Owning an online store can be a thrilling adventure, but it’s not all smooth sailing. 

Behind the scenes, store owners often find themselves facing unexpected financial hurdles that can put a strain on profitability and long-term sustainability. 

From transaction fees to the complexities of website performance optimization, the concealed costs of running an online store can take a toll on both the nerves and the budget. 

In this article, we’ll uncover and discuss solutions to these unforeseen expenses, offering insights into the challenges faced by online store owners and presenting a solution that aligns with efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

1. Payment Gateway Fees

Issue: Transaction fees can silently eat away at your revenue, impacting your bottom line.

EcomEzy Agent: Consider using payment gateways with competitive fees or negotiating rates based on transaction volume. However if you are a small store then negotiating volume rates is pretty much a no go.

Unfortunately the payment gateways are often leveraged by big players for better rates and then the smaller store owner has to make up the difference. Sad fact of life when running a store, so what to do?

First,  your admin staff can monitor transactions, ensuring you’re not overpaying, and help you choose the most cost-effective options.

Second, promote the lowest fee payment option as the preferred payment option.

Third, even though it can be a hassle to manage, offer Direct Bank Transfer as an option as this is likely the lowest cost for payments, and for some banks there are no fees. It generally requires more management when you are starting out, but this may not be an issue and the margins may be more important.

The Hidden Costs: Unveiling the Challenges of Online Store Management

2. Hosting and Performance Optimization:

Issue: As your online store grows, so do hosting costs, and poor website performance can lead to lost sales.

EcomEzy Agent: Invest in reliable hosting services and consider scalable options. We have a team of network people that are dedicated to optimizing hosting performance ensuring a seamless shopping experience for your customers.

First – DON’T use a shared public server for your ecommerce store – this is a no-no as it can badly affect your performance. It seems cheap in the short term, but there is a hidden penalty in that your search rankings may suffer.

Second – pay a little extra for a VPS server. For a few extra dollars a month you get a dedicated VPS for ecommerce which can be optimized and dedicated for your store. Your store needs a minimum of 1GB of Ram allocated to it and public servers generally will not allow this,often limiting you to 128MB of Ram. With your own server you also don’t need to be concerned that someone else’s website on the shared server may affect your performance.

3. Plugin Costs

Issue: Essential plugins often come with a price tag, adding to your overall expenditure.

EcomEzy Agent: Prioritize necessary plugins, explore free alternatives, and budget for premium ones that add significant value.

Most premium plugins have a free version that allows you to get started. At some point however it will be required to pay for some plugins.

On the other hand with this comes premium support from the developer if something goes wrong. Which is not normally the case for freebies. If you are serious about ecommerce then paying for premium plugins should not be a concern.

Be very wary of plugins sourced from Plugin clubs that offer the premium plugin at a fraction of the price. These often contain malware that will infect your site and steal your customers data.

We can manage plugin updates and ensure compatibility, reducing the risk of additional costs due to conflicts.

4. Security Measures:

Issue: Protecting your online store from cyber threats comes with the cost of security plugins and measures.

EcomEzy Agent: Invest in robust security solutions, including SSL certificates.

We will implement and monitor security measures, safeguarding your store and customer data.

SSL is mandatory for any website , without it search engines may penalise your rankings.

Security plugins are also mandatory for blocking Spammers and Brute force attacks. As an ecommerce store owner, the one guarantee you have is that you will be targeted. Generally these attacks are anonymous and not specifically targeting you personally. Attackers look for weaknesses in your system and try to exploit them.

We monitor these activities together with plugins that will block potential intruders. We also ensure that if the worse case does happen we can jump into action to recover the situation.

5. Theme Customization:

Issue: Customizing or purchasing a theme can lead to additional expenses..

EcomEzy Agent: Choose a theme wisely, and budget for customization to maintain a unique brand identity. Our design staff can handle theme adjustments, saving you time and potential costly mistakes.

Although basic theme adjustments can be straight forward, sometimes they lead down a rabbit hole with a ‘change here’ affecting something ‘over there’. The bigger question is as a store owner do you have time for these tasks? Sometimes it is better to leave to a specialist who can perform the job faster and more efficiently

6. Marketing and Advertising

Issue: Marketing campaigns and advertising can strain your budget, especially for smaller businesses.

EcomEzy Agent:  Develop a strategic marketing plan with a focus on cost-effectiveness.
We can assist with social media management and online advertising, maximizing your reach within budget constraints. We can also ensure that your store content is Search optimized to make sure we can achieve as many high search rankings as possible. The combined approach of ‘free’ search and some paid advertising can be the best for your store

7. Inventory Management

Issue: The costs associated with tracking and managing inventory can be significant.

EcomEzy Agent:    Your Woocommerce store comes with inventory management as do most online shopping engines. The problems of inventory management align more with how we manage the inventory. Is it up to date? Are the stock levels accurate?

We can help to manage these issues, bearing in mind that inventory will generally have some discrepancy somewhere over the period of a financial year. As a business you need to allow for some stock returns that cannot be resold at full value.

Some items may get damaged during transportation and are not recoverable or saleable in any form. Some stock may arrive from the factory already faulty, and it may not be feasible to claim on them.

So these situations also need to be taken into account when calculating your selling margins. There will be some leakage in stock.

8. Shipping and Fulfillment

Issue: Shipping costs, packaging materials, and fulfillment services contribute to overall expenses.

EcomEzy Agent: Optimize shipping strategies, negotiate rates, and explore fulfillment options. We can coordinate with shipping partners and streamline the communications with them, however negotiating the shipping contract with a 3PL provider will be the responsibility of the store owner.

Keep in mind that if using a 3PL provider there may also be issues of inventory leakage. Check your terms and conditions for liability in case they incorrectly ship the wrong items.

9. Website Maintenance:

Issue: Regular maintenance tasks, updates, and issue resolutions can incur ongoing costs..

EcomEzy Agent: Routine store maintenance is a must and we will handle updates to theme and plugins/extension, ensuring your website remains secure and functional.

This is a daily activity and as your store grows you will get more plugins. These need to be maintained and checked for security issues.

Your store should be backed up daily either through your hosting contract or by our team.

10. Returns and Refunds:

Issue: Processing returns and refunds, including return shipping fees, can impact profitability.

EcomEzy Agent: Implement a clear return policy, factor in return costs when pricing products, and consider offering incentives.

We can manage returns efficiently, reducing the financial strain associated with the process. We can also help to establish secondary markets for on selling Refurbished or Opened items, thus creating a channel for recovering value from stock that cannot be sold at full price.

The Solution: Leveraging Trained Admin Staff for Efficient Store Management

Beyond the challenges lies an opportunity to streamline operations and enhance your online store’s efficiency. Trained administrative staff can prove invaluable in managing these tasks effectively, ensuring that your focus remains on growing your business.

Experience counts for a lot when managing an ecommerce store, it makes sense to leverage a team like EcomEzy to assist with the above tasks and allow you, the store owner, more time for the important stuff – marketing decisions, finding new products to sell, finding new ways to grow the business.

Explore EcomEzy for Professional Store Management Assistance

EcomEzy offers outsourced professional store management assistance at reasonable costs. Our real people, not algorithms, are dedicated to optimizing your online store, handling the intricacies, and saving you both time and money.

Take the next step towards a more efficient and profitable online store with EcomEzy – where expert assistance meets affordability.