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How eCommerce App Like Auctionata Went From Success To Failure

4291 Views | 1 min | Published On: March 10, 2021 Last Updated: June 29, 2023
eCommerce app Auctionata

There are more than 2 million apps on the google play store and hence you can understand the level of competition among eCommerce Apps. One really needs to be creative and different if they want their eCommerce App to work. Auctionata was also one of the good eCommerce App but faced many issues and got shut. It has raised $96 million but every penny was wasted just because of their irresponsible dealing.

Auctionata was an online platform through which they auction luxury goods, art, antiques, and collectibles. They use to broadcast the live auction of the items and make them available for sale. It was started in 2012 and just after 5 years things went wrong and Auctionata got bankrupt and their services were seized.

Top Reasons Why Auctionata eCommerce App Crashed Down

Auctionata was a Berlin-based company and had offices in New York too. This company constitutes 250 art experts. They used to work on commission and were not associated with the Auctionata app directly. Alexander Zacke and Susanne Zacke were the founders of this eCommerce App “ Auctionata”. In this section, we will discuss a few reasons which lead Auctionata to go into debt and ultimately out of buyers. Following are the reasons why the eCommerce app crashes down:

developing eCommerce app

1. No Transparency

Transparency is a primary thing when it comes to creating faith and unless there is no faith no one will believe in you. If you want users to believe in your app then you need to provide transparency. You need to tell them about your services in detail.

Having no clarity in Auctionata’s approaches was the first reason why buyers or users stopped showing their interest in this Auctionata app. Many users also complain that this eCommerce App sells items that are not genuine and were of no profit to the buyers but to the company itself. Therefore having no clear communication with the users was the first reason for the downfall of Auctionata.

2. Illegal practices

This is the worst thing any company can do. Never adhere to practices that can put a question mark on your services later. Never overlook the legal guidelines which are mandatory to run a business. Being an eCommerce App, there are few guidelines that every company needs to follow and Auctionata overlooked that. Making blunders was the routine, which cannot be overlooked. Hence this again gave a bad impression to the users and Auctionata went down. 

3. Unethical Behaviour

eCommerce Apps are so much in demand because they are very ethical in their approach. While Auctionata was completely doing the opposite to it. It was claimed by one of their users that he gave feedback of one star on their website and had complained about their services but the company has removed his feedback just to maintain its fake reputation. Such acts are not authorized and come under legal consideration. In fact, some users also complain that their articles or goods are not genuine and are sold to them with a commission price. Users will never want to use apps that are unethical in their practice and hide things from them.   

4. Irresponsibility

Auctionata doesn’t want to take any responsibility for their illegal deeds. They rather try to save their own image or reputation but never take steps to resolve users’ queries or feedback. This irresponsible behavior towards users was also a big reason for Auctionata’s fall down.

5. Unhappy Customers

It is really bad when you are working for the customers but they are not happy with the service. For any eCommerce App or for any website it is really important to keep the users happy. Auctionata never focused on such issues. They let the thing go as they were and did not adapt themselves as per the situation and later faced a case of insolvency.

How Can One Stand During a Company's bad Phase ?

There are many examples of such companies, who started their career very well but ended up badly. There are ups and downs in every business, one must know the right approach to handle success as well as failure. Therefore in this section, you will read about what is the right way to deal when a business or company is going through a bad phase.

  • Understand Market Need

Before investing your money in the market, try to find out its position and your needs. It is really very important to judge the market, what is the current trend and where one can get good returns. Being unaware of market knowledge will always lead you downwards. Not understanding the market and not able to adapt as per the changes, was the main reason for Auctionata or for any eCommerce App to go out of business. Playing smart and changing accordingly is the key to stay or stand in the market for a long.

  • Focus on Specific Audience

Planning to develop an eCommerce App? Then remember the first thing, rather than going for the entire market. All the eCommerce Apps we see like eBay, Target, Amazon, have not just become brands in a single day. It took years of patience, ups, and downs to reach this height. Similarly, you also have patience and take your time to grow gradually. 

You must have heard of “ Planning accordingly, adapting quickly and gradually succeeding” is the rule of every business. Choose a single section or industry at a time. So, firstly plan your target audience and their needs. Later go to the next level as per the situation and then increase your reach in the market. 

  • Follow Legal Approaches

Whether your eCommerce App is performing well or bad. Never overlook any legal proceedings. This will really cost you a lot if you ever thought of going against the law. Always get your company or eCommerce App registered, provide the service as you claim, maintain transparency. Users have full right to know everything about the company, app and the product he is buying through your app. This legal documentation not just helps users, but also stands with the company when any fraudulent activity is done by another party.

  • Be Customer Friendly

Very important point while developing any eCommerce App. If your app is not user-oriented or friendly then it will never excel or gain popularity. Always provide your users to share their concerns and complain. Try to resolve them as and when the user demands or requests. Auctionata is also accused of not being attentive to their users’ queries and is very casual with customer handling. So keep this in mind and always be available for your users. This makes an eCommerce App more genuine and collects more loyalty from the customer or users.

