Software development common mistakes in e-commerce market

Mistake 1: Lack of information and analysis of clients

When creating an e-commerce platform, you should know exactly, who it will be addressed to. It is about clarifying the customer’s profile. If the product should generate profits, you need to know, what features it must have in order to be attractive to the recipient. Without such information the risk of failure increases significantly. It may turn out that functionality, which at first glance seems to be perfect will in practice become completely ineffective. You can find this out when knowing behavior and tastes of a target group.

Keep in mind the first principle and you can significantly accelerate work related to software development. The team of programmers working on the product can focus on its development and adjust all functionalities to future customers’ preferences.

Mistake 2: Missing user’s experience

While remaining in subject related to customer behavior, one should mention UX design as well. Until recently, many e-commerce websites have omitted this issue at the stage of product development. Recently, however, awareness of the need to create a user-friendly software has increased significantly.

To illustrate this tendency you can look at this example. A customer, who has a choice of several e-commerce websites will choose the one that will meet their expectations. The most common is the type of offer and interface appearance, which allows to find what a customer is looking for in a quick and comprehensible way. In development teams UX designers are responsible for it. They are up to date with all current market trends and know customer preferences and behaviors. In short, they design interfaces that will meet the user’s expectations.

Not everyone, however, bears in mind UX design. Although more and more people are aware of the importance of this part of the software, you can still find cases of downplaying UX design.

Mistake 3: No tests

Testing different solutions on a specific group allows you to get an answer whether the product meets the expectations of customers or not. A/B tests can be quite helpful. In the course of software development, it is a good idea to check two different solutions at the same group of recipients. In this way you can get a really quick feedback and know, which ideas work and which ones do not. Such initial verification significantly accelerates product development and then positively affects the results of market activity.

Mistake 4: Incorrect selection of technology

Development of e-commerce platforms starts with choosing the right technology. Together with a team of programmers, you should decide, which technology will suit the best a particular type of product. In the e-commerce industry, quite a popular trend is to use the Ruby language and its Ruby on Rails framework. Another technology can work as well. It is used by the world’s largest brands, including AirBnB or Groupon. It is better to discuss such decision with experienced developers, who in the past had an opportunity to collaborate on similar projects as those related to the e-commerce industry.

Mistake 5: Lack of constant product development

Product development does not end at the moment of its production. When the e-commerce platform starts the market activity, it is a mistake to stop the development works. Of course, a lot depends on the type of product or software, but most often, especially at the initial stage, the product requires constant development. Omitting this can be risky. Competition on the market is usually very large, so you should regularly analyze the effectiveness of available functionalities and, if necessary make changes or updates.