How to Boost Online Sales for the Holidays
Here are a few ways to boost online sales during the holidays.
The holiday shopping season will be coming to a close soon, but your business still has time to take advantage of it. With a few quick, last-minute changes or additions, you can bring customers to your website and increase your holiday online sales before the end of the year and beyond. To help you get started, we’ve compiled some easy tips to show you how to boost online sales with just a little bit of know-how and effort.
Make Sure You Can Handle It
If you’ve seen at least a handful of Shark Tank episodes, then you know that a common problem businesses have is not being able to meet demand when they gain attention. You definitely don’t want this to happen to your company over the holidays. Before you begin any last-minute holiday promotions, make sure you have the inventory and staff that are required.
Create a Holiday Home Page
If you haven’t done so already, now’s the time to make some quick changes to your website so that it’s more holiday-friendly. If you already have a holiday theme set up, then start making plans for a New Year’s design. By having the page ready to go live on December 26th, you’ll save yourself some precious time. And don’t forget to switch up your landing pages, too.
Make Popular Items Easy to Find
A lot of the time, holiday shoppers will visit your website because they’ve heard that you carry a particular item. Do your best to make as many popular items front and center as possible. If you have an especially popular item, you may want to feature it on your homepage with a direct link to more information.
Focus on Your Best Selling Points
Every business is clamoring for customers over the holidays. If you want to stand out from the crowd, you must prove your worth to your online visitors. You can do this by showing off your company’s best selling points or those of your products or services. This includes any holiday specials such as a discount, free shipping, free gift card with a purchase, etc.
Post on Social Media Every Day
Social media is one of the very best ways to boost your online sales because it gives you the opportunity to get tons of exposure. You should also make sure that you’re properly utilizing social media opportunities with multiple accounts such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. Don’t just concentrate on sales, though. What you want to do is build a rapport with your audience through online interaction.
Optimize Your Website for Mobile
The days of consumers being wary about ordering products and services online have long since passed. In fact, most consumers now shop on their smartphones. If you haven’t already optimized your site for use on mobile devices, a process called responsive web design, now’s the time to get it done. If you can give mobile users a great experience, they’re more likely to stick around and order from you.
Have a Merry Christmas!
If you have a brick-and-mortar shop and are planning to be open on Christmas Eve, then you should consider having a special on that day. Of course, you don’t necessarily need to have a physical location to do something special for customers. In fact, this is a great time to give them a preview of your post-holiday promotion. Speaking of…
Create a Post-Holiday Promotion
Who says that your holiday promotions have to end with the holiday? It’s a simple fact of life that after Christmas, many people have items that they need to return. This means that they’ll want to purchase new items to replace them. This could be the perfect opportunity to turn their “don’t want” present into a must-have new gift for themselves.
Buy PPC Holiday Campaigns
During the holidays, the number of product searches goes way up, and consumers often make impulse buys. It’s a good idea to put a little extra money and attention toward PPC (Pay-Per-Click) ads to target the holiday season’s traffic. This can give you a quick boost in e-commerce sales so that you can begin the year on a good note. If you’re not sure where to begin, Google Ads is a great place to start.
Price Increases After the Holiday
Whether or not you decide to extend holiday prices depends on what you were offering and how much business you received. You don’t want to make customers who got a huge bargain because they rushed to your website or online store before the holiday think they got hosed a bit because you’re offering the same thing later. You can offer a smaller discount on the same items to ensure that everyone wins.
Deliver Excellent Customer Service
Last but certainly not least, when you’re doing any or all of the things listed above, you always need to deliver excellent customer service. Consumers are always more inclined to do purchase from a business when they’ve had a good experience with the company. Always be attentive, answer any questions they have, and make their ordering process as smooth as possible.
Contact P3 Agency for More Tips on How to Boost Online Sales During the Holidays
P3 Agency is an industry leader in marketing and web design in Clearwater and the surrounding communities. If you have any questions on how to boost online sales or would like a free marketing assessment, give us a call at (727) 474-9064 today.