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Imagine a small store on the outskirts of town. Does it face many challenges? Now imagine a large chain with thousands of stores scattered across the globe; how many challenges might it face each day?
The same exact concept can be applied to the eCommerce industry. Following the pandemic and worldwide lockdowns, the eCommerce industry witnessed tremendous growth. But the bigger market, the bigger the challenges.
To help you stay ahead of the competition, in this article, we will shed light on the top 11 eCommerce challenges in 2023 and how your business can overcome them.
Table of Contents
eCommerce Challenges in 2023:- Web 3
- Social commerce
- Omnichannel
- Increased competition
- Green commerce
- Cross-border trade
- Inflation and economic crisis
- New market trends
- Cyber security
- UI/UX Design
- Customer expectations
Top eCommerce Challenges in 2023
There are many problems facing the world these days but as long as you learn the top eCommerce challenges in 2023 and how to maneuver away from them, rest assured the world will be your oyster.
With this in mind, let’s take a deep dive into the top 11 eCommerce challenges in 2023!
1- Web 3
Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Metaverse, and cryptocurrencies are taking over the world, but what does it have to do with your online store, and why is it considered one of the top eCommerce challenges in 2023?
People are expecting everything online to be adaptable to new technologies, so your online store can’t be the only one left behind.
How to overcome this challenge?
You can integrate many of the new technologies into your online store. For instance, you can start accepting some of the popular cryptocurrencies as a form of payment, and you can sell your products on the Metaverse. Or you can use AI in;
- Forecasting (to enhance your inventory management)
- Visual search
- Cybersecurity
- Personalized product recommendations
2- Social commerce
As Gen Z enters the marketplace, social commerce has become an absolute necessity. The young generations have hundreds if not thousands of ads placed in their social media feed every day. All this increases your competition and takes away many customers from your eCommerce brand.
How to overcome this challenge?
You can easily overcome this challenge by introducing social commerce to your eCommerce business. Which is basically allowing customers to order your products through social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and TikTok.
Discover The Top 10 Digital Marketing Trends for eCommerce in 2023
3- Omnichannel Marketing
By 2022 you should be already implementing Omnichannel marketing, but if you are not, then this is definitely one of your biggest eCommerce challenges in 2023.
Thanks to Omnichannel eCommerce offering one of the easiest experiences, all the big and small eCommerce businesses have started providing that seamless and unified type of shopping. In fact, over 70% of online shoppers use different purchasing channels. So you can’t overlook any channel or you might lose some valuable sales.
How to overcome this challenge?
This one is a no-brainer; start using Omnichannel eCommerce! You can learn more about Omnichannel eCommerce in Omnichannel E-commerce: What Is It? Advantages and Disadvantages
4- Increased competition
More online stores are opening their virtual stores now more than ever; accordingly, the competition is getting crazy high. This is easily one of the biggest eCommerce challenges in 2023, as it will affect your customer base.
You may think that like many successful eCommerce brands you are safe from this problem due to having a large community of loyal customers. However, new eCommerce businesses tend to offer exclusive deals and enticing discounts. In other words, they will take away some of your market share.
How to overcome this challenge?
This is not the easiest challenge to overcome! But by ensuring you keep up with all your new and old competitors in terms of quality and marketing efforts, you can always maintain your place in the market.
5- Green commerce
Nowadays, the whole world is trying to do its part in limiting climate change and this includes shopping from sustainable businesses. As a matter of fact, after Covid-19 hit, 52% of consumers started valuing sustainable brands more.
Accordingly, unsustainable brands can be left behind in 2022 if they don’t work on becoming green commerce brands immediately.
How to overcome this challenge?
As an eCommerce business, it’s easy for you to become a green commerce brand. You can start by:
- Using recycled materials in products and packaging
- Offer environmentally friendly shipping options
- Transfer delivers in bulk
- Reduce office waste
- Stay digital (you are already online, so there is no reason to send printed-out receipts)
6- Cross-border trade
Operating solely on your local market is not enough these days, and by crossing borders to operate in different countries, you start to face new challenges. Cross-border trade is one of the biggest eCommerce challenges in 2023, as many countries are introducing new trading regulations to protect their own economy.
Besides this new challenge, many eCommerce businesses are still facing the old cross-border trading issues, including translation and localization problems.
How to overcome this challenge?
To perfect cross-border trading, you need to:
- Carefully learn and stay up to date on the rules and regulations of each country you are operating in. If possible you can hire a local from each country to ensure you are always informed about new policies.
- Be as transparent as possible with international clients, so they have the right expectations. This includes informing them about flexible delivery dates, additional fees, and any problems they might face.
- Ensure your website is not only translated but also localized to each country.
7- Inflation and economic crisis
Did you know that many economists believe that the world will be facing an economic crisis in 2023? In addition to the expected economic crisis, the US and most other countries are facing high inflation rates. All that affects the purchasing power of individuals all over the world.
Needless to say, as the purchasing power decreases, your orders and average order value (AOV) will also decrease.
How to overcome this challenge?
Sadly, your eCommerce business can’t solve the world’s problems, but what you can do is try to ease your customers' minds in these troubling times. This can be done by:
- Offering budget-friendly options
- Easy returning methods
- Good customer support ready to answer all questions
8- New market trends
As previously mentioned, the competition is increasing in the eCommerce industry daily, bringing up many eCommerce challenges in 2023. This includes new market trends that come up quicker than ever.
How to overcome this challenge?
All you gotta do to overcome this challenge is keep up with all market trends and always stay up to date. Of course, this has to be followed by implementing the right trendy ideas that suit your eCommerce business and help grow it.
9- Cyber Security
Security breaches are the eCommerce kryptonite, and getting a reputation as an unreliable website can drive your business to the ground. This is not a new challenge; it has been going on for years, but unfortunately, there is no end in sight.
How to overcome this challenge?
Becoming the most secure online store is a bit complicated, but you can start that journey by:
- Backing up your data
- Adding security plug-ins to your online store
- Encrypting sensitive data
- Detecting fraud through penetration testing
10- UI/UX Design
User experience is one of the most important things to make or break any business, and in the eCommerce sector, this primarily means the UI/UX design of the online store. This wasn’t a big issue in the past years but as the competition increases, customers are always expecting more.
In other words, to gain new customers and retain your existing ones, your online store has to be easy to navigate and have an overall clear design.
How to overcome this challenge?
To have the best UI/UX design hire a professional and ensure your website has:
- A search bar
- Fast loading time
- Chatbots
- Clear structure on every page
- Navigation bar on top or on the side
Needless to say, you should also ensure the checkout icon and add to cart icon are as clear as day!
11- Customer expectations
As previously noted, as the competition increases, customer expectations also increase. That’s why managing your customers' expectations should be a top priority in 2023.
In fact, just having high-quality products is not enough anymore; you have to offer the best customer service and be there to answer their question and solve their problems before they even ask.
How to overcome this challenge?
To solve this issue you need to conduct extensive market research and learn what customers actually want. It also helps to:
- Manage customer expectations from the very first touch points (home page and welcome emails).
- Have a clear and easy-to-navigate website, so customers don’t get lost trying to do something simple on your online store.
- Check in frequently with existing customers and take their feedback into consideration when updating your platform.
Final Thoughts
In the end, it's worth noting that automation can help eliminate many of the eCommerce challenges in 2023. For instance, if you are using a marketing operation system like ConvertedIn, you will be able to personalize product recommendations, automate dynamic ads, and auto-segment customers to target each segment with the right message. As
Book your demo now and take your eCommerce business to the next level with ConvertedIn!
