Get Your Website Ready for the Festive Season
Recent statistics from the year 2016 has revealed that smartphones and tablets drove a record $259 million in online sales on Black Friday last year, and $419 million in online sales on Cyber Monday last year. A report provided by CNBC and Business Insider respectively has stated that Amazon has captured more than half of all online sales growth in the last year and Walmart’s eCommerce sales rose by 63% just in the last quarter!
While all eCommerce sites are aware of this sales peak, the real question lies in how to prepare for this heavy traffic and how to make the most of it for your individual business?
Understanding the intricacies of handling your eCommerce sites as well as your customer goes a long way in boosting your sale. Here are some tips to enable a well-planned and prepared strategy for advancing your eCommerce sales during this holiday season:
Adapt to only small and avoid significant changes:
While most marketers would tell you to make substantial changes to your sales strategy, the changes on your eCommerce platform should be significant at the appropriate turns and not completely redo your website unless customers have remarked regarding the ease of use. Shoppers have the tendency to compare prices between sellers and if they are used to your site then they would be back to buy despite the marginal difference in cost provided they are comfortable around the easy navigation of your portal as well as happy with your payment options. Given the remarkable progress in digital money, looping in e-wallet platforms and offering flashy discounts or cashback options for your returning customers would help convert your sales rate into bigger numbers.
Be accessible to your customers:
Customers have constant queries related to products and service options alike. Having a separate customer support team to address every single question would be hard to keep track of, and therefore providing a self-servicing option would be a wise choice. While for constantly repeated queries keeping the FAQ section up to date would be ideal, adding in a feature of live chat would not only be a remarkable advantage of building confidence in the buyer to purchase from you but also help to convert them into returning customers to be highly satisfied with your eCommerce responsive customer service.
Market you and your product:
The primary step to get your sales reach desired proportions is to start by planning early. The holiday calendar is fixed and planning your strategies well ahead of time helps you to not only regulate sales effectively but also enable you to channelize them prospectively. Starting from doing a detailed market study of the current year’s trends to drawing up your shipping calendar and price plans will be the best markers from your marketing to sales conversion strategy.
- Pick your desired festivals for sale, and draw up the promotional calendar which will outline your sales and marketing strategy from day one of your sale.
- According to Roy Erez, CEO of Loop Commerce, a buyer hesitates to purchase gifts online due to infeasible return or refund options. Amping up your return and exchange policy through a regulated shipping channel will ensure a wider customer base. Do not forget on effective shipping strategy because 88% of online shoppers have rated free shipping as their driving factor for purchase.
- Get all your planning done well ahead of the sale. Ensure that your ad copy, promotional email list, design and graphics, landing page, etc, is all prepared before the last minute of the sale in order to both improvise on your strategy and to avoid technical glitches for a hassle-free sale. Ensure your server does not crash due to overload as a frustrated customer would avoid purchase on your site.
Strategize the intricacies of your website and reap its benefits this holiday!