The holiday season is a golden ticket time for businesses everywhere. That reality has an even greater significance here in the digital age. Being the owner of an e-commerce store today means you have access to something that shops only dreamed of in the past; a targeted audience. Having access to the audience means unlimited potential for that most magical period of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, as well as the buffer periods before and after. Oh, let’s not forget Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday. According to studies, holiday sales can give your sales a 30% boost in revenue.
To make the most of the season, it’s important to prepare your e-commerce store in advance. For one, to handle the influx of holiday shoppers. For two, to ensure their experience is a smooth one. Follow along as we share key strategies that will positively affect your online store and make sure it’s ready for a holiday rush.
1. Optimize Your Website
The biggest thing to prepare for on your website is heavier than normal traffic. Increased traffic can lead to slow loading times. Slow loading can lead to impatient shoppers to exit out of your store. Impatience? Perhaps. But this day and age requires speed. Imagine a server crash on Black Friday! That’s not only frustrated customers but a slew of lost sales. That means getting your website ready might be the most vital part of holiday preparations. Here’s what to focus on:
Loading Time and Speed
According to Google, something as seemingly insignificant as a one-second delay in load time can lead to 7% drop-offs. To avoid this, you’ll want to test the site’s speed. There are several sites that only require a link to do a quick test. That’s sort of a quick litmus test. If it’s performing slowly at this stage, it’s time to get cracking. If it’s not, that’s great for now. Head back over to the website and do a quick visual inventory of images. A large, high-resolution image could drag down a page, especially when lots of people are on the page. Also, look for any opportunity to use compressed images, use a content delivery network, or minimize lengthy text.
Mobile Optimization
Speaking of the digital age, we are in an increasingly mobile market. There’s no doubt about it, a significant portion of holiday shopping is done through mobile devices. This percentage inches up every year. As important as it is to ensure a website is fast, it’s also paramount that it works perfectly on a smartphone or tablet. Points to look for include a design that’s responsive to the user, simple navigation, and search bars with product filters. This also helps with SEO.
Bandwidth
Something to look into with the website’s host is bandwidth capabilities. Find out if they can handle a traffic surge. It may even behoove you to temporarily increase the bandwidth on your site for the season.
2. Create a Holiday Themed Strategy
You could have the fastest, best website in the world, and it wouldn’t matter if no one knew you existed. Having a digital footprint usually isn’t enough to bring in the big sales, even during the holidays. What every business needs is a marketing strategy that gets in front of potential customers and stands out among the competition.
Social Media
If the shop doesn’t already have a social media following, there’s no time like the present to get started. Having a presence on big platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok is probably the easiest way to get seen by any audience. Not having one could mean the difference between a successful season and otherwise. These platforms enable you to showcase all your products or new clothing items with quick links to purchase. Using these platforms for giveaways, contests, and promotions can continue throughout the year. Also, don’t be afraid of trying new things like the TikTok shop or inviting influencers on Instagram to make videos using a product from your store.
Having an updated email list can be one of the most effective tools in your marketing tool belt. An e-newsletter can not only display new products and sales, but it can also serve as a testing ground. Providing links for early access to upcoming products or promotions gives you, the shop owner, precious insights. If you see high interest in particular items, it’s a preview of what to expect come Black Friday.
Pay-Per-Click
Show up in the feeds of customers with holiday-themed ads. Google Ads is a great way to capture search engine inquiries. Setting up your business on Facebook Ads Manager gets you access to Facebook users as well as Instagram and beyond with the Audience Network feature. If you’re new to digital ads, it wouldn’t hurt to hire help over the season to make sure dollars are spent efficiently.
3. Plan For Demand
One of the worst things that can happen to a shop owner is to run out of a popular item. This hits harder during the holiday season, especially if something comparable is sold elsewhere. Inventory management is of the utmost importance during the holiday season.
Demand Forecasting
While you still have time to make adjustments, go back and take a look at the purchase history of your store. If you can get an idea of what will be in higher demand, you can stock up accordingly. At the same time, you can avoid overstocking less popular items.
Supplier Coordination
Make sure the supplier for those top-ticket items will be able to meet the demand. This includes shipping timelines and stock availability, so you can manage customer expectations.
Fulfillment
In the event of massive orders coming in, will there be space in the warehouse? Will there be enough hands-on help to ensure orders are handled in a time-conscious manner? Have you set up automated processes? Shipping is a critical part of the e-commerce experience and a streamlined experience is the best way to keep customers feeling holiday cheer towards your shop.
Wrapping Up the Experience
Once your e-commerce store, and all the surrounding effort, is set up and ready, it’s time to wait. In the meantime, one thing you can work on is customer service. There will undoubtedly be all kinds of questions, comments, and requests coming your way. If the setup is still happening or overwhelm is on the horizon, you might want to try a chatbot to field customer interactions or hire a live support team. Taking the burden of customer service off your shoulders could make for a more joyful holiday season all around.
Ashley Nielsen
Ashley Nielsen earned a B.S. degree in Business Administration Marketing at Point Loma Nazarene University. She is a freelance writer who loves to share knowledge about general business, marketing, lifestyle, wellness, and financial tips. During her free time, she enjoys being outside, staying active, reading a book, or diving deep into her favorite music.
