As a newbie in the field of eCommerce its a tough journey until you become a known face in the online community. From the day you start working on your business model, work on the finances, work on your website, do the promotion and start selling, you would always be working. Even if you reach your projected sales target, there's no stopping and I guess that's the best part about this field.

There are already oodles of established names in this field and with more and more people taking a plunge in this field, the competition is getting fierce as everyone wants to be the best. And as a person who is just getting ready to take a plunge and begin his eCommerce business, the journey would be a bit bumpy in the starting but the road ahead would be smooth, but for that you need to to avoid committing the following mistakes.

1. No business model

I know you have your own reasons for venturing into the field of eCommerce. Lets call it a 'Eureka Moment'.

Now picture it this way - one fine day I'm out having a nice brunch with my friends and one of my friends puts up this question to the group, "Lets start a business?" and this is when I have an 'Eureka Moment'. I explain my friends sitting at the table my idea of business, my plans and everything. All of us meet the next day, carry on our discussion and after few more days of discussing and sorting out finances, my friends and I jump the gun on the website work, upload the products, do heavy promotion on the internet and start selling.

Now my question to you is - How likely is my business to succeed?

I know there are a lot of things that would make my business work and not work but I forgot the most basic thing before I began sorting out the finances and that is - I have no business model.

If you want your business to work you need to be sure about your objectives, the market, your target audience, their problem and how can you provide them a solution, your competitors, their strengths and weaknesses, how are you going to capitalize the market, etc. Your business model addresses all these issues and help you lay a firm foundation for your business to stand upon and would also help you make your initial strategies.

2. Taking things lightly

A lot of people think that eCommerce is all about making easy money and hence take it lightly but ask those who have been in this field for sometime now, they would definitely have a lot to tell you. Your business might be all about taking orders and shipping them but there are a lot of things that go in between. Promoting your online store, buying things that you require to make your products and cost-effective solution that you require to run your business in a smooth manner.

3. Choosing the wrong eCommerce platform for your business

If you want to successfully run your online business then you must choose the right eCommerce platform for your business. Choose one which is easy to use, inexpensive and should fulfill all your requirements. Moreover, try working on your website yourself, don't ask a friend or a colleague to help you out with the website making work.

There are two options that you need to choose from -

• An online hosted eCommerce solution like E-junkie.com
• Installing an eCommerce software like WooCommerce

Note - Click here to know about the features to look for while choosing an online shopping cart.

4. A Poor Shop Layout

For someone who likes to buy things online, the first thing that he or she will notice would first would be your website's layout and a poorly done website layout is a massive turn-off. So make sure that you choose the right type of layout, include high-quality and high-definition images of all your products, and give out the right product description and all needed information that you think that your customers would require or need to know. Add a customer testimonial or a product-review section to all the products in your online store.

Providing the best buying experience to your customers should be your prime motive. Just keep in mind that first impression is the last impression so present your products in the best possible way to your visitors.

5. No marketing strategy

Setting up an eCommerce business and a physical business are two different things. With a physical store you have 100% chances of getting noticed by the customers but with an online business making the website is just beginning. If you want your target to visit your website you ought to have a strategy - so that you know how you direct your potential customers to your website and generate traffic.

Here are a few must-do things when you begin promoting your online store:

• Use Google Analytics to track the amount of traffic your website gets.
• Use Social Media to cross promote your brands on different platforms (choose the right type of platforms you need to promote your business).
• Learn a bit of SEO.
• Consider affiliate marketing and selling through third-party platforms like Amazon and eBay.

The above five things are the most basic mistakes that most people commit when they begin their eCommerce journey. With more and more people entering this field one thing for sure that the future of eCommerce is bright. So just put your thinking cap on and plan out things before starting your eCommerce business. All that we can say right now is good luck!

Have you already began carving a niche for yourself in the field of eCommerce? Share your initial experience with us in the comment section below.

Stay tuned for more tips from E-junkie.