Downtime can be costly for ecommerce businesses, as we discussed in our recent post. If your site is down for even 5 minutes, you can lose potentially thousands in sales. And, while most ecommerce websites experience downtime occasionally, minimising the damage is the key to success. That’s why we’ve put together a guide to dealing with ecommerce downtime to keep you moving…
Is your site actually down?
First of all, check that your site is actually down. Visit your website and refresh the page to make sure your server isn’t using a cached version. A customer may have alerted you to the problem, but it might not be your problem in the first place.
Issues with broadband and server networks could result in them not being able to connect to your site. It’s worth double checking before alerting the troops to the issue. Once you’ve checked and realised that your site is down, it’s time to start digging…
What isn’t working?
Downtime on your website could be down to a variety of reasons. Network errors, crashed servers and DNS problems are all among the list of culprits. If you have an in-house IT team, get them on the job straight away to get your site up and running again.
Or, even better, avoid all of the complications with a dedicated Magento support service. This will keep your site monitored, audited and updated to prevent downtime, repairing any issues as soon as they arise.
Let your customers know
While your site is being fixed, it’s best to let your customers know that you are aware of the issue. When presented with an unavailable website, most people will turn to social media to document their complaints…
Get ahead concerned customers’ rage by reaching out on your social media accounts to make the problem known. Having a customised, helpful error page will also help to ease concern, letting customers aware of the alternative ways to contact you.
Offer compensation
Depending on how long your site is down for, you may want to consider offering some kind of discount code or freebie to your customers as compensation.
New and existing clients may be put off using your services if the website is unavailable for a significant amount of time. And no one wants to lose sales due to external errors, right? Entice lost customers back to your site with a symbol of your generosity – even a small discount could go a long way in customer service.
Live and learn
Do you find yourself frequently letting your customers know that your site is down? Have you given away loads of discounts to keep the sales coming in? It’s time to make a change. With Fluid Digital’s Magento support packages, you can rest assured that everything is taken care of.
The best way to deal with downtime is to prevent it happening in the first place. We carry out regular audits of your site, rigorously testing the systems to make sure everything is running smoothly. If not, we will fix the errors as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Get in touch with our expert team today to find out how we can help you.