Shopify Facts: The Top Customer Issues You Need To Be Aware Of

Every business is unique but when it comes to the ones that primarily sell products and services over the Internet then there will surely be a lot of similarities. E-commerce has been around for over 40 years now according to some sources. Yes! It all started in the 1970’s and has evolved so much especially as the Internet entered into the scene. Through the years, we’ve seen the rise of many different platforms but it’s Shopify that remain at the top of all.

As was already mentioned, e-commerce stores have many similarities and this is true especially when it comes to the issues that business owners experience. The technical issues for instance will be very similar but another aspect that we’re going to focus on in this article is the common issues that customers would often report and complain about. Being aware of such things greatly helps in keeping you prepared of any possibilities and in this article, we are going to talk about them and discuss every possible solution that you can try but before that, let’s touch a little bit about the common technical issues here and there.

Common Technical Issues Suffered By Shopify Stores

Since your shop runs on Shopify, there are literally thousands like it all over the Internet. Shopify’s popularity is undeniable and one of the living testaments to this is the number of merchants that are using it as their e-commerce platform of choice. But just like any other platform, Shopify has its own set of common technical issues that its users mostly experience and we’ve listed 3 of the most common ones below:

1. Problem on Product Uploading

This is a very common issue especially to first-time users of the platform. Shopify itself claims that the process of uploading multiple products is very easy. You just need to import them via CSV file but the problem is the error that appears especially when the process reaches the middle point. That is why doing bulk uploads becomes a very serious matter that require serious solutions but thankfully, it is possible to backup your site data so you can easily restore them if ever trouble arises and renders some sections inaccessible.

Yes! It is possible to choose the files that you want to backup and get it downloaded so restoring such stuff will be possible and easy. Just remember that Shopify only allows 3 products to be loaded along with 100 variants. If this is an issue then to you then you can extend the capability then you can choose to use paid apps along the way.

2. Slow Website Response and Poor Performance

How fast does your website load? Site performance is more on the speed at which a particular page opens on your customer’s screen complete with all the components you have included in it. No matter where you view it from, this aspect remains as one of the top factors that will ultimately decide whether or not your store will reach the success that you’re aiming for it.

Lightning-speed page loading times translate to a great user experience which means that your shop is going to get better conversion rate. That’s going to bring a great impact on your sales revenue of course! But aside from better conversion rate, you also need to put in mind that a faster website gets better attention from Google. Every second or split second really counts when it comes to this aspect and here are some statistics that support this.

- It’s been observed that the faster a site becomes, the better the sales is. A second faster in a site’s performance brings in 7% more sales.

- A site that takes longer than 3 seconds to load is a disaster. Statistics have revealed that 57% of site visitors will simply leave if it takes more than 3 seconds for them to see what the site has to offer

- There’s going to be 87% abandon rate if a two-second page load delay is observed by customers in your shop

That is why it’s important that you remove any unnecessary page and make sure that your site is free from any bug that may cause any delay in page loading speeds. Here are some other things that you can do in order to improve your website’s loading speed.

- Simplify codes by minifying them

- Avoid broken links and useless redirects

- Optimize your site for mobile devices

- Decrease image size and use fewer images whenever possible

- A content delivery network will be perfect

- Disable or remove useless pop-ups

3. Other Advanced Technical Issues

There are other issues which we’ve categorized as advanced ones because solving them would require the help of skilled and knowledgeable people.

- Security Issues – It’s a well-known fact that data breach is highly possible in every business that operates online. This is a serious problem especially that the data being put at risk here are the credit card details and other sensitive financial information of your customers. Such issues can lead to massive damage in your business’s reputation, a large financial loss, and other legal consequences. Thankfully, Shopify is one of the e-commerce platforms in the market that is compliant with Level 1 PCI DSS security certification. This means that you can stay confident as it does the securing and defending for you. But if you want to boost security further, you can also use third-party apps and security plugins for added safety.

- Issues in Multi-Channel Management – Another common technical issue which you may find hard to solve is on the multi-channel selling aspect. It’s a fact that customers now shop from different devices. Some would prefer doing it on their desktop computer or laptop while others would do it on mobile. With this, managing sales and communication between your business and the customers in every available channel become a big challenge.

