9 basic e-commerce website optimizations to promote holiday sales

Whether you like to plan ahead or rush at the last minute like the rest of us, boosting holiday sales is essential for various e-commerce sellers.

It is expected that in this holiday season, global retail sales will rebound to pre-pandemic levels, exceeding US$25 trillion.

E-commerce will continue its efforts on the basis of the 25.7% of total sales in 2020, and it is expected to grow again 16.8% This season.

How can you get a bigger piece of this 4.9 trillion dollar cake?

In this column, you will find my nine favorite tips for promoting e-commerce sales during the holidays. These are all proven strategies. I use brands and client companies that I invest in with my own money.

See what you can gain from these top marketing techniques to increase your own e-commerce website’s holiday sales this year.

1. Share your last day of shipment

There are multiple ways to do this.

For example, you can put a site-wide banner on the title and have a text link that says “Click here to view last day shipping” and display a grid for each holiday date.

The goal is to let your potential customers know that if they shop with you and buy today, the product will arrive in time.

You can try to use the most popular items for the day’s transactions during the specific holiday they are viewing. This increases the motivation to shop now instead of waiting until the actual last day of delivery.

Bonus tips: If you provide free shipping service, please indicate “This product can be shipped free of charge and will be delivered in time before XY holiday or XY date.” On eligible products, please indicate “This product can be delivered in time.” You can even use the entire site if you have time Perform this operation within the scope. Try: “Free shipping and guarantee that the last day of arrival is XY date”, or “Buy free shipping now and guarantee arrival on XY holidays.”

2. Add up-sales and discounts to your mini shopping cart

A mini shopping cart is a slide on an e-commerce website that can show you the items in the shopping cart instead of just adding products to the shopping cart without visual effects or interactivity.

One of my favorite tips is to offer bigger discounts to increase the average order value (AOV) in the mini shopping cart.

If we know that the average shopper spent $75 per order in November, I suggest that customers check their database and map the products purchased together.

After adding one of these items to the shopping cart, if the person adds another item or supplementary item to the shopping cart to make the order value more than the $75 mark, we will provide additional discounts, free items, or offers.

If they add products, try to provide free holiday cards or gift bags. You will put your own brand on the bag, and increase the AOV, so as to obtain a win-win situation.

Bonus tips: By recommending products with higher profit margins, ensure that you can still make a profit. If it is a subscription or something with a very high lifetime value (LTV), you may choose to bear the loss. Customer acquisition is harder during the holidays, and you will make money back on your next purchase.

3. Make the copies shipped on the last day more relevant

Instead of just saying “Last Day Shipment” and sharing the date, it says “This will come on Hanukkah, Christmas, Winter Solstice, etc…” It depends on the product.

If you know that this product is for Christmas because it is a toy and Hanukkah has passed, then please use Christmas.

The same is true if it is a Hanukkah sweater or something related to this holiday. By staying relevant, you can additionally ensure that this person is in the right place to shop.

4. Don’t forget Diwali and other holidays

At this time of the year, there are many other religious celebrations, but their festivals do not receive so much recognition.

For example, Diwali is a gift-giving festival 1% of Americans are Indian (4000000).

Creating promotions for these audiences can allow your store to attract more than 4 million people to buy or receive gifts. By acknowledging their beliefs and holidays, you show respect and can win new customers and loyalty.

5. Notify affiliates of upcoming sales in advance

If you have value-added affiliates in your plan (partners don’t just show your brand on Google via coupons or block your own traffic using browser extensions), please provide them with your holiday specials at least 3 weeks later Details progress.

By doing so, you have a better chance of getting recommendations in their Black Friday transaction roundups, subscriber newsletters, and their social media accounts.

6. Create an opt-in VIP list

If your average customer makes purchases on your website twice a year, extract a database of people who make purchases 4 or more times a year.

Now create a private login in your database or tag their account so that only them can access the custom offer at checkout. Note: Their email and billing address must match an account in your database to declare a transaction.

Now, send an email to these VIPs via email and ask them to opt-in to a private area or email list, where you will post all Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday offers, as well as specials customized for them individually.

In the email, please make sure to let them know that this is because they are one of your preferred customers, and they will continue to receive these customized offers throughout the year as a thank you.

You can also let them know that the transaction does not apply to anyone else. Some people may try to get their friends to shop, but because the email address and billing address do not match, the transaction will not apply and your VIP will know that this is an exclusive offer.

7. Take advantage of age, celebrations, and special occasions

A commonly overlooked strategy in holiday marketing is to celebrate people’s life events. If you are like me, your birthday is also an important holiday, then you have become accustomed to people forget you, but pay attention to this holiday.

Become a brand that remembers forgotten life events, and you will stand out.

Bonus tips: If you know that this person celebrated their 16th birthday because they are buying gifts for their 16th birthday, or they told you during a survey, please email them 3 or 4 weeks ago. Mention their upcoming 17th day, and then dynamically insert products related to the products they bought in the past.

Or, prepare a special gift for them to commemorate their birthday. The same is true for anniversaries, pet birthdays, friend anniversaries, etc.

8. Enable customers to personalize and customize products

Another compelling strategy is to be more inclusive. For example, you can stop selling couple products in package form.

Instead of ordering the bride and groom in the wedding space, let the customer choose the number of bride and groom. Then let them choose the skin tone.

The same is true for holiday gifts for couples. By doing this, you can make your product line inclusive of LGBTQ, biracial, and other types of customers in a non-intrusive way. This is just good business.

9. Treat your employees and customer service team like gold

this is very important. Your customer service team will be under the same pressure as you due to the peak holiday season, or even more.

But unlike you, your support team is constantly bombarded by customers who are in a hurry, worried about the holidays, and sometimes even abusive.

Bring your support team donuts, coffee and fun surprises. You can even hire comedians to do shows during your lunch break, or host competitions to get the most positive customer experience. Give gift cards and cash as prizes, and let customer feedback in chat windows or surveys determine who gets them.

As a business leader, you can and should know the names of as many people as possible, especially when it comes to customer support. Thanks to them for their excellent work in the middle and at the end of the season.

At the end of the last day of shipment, hold a customer service team celebration to celebrate your support team’s satisfaction of your customers.

Your customer support team is your company’s spokesperson, not your influencer or spokesperson.

Customer support interacts directly with the people who fill out the cash register and checkout process. When they are happy and love their work, they exceed customer expectations, resulting in more sales, brand reputation and valuable online reviews.

These are some useful sales support strategies for my customers, and I hope they can help you too!

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Featured image: Shutterstock/yuda chen