Common Ecommerce Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)

Intro:
When people come to us for help with their ecommerce store, 90% of the time they’re not failing because of some huge technical problem — it’s the little things that stack up. Stuff that seems small on its own but, when left unchecked, quietly kills conversions, frustrates customers, and stalls growth. We’ve seen it across dozens of projects we’ve worked on, including our own online businesses like The Toy Box. If you’re running a store (or thinking about starting one), here are the most common mistakes we see — and how to avoid them.

1. Making Your Website Hard to Use

We’ve lost count of how many times we’ve sat down with a client and watched them try to navigate their own site — and even they get stuck. Menus that don’t make sense, product categories buried three clicks deep, confusing filters — it’s surprisingly common.

When we took over The Toy Box, one of the first things we did was simplify everything. We grouped products into easy-to-understand categories, cut down the number of clicks to find top sellers, and made sure mobile navigation was seamless. The result? More time spent on site, lower bounce rates, and more sales.

Good design isn’t about being clever. It’s about being clear.

Things to focus on:

• Keep navigation simple and obvious
• Make sure it works flawlessly on mobile (phones now account for most traffic)
• Use clear fonts, high contrast, and consistent layouts

👉 Need help? Web design and development is what we do.

2. Weak Product Descriptions and Photos

This one is a biggie — and one of the fastest ways we’ve helped clients improve sales. We often see product pages that are little more than a single supplier photo and a vague sentence copied from the manufacturer’s site. That might get a product technically "live", but it won't get it sold.

We’ve seen the difference proper product content makes first-hand. At The Toy Box, when we took over, a lot of product descriptions were missing key info — things like what age the toy was suited for, what size it was, or what materials it was made from. Parents want that info before buying. Once we fleshed out the descriptions and added extra images showing scale, packaging, and lifestyle shots, sales improved significantly.

Think of your product page like your in-store sales assistant — it's where customers get their questions answered before they hit Buy Now.

Here’s what helps:

• Write clear, helpful descriptions that speak to your customer’s concerns
• Use multiple sharp, high-quality images (include lifestyle photos if you can)
• Clearly show pricing, stock levels, and delivery info

3. No Reviews = No Trust

We’ve had plenty of clients who worry about collecting reviews because they fear someone might leave a bad one. But in reality, not having reviews at all does way more harm. In our experience, even an average review builds far more trust than having no reviews.

One of the first things we do when helping a new ecommerce store is implement simple review requests after purchase. We’ve seen even a small handful of reviews boost conversion rates, because buyers feel reassured that others have already had a good experience.

Make sure you:

• Ask customers for reviews after purchase
• Display them clearly on product pages
• Don’t stress about an occasional 4-star — authenticity converts better than perfection

4. Ignoring SEO

A huge number of ecommerce stores rely entirely on paid ads or social media, but never really build out their organic search presence. The problem? Paid ads keep getting more expensive, and you’ll always be vulnerable if you’re not showing up organically.

We've spent years fine-tuning SEO for both our own businesses and our clients'. For The Toy Box, optimising collection pages, writing proper meta titles, and adding natural product descriptions helped us move up the rankings for key search terms like “toys NZ” — bringing in consistent, free traffic month after month.

SEO doesn’t need to be complicated — but you do need to actually do it.

Start by:

• Writing unique meta titles and meta descriptions for every product, collection, and page
• Using natural keywords that your customers are actually searching for
• Adding proper written content to your collection pages, not just lists of products

5. Not Offering Enough Payment Options

It’s amazing how many store owners unintentionally block sales at the very end of the process. We’ve seen multiple situations where a store owner only had one or two payment options enabled — and customers bounced at checkout because their preferred method wasn’t available.

Especially in New Zealand, people expect a range of options. Credit card is no longer enough. Some buyers want PayPal, others prefer Afterpay, and increasingly mobile wallets like Apple Pay are becoming the norm.

Cover your bases by:

• Offering Shopify Payments (very easy to set up for NZ)
• Adding PayPal, Stripe, and Windcave
• Including Buy Now Pay Later options like Afterpay and Laybuy
• Supporting mobile wallets for quick checkout

6. Poor Customer Support

We’ve seen ecommerce businesses with great products lose loyal customers simply because it’s too hard to get help. Delayed responses, no clear contact details, or robotic auto-replies — all of it chips away at customer trust.

In many cases, we’ve helped clients set up proper live chat tools, simple contact forms, and FAQ pages that instantly cut down on the number of frustrated emails. When you make it easy for people to reach you — and answer them quickly — you often turn unhappy customers into repeat ones.

Make sure you:

• Display contact info prominently across your site
• Add live chat or messenger options for quick answers
• Build a strong FAQ section that handles common questions before they arise

7. Confusing Shipping and Return Policies

Shipping is where many customers hesitate. We’ve worked with stores where people get all the way to checkout, then bail when unexpected shipping costs pop up or the return policy feels too vague.

Customers want certainty. They want to know exactly what shipping will cost, how long delivery will take, and what happens if they need to return something. The more transparent you are upfront, the better.

Simplify things by:

• Showing shipping costs early in the process (ideally before checkout)
• Writing your returns policy in plain, easy-to-understand language
• Offering free or flat-rate shipping where it makes sense

8. Neglecting Email Marketing

When we sit down with new clients, one of the first questions we ask is: how are you using email? Nine times out of ten, they’re barely scratching the surface — or not using it at all.

Email marketing has consistently delivered some of the best ROI for us and our clients. With The Toy Box, email regularly drives 40–50% of revenue. It’s not about spamming people — it’s about building automated flows that speak to your customers at the right time.

Get started by:

• Collecting emails right from day one
• Using platforms like Klaviyo that integrate with Shopify easily
• Setting up core flows: welcome series, abandoned cart emails, and repeat purchase offers

9. Not Reviewing Your Data

We’ve worked with plenty of store owners who look at monthly revenue and think that’s enough. But if you’re not digging into your data, you’re flying blind. You won’t know which products are driving your growth, which ones are costing you margin, or where your real profit sits.

Inside Shopify, you’ve got incredibly powerful data at your fingertips — and most people barely scratch the surface. One simple change we often recommend is reviewing product-level reports to see which items actually drive the bulk of your sales (the 80/20 rule nearly always applies).

Pay attention to:

• Conversion rates across your store
• Average order value and customer lifetime value
• Best-selling products (so you can double down on what works)
• Dead-stock or slow movers you may need to clear

10. Forgetting About Security

Security often gets ignored — until something goes wrong. Customers are becoming more privacy-conscious, and if they sense your store isn’t secure or up to date, they won’t risk buying from you.

Thankfully, Shopify takes care of a lot of this automatically, but there are still simple steps you need to stay on top of.

Make sure you:

• Use SSL certificates (Shopify enables this by default)
• Turn on two-factor authentication for your admin login
• Only install apps from trusted developers and review app permissions carefully

Final Word

Most ecommerce mistakes aren’t complicated. They’re small gaps that slowly drain your sales and damage customer trust. The good news? Once you know what to look for, most of these are simple to fix — and we’ve seen clients turn things around quickly just by addressing a few of these issues.

If you want a hand setting up your Shopify store properly (or fixing one that’s not performing), get in touch. We’ve been there — we know what works.