This is a very exciting time of year. Halloween comes this weekend! But that’s not actually what we’re talking about. The day after Halloween is the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season. All of the black and orange decor will soon be exchanged for green and red. And retailers everywhere will be preparing for huge boosts in sales.
Or will they? It’s important to put efforts into attracting holiday shoppers. This is especially true for e-commerce businesses. There is a lot of competition out there. What will make online shoppers choose your online shop over others? Let’s take a look how you can set up your e-commerce store for a strong holiday season.
Start advertising right away!
In case we haven’t already made it clear, the time is now (or within the week, at least) to begin promoting your store’s holiday specials. Design your site so that it’s clear to visitors it accommodates their holiday shopping needs. Take to social media and spread the word about the savings that can be enjoyed in your online shop. Although you can certainly start right away, don’t wait too long after Halloween to get into the holiday spirit.
“Every business owner with a holiday sales spike knows it’s coming, but the ones who benefit the most are those who start to plan early,” writes Jen Roney on GoDaddy.com, “You’ll need time to forecast sales and order enough of the right kinds of products. It takes time to create a plan and implement it, and if you’re still working out the kinks in November, you’ll fall short.”
Debug and/or revamp your website.
Are there any dead links on your website? Does the design need updating? The last thing you want is a website that turns online visitors away. Make sure your site is fully updated so that it doesn’t crash, send your visitors to outdated pages or look outdated. As Jacob Loveless warns on Forbes.com, businesses lose out every holiday season when their websites go down.
“An important point to remember is that a slow website often appears to be an offline website to customers,” he alerts, “This is the time of year when speed really matters. To avoid something like this happening to your online business, audit your website and fix any bugs. Reach out to your infrastructure provider and make sure they are ready for increased traffic rates. Design implementation and usability optimization are also important.”
Offer better deals than your competitors.
Needless to say, you have a lot of competition. E-retailers from all over the world will be vying for the attention of members of your target audience. Don’t allow your site to get overlooked. Highlight the fact that your online store has the best deals. Remember that those deals don’t just have to entail low prices. A combination of quick delivery, incomparable customer service, warranties and affordable prices will help your store to outshine others.
“The types of deals shoppers see influence their buying behaviour during the holiday season,” informs Loveless, “The better your deals, the higher your chances of customers buying from you. Meanwhile, you have to find the middle ground between making a profit, satisfying customers and being competitive.”
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.