  • Change Policies

It is not necessary to continue with older company policies if your company is facing a situation of bankruptcy. Making a little change in the policies and dealing with things with the right attitude can always save you in bad times. Have the ability to adapt to changes quickly as per the situation demand. This is the key feature of a successful businessman or company. 

Now if we talk about Auctionata, they did not make any change in their policies and therefore got into insolvency proceedings and fell down.

Steps You Need To Follow To Make A Successful eCommerce App

There are many blogs and articles which can tell you how to become a successful eCommerce App developer. But how will you know if your eCommerce App is successful or not? So here are few points to which one should pay attention while developing an eCommerce App. 

develop an eCommerce app

1. Plan Essential Features

The first thing is first, plan out the features which you want to add to your app. For example, if you want to make an eCommerce App, then have features like login, clear categorization of the products, standard payment gateways, feedback feature, and a lot more. Your app must have all the features which any successful eCommerce App consists of. If you want to know more about these features and planning read our article

2. Work On Budgeting

Now comes the capital, money is required for any business, so we can put this into the primary requirement too. Have a budget that can give you a dream eCommerce App. Something that you always dreamt of. Over budgeting and investing all your funds in a single go is really a very bad option. Developing an eCommerce App not just requires funds in the initial stage but also later when you need to advertise your app and have to add on further features. So planned budgeting is very important for a successful future of an eCommerce App.

3. Design of the App

Designing the app again is a very important point for any successful eCommerce App. Every app is known or recognized by its logo or design. So if you want your app to be different and have a standout image, then focus on its design. The design of the app should be unique and easy to catch. Color should be according to the theme of the app, like if you are developing a love or dating app, obviously its color should be pink, red, or purple. You cannot make it with black, green, or any such dark color. You need to understand the importance of colors and symbols. Read our article on this to learn more aspects of designing.

4. Testing

This is also one of the major reasons when eCommerce apps are not able to work smoothly. Few coding bugs cause your software not to run properly and further cause technical problems. Therefore testing helps to tackle out such coding bugs. The qualified testers work for the same so that these bugs can be eliminated and should not interfere with the functioning of the app.

eCommerce app developers

Top Reasons Why eCommerce Apps Crash Down

In this huge market of eCommerce companies, you can not imagine when you can be let down by your competitor. This is the continuous struggle of standing or running first. The thirst for success is never-ending and so are the reasons which will help you stand firm in the market. In this section, you will see major reasons due to which eCommerce Apps crash down and how you can avoid it while developing an eCommerce App.

create an eCommerce app

1. Code Errors

This is a technical error that can happen with anyone but can be avoided if taken full attention. Such errors can be commonly seen on any electronic device when you are attempting to do something but it is not happening. There are many different error codes and there are unique solutions to resolve them. So whenever you face a problem while using the app, try to remove or deal with error code issues.

2. Unavailability of The Website

You can’t imagine but it is really very tough to keep the website available for the users all the time. It really takes a lot of effort and time to maintain the 100% availability of your app. Sometimes due to more traffic or other technical reasons, your website goes slow and you really don’t want it. This sudden breakdown or slowing of the app leaves the user clueless and sometimes irritated. So try to resolve this unavailability of the website as soon as possible or update your users as possible.

3. Ransomware and Malware Attack

Sometimes eCommerce apps also get corrupted through other links or sources. When an app is attacked by any such foreign thing, it starts to malfunction and cause many technical issues while using the respective eCommerce app. This malware or ransomware attack is very common, to make your eCommerce app free from such things connect with experts.

4. Check For Domain Expiration

This is about the certification of your company domain. Just like any other certification renewal, the eCommerce company domain also needs to be renewed because, in case of domain expiration, the company website immediately gets inactive. This often happens when the company domain gets expired and users might face problems while using the app. Therefore domain expiration is also a very common reason when eCommerce website crash down. 

5. Unethical Hacking

This is one of the biggest problems for every eCommerce company. There are hackers who are authorized to hack websites and apps on purpose. With the use of advanced technology these hackers exploit the system software and breach their defense mechanism. Through this unethical hacking these professionals gather the information of the company, steal confidential data, and challenge your defense software. One needs to be very careful about this unethical hacker. They are really bad for the eCommerce market. One can try to make their website safe from unethical hackers by talking to technical IT experts

Conclusion

Every eCommerce app starts with a great idea and plan but somewhere they lack a few features due to which they face failures. Failures are not bad, they actually teach us what we should not do in our future. As you cherish success, try to face failure with the same attitude. If you are in the market, you need to face, good, as well as bad times. But again, yes, if the failures can be avoided then you must really do anything to turn your failure into success. 

eCommerce app developer experts

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