eCommerce platforms are fast turning into the gateway to the world’s marketplace. And that’s evident in the number of visitors that large eCommerce platforms get daily. The holiday season is here, and eCommerce stores are bracing up for it by sharpening their marketing strategies.
The aim of every eCommerce store owner is to turn its web visitors into customers, a phenomenon known as conversion rate. But that requires having the requisite knowledge of the process.
There are numerous strategies that you can use to bring website visitors to your eCommerce platform and convert them into customers.
This article is written to help you know more about some effective ways to boost your eCommerce sales this holiday. Let’s dive straight into it.
1. Solve technical issues promptly
The chances are high that you will get more volume of website visits and purchases in this holiday season than you’ve ever gotten since you launched your eCommerce business. This is due to the steady surge in eCommerce platform usage, which the holiday season might make more profound.
As such, the number of visitors on your website page might make your website susceptible to technical issues. Whether you’re using a WordPress, Wix, or custom-made site, none immunes your website from errors.
Wix websites can come up with errors like connectivity issues, SEO glitches, broken URLs, etc., which may lead to missed sales, a high cart abandonment rate, and an increased bounced rate. If you own a website that’s built with Wix, and you want to be adequately prepared for the technical issues that might occur, then you’ll find some really useful tips here.
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2. Get your website into the holiday mood
Entered any brick and mortar store yet? Can you feel the holiday decorations they put in place? You also need to ornate your eCommerce site and give it a top-notch makeover that’s fit for the holiday season.
While you don’t have a brick-and-mortar store to decorate, you have to apply the same aesthetics to your online store.
Giving your website a festive look and feel will help your website visitors know that you’re prepared for the holiday sales and that they’ll get some holiday discounts there.
Apart from giving your eCommerce site a festive look, you need to ensure that your website is easy to navigate and that the checkout process is as straightforward as possible. Since statistics show that most online eCommerce shoppers are doing so from their mobile device, ensure that your platform is properly designed for the easy navigation of those browsing from their smartphone.
Here are some ways you can get your eCommerce site in the Holiday Mood:
- Include festive images on your home page and some highly visited sections of your eCommerce site.
- Speak to your website designer on changing the graphics and theme of your site to one that depicts the mood of the season.
- Alter the fonts to something more festive.
3. Have a customer base before the holiday sales start
It’ll be difficult for you to build an audience when the holiday season sales start. And that’s because consumers are often skeptical about new platforms and won’t want to jump straight into purchasing from them without having prior knowledge of their existence.
As such, it’s imperative that you already have an audience before the holiday sales start. There are numerous ways to get this done; examples include via social media, email subscribers, etc.
The purpose of this is to have an audience that will know whenever you launch your holiday sales by notifying them via emails, social media posts, etc. When they’re notified, the chances are high that some of them will visit your eCommerce website.
Here are some simple tips for building a vibrant customer base this season;
- Use social media groups to look for a proper target audience.
- Research on the target of your competitors.
- Have a detailed market analysis of your product and determine the most suitable niche for that product.
4. Come up with a content strategy
Come up with a content strategy, but avoid doing this at the 11th hour. Why?
This is because it takes time for content to rank. It might take weeks, months, and sometimes years for your webpage to rank well on search engine pages. So plan your content strategy now.
It’s quite common to see brands underrate the effectiveness of content in boosting sales. It’s a strategy that, if properly executed, can give you an impressive conversion rate and boost your eCommerce sales in this holiday season.
Here are some tips for planning your content strategy:
- Optimize your blogs before the festive season starts.
- Create lead magnets or freebies that’ll excite your customers this holiday season.
- Create content around trendy holiday sales.
5. Leverage clients testimonials
Reviews and testimonials from clients matter in convincing other prospective clients to pick your eCommerce platform. This is exactly why you see testimonials and reviews from customers on the site of top-brands, and they do this because it works.
A survey by Brightlocal shows that 88% of consumers trust online reviews in the same manner as personal recommendations from someone trusted.
However, it’s not recommended that every website has their client’s testimonials on their homepage, but you can create a webpage for them. Also, share those testimonials on your social media account and to your mailing list.
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6. Showcase your top-selling products
The chances are high that your new eCommerce site visitors will be interested in your top-selling products. Those products make lots of sales for a reason, and it’s that same reason that new customers will opt to buy them.
Your best-selling products have proved their mettle. Showcasing them to new visitors can help you increase your customers and boost both your e-store sales and conversions.
Here are some ways for you to showcase your best sellers:
- Display them on your landing pages, website’s footer, etc.
- Ensure that your visitors can easily access them.
- Create content around your best-sellers.
7. Create flash sales
Sometimes ago, I had thought that it’d be a good idea to purchase a headphone for myself, but I decided to get it some days later. However, a few hours after making that decision, I saw a highly discounted flash sale that was about to run out in an hour. Without any resistance, I brought out my credit card to make the purchase.
What happened there is called the Fear of Missing Out, which is exactly what you’re creating in the minds of your audience anytime you’re making flash sales. It’ll help you convert those customers that think of purchasing what you sell later.
8. Ship and return for free
About 47% of eCommerce platform users don’t want to pay shipping fees. The consumers are in the mood to shop, and they’ll do that on your eCommerce site if the incentives are right. No matter how quality and eye-catching what you sell are, a bulk of your customers will abandon the cart if the shipping fees are too high.
Also, take steps to ensure a straightforward return process. With the high sales that you might get this holiday season, the chances are high that you’ll make some mistakes in sorting the items. Some products may even get damaged while conveying them to your customers; as such, an apt return policy is key to remaining profitable after holiday sales.
Here are some tips for using free return and shipping:
- Have a price limit for free shipping.
- Advertise your free shipping policy to your audience.
- Add the cost of free shipping to the price of your product; this is somewhat tricky as it will make your product more expensive. As such, you may want to split this cost between your business and your customers.
9. Use cross-selling and upselling to boost impulse buys
Even to the most frugal spender, there are times when we all want to buy just one thing, but we end out with a cart list of numerous items. This is due to a phenomenon called impulse buying.
Impulse buying is basically when a customer purchases an item, he/she never planned or budgeted for. If you can increase the rate of impulse purchases from your customers this holiday period, you will significantly raise your eCommerce sales.
An effective way to raise the rate of impulse buying among your customers is via cross-selling and upselling.
For those who are in the dark about what this means, let’s help you make sense of it;
Upselling is when you offer a much-improved version of a product that your consumers want. While to cross-sell means that you’re offering your consumers products that are complementary to the one they’re buying.
10. Focus on your niche market
Everyone is in the mood to make purchases this season, and that’s inclusive of every niche market. As such, instead of having a scattered approach where you’re trying to make your website to capture every user, it’s best to focus on a niche. Niche marketing is generally known to bring more conversions since your niche market already has found your platform useful. If your niche is in trend, you can be up for mind-blowing profit this holiday—you just have to get your marketing strategy right.
Here’s how to target your niche market this holiday:
- Carry out market research to know the trending topics in the market.
- Use Google AdWords and Trends to know the niches that are trending.
- Keep tabs on your competitors and watch the top-selling products on their platform this season.
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In summary
The competition amongst eCommerce platforms during the holiday sale period is always tough. Due to this, you need to know how to sell your eCommerce business profitably in the holiday season so that you can gain from the demand in the market.
Boosting eCommerce holiday sales requires paying attention to the requirements of consumers. But much more than that, you need to have the right tips that will make them consider your platform out of multiple options. We hope that with the tips we’ve given, you will boost sales on your eCommerce platform this holiday period.