That is why you need the help of multi-channel or omnichannel platforms for selling. A multi-channel platform will treat every channel as a separate entity while an omnichannel platform will provide a central place for managing everything. To effectively deal with customers and maximize the use of time and resources, you will simply need to choose the channels that will work best for your business.

There you have it, the common technical issues that you need to be aware of. But if your shop is to perform at its best, you will also need to be aware of the common customer issues that you and your customer support team will be facing. We will look at them one by one in the next section of this article so just read on to learn the details.

The Common Customer Issues in Shopify

Shopify store owners know how hard it is to get every customer issue answered in the fastest time possible but thankfully, once you get a customer support team up and going, these issues will become easier to deal with. Some even repeatedly happen which means that you don’t need to be typing in a different response and go through many different solutions while trying to serve your customer’s needs, inquiries, and plead for help.  Here are the top customer issues that you will most likely receive from customers along with the initial solutions you that you can offer.

1. Product Size Inquiry

This isn’t a problem per se but it’s something that your customer support team must learn to answer in a definitive and accurate way. Most customers nowadays know that the items being sold on Shopify are sourced from Asian nations like China. Because of this, there will be plenty of inquiries that you’re going to receive regarding exact sizing information and the best thing that you can do so you can provide the most accurate information and details in your response is to order sample products from your suppliers before selling the product.

Making sure that your product description contains accurate product details and measurements is also important so that your customers are properly informed about it. There are customers who will still want to make sure about such details that is why making sure that every information is accurate no matter where customers ask. This will build confidence and make your business a highly-trusted one.

2. Questions About the Material Used

Just like product size, you will only be able to answer these questions accurately if you yourself were able to see the product that you’re selling in actuality. That is why it’s important to order sample products first before writing your product descriptions. The aim of your product copies should be to inform customers and putting accurate information is something that should serve as your guiding principle. Choose products that have great customer reviews and feedback and order samples of it to put to the test not just visually but also performance-wise.

3. Inquiries About Payment Not Going Through

Another common issue that happens and is experienced by most customers is their payment not going through. This is true especially for credit card payments and other forms of transactions that need to pass through the banking system. That is why it’s important that you offer other modes of payment like Paypal for instance. There are times that payments fail especially for international customers and the best thing you can do is to ensure that you have more than one payment channel so that when one fails, the customers can pay for their order using the other ones.

4. Order Transit Issues

This is issue used to take several steps to solve especially when apps and integrations for tracking shipping status of orders were not available yet but thankfully, there are several of them now. You just need to make sure that your customer support agents are trained on using the app you chose for order status monitoring so that they can maximize it and provide your customers with the right information on their product whereabouts every time. It is but normal for customers to ask about it but one thing that you can do is to make sure that order transit status also appears on their order page. This is possible especially with the newest apps out there so be sure to explore the possibility of using one.

5. Order Issues and Other After-Order Problems

Lastly, there are other issues that can originate from product damage and delays in delivery. This is a normal thing and one way you can lessen such issues is to make sure that your supplier ships the products on time and every shipment should be packed well to avoid any damage from occurring during transit. Again, the importance of doing sample order from the supplier that you have shortlisted will help you in this aspect as you yourself will be able to see how well the product is package and experience how fast or slow the shipping and delivery times are. Just looking into customer reviews and ratings will not give accurate information all the time that’s why experiencing things first hand is very important.

Conclusion

There you have it, the most common issues both on the technical and the customer side of things but let me be clear about it once again, these are just the common issues and not everything yet. Along the way especially as Shopify improves and becomes better in many different aspects, the third-party apps that it supports will also follow the same path. That’s why it is highly possible that newer issues could arise in the future but these common ones will remain the same.

The important thing is you know how to deal with every single one of them and if things become out of your control and the issues need advanced technical knowledge, you can always contact Shopify customer support and their technical team for help. If the issue originates from a third-party app then contacting the app developer would be of great help.

The secret to running a successful Shopify business is making sure that you’re familiar with every issue that could arise and having readily available solutions for each one in case they start happening. It all takes a proactive attitude and your business will surely be on a smoother way to success. There sure will be challenges along the way but remember to always focus on the real goal and that is ultimate success and overall business development.

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