16/01/2016
Ten Tips to Seasonal E-Commerce Success
Just like most other business, the festive period is a time when e-commerce retailers especially, look for a boost in their Christmas business. Whether it is gifts, food and drink, home decorations, holidays or something else, this is a period where people spend, and retailers look to maximise their sales at this time.
For those who work in e-commerce, things can begin to get a little complicated and messy – a situation which isn`t necessarily conducive to e-commerce success, and sometimes a little helping hand is needed. So, bearing this is mind here are ten expert e-commerce Christmas tips to help you to make the most of the festive period in e-commerce:
1. Item Specifics – As you will be hoping that more people will looking at your products during this season, make sure that your item specifics are properly set out, firstly to give potential customers all of the details that they might need, but also to help in your items being found and giving accurate search results. For seasonal business success, you need to make sure that your item information is completely up to date and accurate. Ensure that the title, description and images are all done properly.
2. Get your Shipping Right – Customers have increasingly high expectations of shipping time and quality. For Christmas success you need to get items shipped as quickly as possible to ensure that they get there in good time for the big day. Be clear and honest with your customers about when they can expect to get their item. Amazon`s Prime membership guarantees next day delivery and people are beginning to expect this so make sure that you get your shipping right.
3. The importance of Free Shipping – If you are looking to boost your e-commerce business at Christmas you will need to consider free shipping. Many marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay and even Tesco offer searches for products with free shipping. This means that businesses who don`t offer free shipping won`t even get a look in. If you are wanting to compete with the big boys for festive success, you should be considering free shipping.
4. Keep your data organised – It is important that you keep your product data organised, especially if you are looking for e-commerce growth. As you (hopefully) become inundated with orders for your products or services, you will be grateful that you are well-organised, and this will also help you if you want to expand into other channels.
5. Digital Marketing Campaigns – It can be difficult to know how to structure digital marketing campaigns – especially during the festive period if you are not sure which products to you want to push. Try following your product structure on your website, where you can begin to pair keywords and then search terms. Then think about what landing pages you want to design and go from there.
6. Not just Google – Whilst Google does take the majority of the searches of the internet, there are other search engines which people do use – mostly Bing and Yahoo. Fortunately, the other search engines generally follow the algorithms set by Google – or similar ones, so make sure that you are aware of how they work, and strictly follow the Google guidelines.
7. Go after Repeat Customers - Whilst it is always good to win new customers, it is a lot less work to get your older ones coming back to you, in terms of ROI. In terms of finding new customers, you will spend a lot more time, energy and money than pleasing your current ones so that they come back, so for season success as well as long term growth, it is important to do all that you can to keep the customers that you have.
8. Try Bundling Items Together – A good tactic to win business when there is a lot of competition – like there is over the festive period is to bundle items together. Offer something for free or sell packages of items which people often buy together. People who think that they are getting a better deal are more likely to buy, resulting in more festive business success for you.
9. Offer Promotions or discounts – A similar tactic to the above, buyers love a promotion, so offer discounts or special deals to tempt people towards you and away from your competitors. Google Merchant Promotions are free additions to PLAs which you can use to advertise special promotions or discounts on your items.
10. Stay in touch with Channel Changes – As you grow your e-commerce business, you will naturally want to expand across other channels. It is important that you stay up to date with any channel changes which might occur and adapt yourself accordingly. You need to treat each channel as if it is the only one that you are using and give each one the attention that it requires.
The festive period – and the weeks after it are an excellent opportunity for e-commerce businesses to really boost their sales. It is important, however that you are well prepared to both make the most of the increased traffic and (hopefully) number of buyers at the time, and also afterwards. You will want to capitalise on the increased business over this time, but also keep these extra customers and get them coming back for more.
This can be done mainly by being extra-organised and offering great products and services, and an excellent customer service to keep your customers coming back over and over again.
If you have any questions about how to make the most of your e-commerce business over the festive period, growing your e-commerce business, or need help with your business`s web design and digital marketing, get in touch with Studioworx either via email ([email protected]), telephone +44 (0)1603 274285 or the website (https://www.studioworx.co.uk).