Many online shops exist in the UK. The e-commerce share of retail sales will reach 37.8% this year because the country boasts 60 million online shoppers. These consumers have turned to online businesses because they find it more convenient than going to brick-and-mortar stores.

Aside from consumers, online businesses benefit from this growth because they have a growing market. However, this doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be complacent. Consumers can switch to their competitors when unsatisfied with their online shopping experience. If you want to retain your customers—and attract new ones—here are a few common online sales challenges you should look out for and how to overcome them:

Cart Abandonment

Cart abandonment occurs when customers begin a checkout process and leave without completing the purchase. One reason behind this is complicated and time-consuming checkouts, such as when the page doesn’t compute total costs upfront. The customer has to do it manually, discouraging them from completing the purchase. You can remedy this by including the total calculation on the checkout page, including discounts and the delivery fee.

Another cause of complicated checkouts is when customers must leave the site to complete payments. This defeats the purpose of your checkout page. Solve this by investing in merchant services for small businesses—and, more precisely, online payment solutions. These services allow your site to accept major payment methods, including debit cards, credit cards, and PayPal.

Cybersecurity Threats

Cybersecurity threats are common across industries. However, they’re more common in online sales. Here, it’s easier for cybercriminals to steal business and customer information to access their money. This is why 59% of online consumers will stop shopping at a retailer that has previously experienced cyberattacks.

That said, you should seriously consider investing in high-quality data protection and security services for your website to protect your business and customers. These enable data encryption, meaning plain text is converted to code. This prevents thieves from stealing sensitive information because only authorized personnel—like you and your staff—can decipher this. This way, you won’t have to worry about data leaks and theft.

Poor Customer Service

Delivering online customer service is challenging because you can’t physically assist consumers. This can lead to slow response times and miscommunication. Despite these difficulties, providing excellent customer service is a must because it improves their experiences and increases their trust in your brand.

You can offer better customer service by implementing live chatbots on your site. These can converse with customers, answer questions, and assist them with tasks like completing the checkout process. It’s also good to make human customer representatives available for issues chatbots can’t understand or solve, such as specific product customization requests. Overall, ensuring an avenue to raise concerns improves the customer experience.

Stagnant Sales

Periods of stagnation are normal for all businesses. Customer preference for your competition and changing industry trends are some of its causes. Still, it’s best to avoid stagnant sales to keep your online business growing. Extended stagnancy can lead to failure when customers completely abandon a business that isn’t evolving.

One way to prevent this is to continue doing market research. While this process is usually conducted before starting a business, continuously understanding your audience keeps you updated with their changing preferences. Regularly gather feedback through short surveys by asking for improvement points and products they want to see. Accomplishing this allows you to make the necessary business changes to satisfy and retain customers.

Businesses must overcome challenges to secure their growth and maintain their consumer base. These tips can help you solve common online sales challenges and achieve success.