.jpg)
Yes I know, it seems like it's ages away, but now is the time to plan ahead and not leave it until the last minute to plan your strategy to sell more products online this Christmas.
Christmas is probably your busiest time of the year if you have an online store so it’s important to plan ahead and make the most of the holiday season.
Start With Your Products
It’s important in the early stages to think ahead at what you will be selling in the run up to Christmas, will there be new product lines introduced and what will be popular.?
Think about these questions:
Will there be products available that are only available in the run up to Christmas?
Is a brand new product line being introduced?
Can you offer gift bundles to increase sales?
Can your site sell gift vouchers for those who can’t decide?
How can you show your customers that your products make a great gift?
Think About Your Promotions and Special Offers:
Once you’ve decided what you will be selling over the Christmas period it’s time to plan how you will incentivise your customers to buy from you.
What Christmas specials will you offer?
Can you offer a Christmas giveaway in return for their email address?
Can you email your previous customers and show them your new products and/or include a discount code?
Offering bundles at Christmas is a great way to sell more products. For example, if you sell clothing, try selling a scarf and gloves together as a bundle which works out slightly cheaper than buying them individually.
Try creating a gift ideas or a new product page on your site and place links to it on your sites homepage so the new page is easy to find.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday
Black Friday may be one of the biggest shopping days of the year, with many retailers seeing their online trading sales soar to the highest ever peaks in 2017, but Cyber Monday is also becoming more well known every year for its double discount bargains.
Everything from TVs, to fashion, and even flights are subject to discounts, and while some stores keep the same bargains running from Black Friday (23rd November) to Cyber Monday (26th November), other shops will add even more money off come Cyber Monday, in an attempt to sell all the extra stock.
Offer a gift wrapping service
Whist a great idea to offer to your customers all year round, it’s a great way to stand out from your competitors and offer that something extra.
Do you offer a gift wrapping service for Christmas purchases?
If so, can you offer anything extra to promote this service?
If you don’t can you offer this service to customers spending over a certain price?
Free Shipping and Returns
Many online shoppers can get all the way to the point of purchase before seeing the cost of shipping is extra and this makes them change their mind.
Can you offer free shipping or include it in the price?
Do you have a returns policy and is it clearly stated on your products pages?
Do you have a last order date to guarantee delivery before Christmas?
Use Christmas themed photos and videos
Changing your website in the run up to Christmas is just like unveiling your Christmas shop window. Using new background images and new product photos or videos of your new products can help inspire your customers to get into the Christmas spirit and purchase their gifts from you.
With a little planning in advance you can make the most of your product promotions and campaigns.
How can you show your products to make them more appealing as Christmas gifts?
Are you planning to use stock images or take the photos yourself?
Do your videos show your products as gifts?
Homepage, Landing Pages and SEO
It’s important at Christmas to think about altering your homepage to show off your special offers and new product lanes. Make it easy for your readers to find what they are looking for and easily make their purchase.
Creating extra landing pages with Christmas themed keywords and meta titles will help to attract new visitors. Whilst on your landing page, give them the opportunity to leave their email address so you can inform them of future sales or special discount codes.
Create Christmas content for your blog and update your current subscribers of new product launches and Christmas gift ideas. You can create great shareable content which will help build your list and increase further sales.
Using Paid Ads
Using PPC (Pay Per Click) adverts such as Google Ads can create huge revenue during the run up to Christmas. But be sure to have a well thought out plan, ask yourself the following:
Are your ads in line with the promotions you are running?
Who is the ideal customer for your products and is your advert directed at them?
Does your advert direct them straight to your product page with your most popular items showing?
Is the text generated for SEO with rich product keywords?
Have you determined which words you want to rank for?
Will your adverts rank during Black Friday and Cyber Monday?
Use Your Email List
If you have spent all year collecting customers emails using your website, there is no better time to put them into action than the run up to Christmas. Ask yourself:
How often will you send a promotional email to your customers?
Will you offer a special incentive or discount coupon to your subscribers?
Is your subject line going to stand out and grab their attention from all the others?
Have you told them about your free shipping or gift wrapping service?
Have you told them in advance what’s coming and when your new products will be available?
Be Social At Christmas
Using your social media is a great way to entice your customers to visit your online store. Be sure to have a well thought out plan of what to post and when to get the most out of your likes and shares. Use your new product photos to create a new cover photo, interesting posts and get creative by counting down to Christmas with a new product everyday.
Your Checkout Page
Your websites checkout page could be the last page your customers will ever see on your site, so it’s important to make the most of it and entice then to return again in the future.
Make it secure and simple to use.
Show them a list of other products they may have missed or are most popular.
If you haven’t taken their email address already now’s your last chance, so offer a discount voucher to use the next time they return as a thankyou.
Don’t forget to thank them for their purchase and wish them a Happy Christmas!