Holiday season is upon us and for most online businesses this represents a huge opportunity as everyone’s rushing to get their gifts on time and browsing online for the best deals.
It’s also when online shops generate the majority of their annual revenue – making it the most important period for businesses. But with everyone running their own promotions, the question on everybody’s mind is: How to get the most people to buy from your online shop?
Today we’ll look at three things every e-commerce website should have in place for the holiday season to maximise their sales.
Welcoming returning customers
People are going to be shopping all over the internet looking for that perfect gift. And your task here is encouraging them to buy from your online shop when they come back.
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Folks can bookmark their favourite products, but there’s no guarantee they will. So to make life easier welcome them back by letting them see the products they’ve already viewed. That way they don’t have to search all over again and are ready to purchase right after they’ve returned.
Add a ‘Gifts’ category
To get into the holiday spirit, create a new category such as ‘Gifts’ or ‘Presents’.
You’ve probably gathered a lot of data the past year on what products sold best, and you could use that to your advantage by adding them into your new festive category. Additionally you could also get your team together and ask them to include their favourites for a “Staff’s pick” collection of gift ideas.
Shopping for presents can be very time consuming, and most of it down to thinking what the perfect present would be. This is where your new category comes in handy by reassuring people they’re choosing the right gifts.
Coupons and promotions
Spread some holiday love by offering special deals on your e-commerce website. A massive 73% of holiday purchases are influenced by coupons or promotions, making it a powerful tool for increased holiday sales.
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There are a few ways you can do this, and of course depends on your shop and how much of a discount you can afford to offer. Here you’ll find the most common types of offers:
- Percentage discount – Probably the most popular discount on the list is by offering a certain percentage off your products. You could go small with discounts of up to 10%. To really help boost your sales, discounts around the 25% mark could do the trick.
- Value based discount – Assign a monetary value to your discount which makes people feel they’re throwing money away if they don’t redeem it. For example you could offer €10 off their next purchase.
- Free shipping – The most common reason why people abandon their shopping carts is due to unexpected costs such as shipping. Therefore by offering free shipping to increase the likelihood of people choosing to buy from you.
- Free gift – Everyone enjoys a free gift, and offering one can add more value for your customers.
What about you – how are you preparing for the holiday season? We’d love to hear your story in the comments section below.
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