Welcome to Black Friday! Today is known, throughout the United States and Canada, as the biggest shopping day of the year. This is because, for most retailers, providing significant discounts is the name of the game today. Cyber Monday will soon follow. It is the online equivalent of today’s big shopping event. As an e-retailer, there are some easy steps you can take to ensure that your online sales are strong all throughout the holiday season.
Optimize your site for mobile.
These days, many online shoppers complete their purchases on their mobile devices. If your online store is hard to navigate on a smartphone or tablet, it will turn online shoppers away. Take out your phone and go through your online shop. Are you encountering any issues locating items or finding a way to get customer service? Make changes accordingly in order to provide your site’s visitors with seamless online shopping experiences.
“50% of holiday shoppers use mobile smartphones or tablets,” informs Hang Do of PageFly, “Make sure that the site visitors can easily browse your products and make their purchases on phones and tablets. Slow page loading is a major issue that customers often complain about. In reality, a website that takes more than 3 seconds to load might lead about 40% of online users to your competitors’ sites.”
Partner with a non-profit.
There is no bad time of year to participate in a charitable cause. However, during the holiday season, it is commonplace for businesses to run food and toy drives among other initiatives that give back to their communities. Partner with a non-profit organization and highlight the partnership on your company website. Inform visitors that portions of the proceeds from purchases will go towards the charity you’ve chosen. It will boost holiday spirit as well as sales.
“The holidays are the perfect time for your business to work with causes that you and your customers believe in,” writes Reed Hartman on BigCommerce.com, “For many, this means giving back and doing good deeds, pulling on customers’ heartstrings and feeling good about a purchase. Consider partnering with a non-profit to get in the holiday spirit while sharing your brand mission with your customers.”
Integrate live chat.
How do you provide customer service to your online shoppers? In many cases, people will call the phone number listed on your website if they have questions. But is there a quicker and easier way to get questions answered? By implementing a live chat feature, you can have artificial intelligence anticipate and answer your most commonly asked questions. It will give your shoppers peace of mind, making it easier for them to follow through on their purchases.
“During the holiday season, visitors will reach you much more often,” says Do, “They might want to know more about your products, check if the product will be delivered on time, and want to get an even quicker response to their questions. You can lose sales if a potential customer cannot get answers quickly enough. It is the reason why you should integrate live chat on your website.”
Is your company in need of a safe and secure e-commerce solution?
Unity Payments can help you to take advantage of this ever-growing trend. We’ve made selling online easier than ever! Please don’t hesitate to call us at 1-800-661-3761 or email us at info@unitypayments.ca to learn more.
