connectivity. A good number of businesses have made it big in the e-commerce platform, and a massive amount of startups are busy trying to get up there.
It is worth noting that the scale and complexity of different e-commerce businesses also come with its fair share of challenges. Here is a rundown of some common problems faced by e-commerce businesses, and what it takes to handle them.
Site Performance
Site performance is a key challenge in most e-commerce platforms because of the bulky nature of data involved in these platforms. Slow loading times can hurt your sales in many ways that you can imagine. As such, it becomes essential for businesspersons running e-commerce websites to try to optimize a site’s loading times. This challenge can be solved by having a premium hosting plan and by avoiding multiple redirections.
Scalability
Small e-commerce platform performs reasonably well. But as the business grows, it becomes evident that e-commerce platforms suffer from scalability issues. For instance, most e-commerce websites are often found lacking when it comes to handling a massive traffic spike during the holiday and promotion seasons. This usually ends hurting the business in many ways, such as the lost revenue and reputation damage. Again, the best way to avoid scalability issues is to utilize a premium cloud-based hosting plan.
Security
The rising cases of fraud and data breaches pose a serious threat to the existence of e-commerce platforms. In light of this fact, e-commerce platforms should ensure that they use all essential security technologies. Some examples of standards needed include the Payment Card Industry (PCI) standards and Data Security Standard (DSS). These security features serve to protect the personal and financial details of the customer.
Mobile Optimization
With mobile traffic numbers overtaking those from computers, e-commerce platforms need to be optimized for mobile users. This is essential in reaching customers accessing your site using mobile or tablets. Optimizing your e-commerce platform to suit mobile users, could mean more business to your site. On the other hand, failure to this mean has resulted in a massive deal of e-commerce sites missing out on the perks offered by cross-platform development.