Are you ready to increase your ecommerce sales this Christmas?
As it tends to get really busy towards the end of the year with overcrowded marketplaces in December, now is the time for your final preparations.
This article will you give you recommendations on how to effectively grow your ecommerce and marketplace sales at Christmas.
Last Updated on December 8, 2023 by Zeljko Drazovic
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Christmas, the peak selling season, brings along shoppers in droves. Booming holiday ecommerce results are beneficial for online merchants, selling on both domestic and international markets, as well as for the economy.
In the UK, normally around 40% of Christmas shopping is done online. Moreover, buyers’ use of mobile devices for product browsing and research is on the increase.
This year Christmas online shopping is likely to be the preferred option due to the coronavirus pandemic.
As a result, ecommerce sales on global ecommerce markets may skyrocket this Christmas. Are you ready?
Grow your online sales at Christmas by planning:
When planning your strategy, keep in mind what is sold at Christmas. Of course, it is mostly gift items so you can try to predict the bestsellers of the coming holiday season.
Some items may be more obvious, such as toys whose sales peak in November. But even if your product doesn’t seem to be too Christmassy, you can still target the right audience with the right message.
Think what and who you can target. You can, for instance, focus on last minute shoppers. Do this by accommodating and devising a communication plan for distressed buyers.
Bear in mind the following dates: they will help you with planning your Christmas strategy. Note that some dates may vary slightly, depending on the year and weekend distribution.
It’s crucial to optimize your pages and content to ensure that people find your store when the Christmas shopping craziness arrives. And ideally, you should do this way beforehand. Your content will not get ranked overnight and it will take time for it to appear on search engines.
Hence, don’t leave it until December.
Fix broken links: it is genuinely offputting for customers if they come across links that don’t work. It makes them think that you don’t really care about your business and clients.
Make sure that you use the right keywords, e.g. “Christmas gifts for your kids”, “gift ideas”. Utilize keywords for your headings, title tags and meta descriptions of pages, but avoid keyword stuffing. Use keyword variations. Your pages shouldn’t compete with each other and rank for the same keywords in search engines.
Thus, keep your pages specific and relevant to the target keyword. For those not celebrating Christmas, think of Christmas alternatives such as Hanukkah.
As the use of mobile devices for shopping purposes is constantly on the rise, remember to optimize your mobile experience too.
Your SEO efforts will pay off so take time to get the job done properly. To reap full benefits, make sure that your SEO strategy is in line with other channels and social media.
Decorate your online store. This is what high-street retailers do to attract buyers in a shopping frenzy. In fact, there is a bigger analogy between high street shops investing in Christmas decorations and virtual stores having graphic design at their disposal than we may be aware of.
Let your online store be part of the festivities: this will instil positive emotions in many shoppers and make your website livelier.
Be creative. Create interactive Christmas content and use festive colors: gold, silver, green and red. You can also serve your customers daily Christmas facts or prepare an online advent calendar containing the deal of the day.
Christmas is a social event, also in the world of online sales. Spread the gospel and make the right audience interact with your content and go for your deals and best-sellers. Go social. And go global. Selling your items on foreign marketplaces, if planned wisely, can increase your revenue immensely.
In your Christmas strategies, use social media to have your offers and content liked, shared, tweeted and pinned.
Keep an eye on the engagement of your visitors and customers on social networking sites, especially when it comes to negative feedback. It is essential to respond to such comments in a timely way, taking care of your image and reputation.
Finally, blog about Christmas. This is how you give yourself a chance to drive traffic to your website, which will help you increase your conversion rates. There are various topics you can write about, sparking your potential buyers’ interest. For example, give them a list of gift ideas.
Be the answer. Have the solution and available options ready for your existing and future buyers. Not only can you encourage them to buy your products, but you can also be perceived as a reliable and resourceful retailer.
A great deal of online sellers are convinced that they will see big Christmas sales figures by trading on their domestic markets only. Granted: there’s a good chance that the numbers will be pretty impressive. Yet they can be much much higher if foreign marketplaces are added to the equation.
Consider the fact that many shoppers want to buy unique gifts that are different to what is available locally. A good source of unique, different items are foreign countries. Hence, it may be a good idea for you to localize your Christmas offers on international markets.
Finally, consider promoting your products, especially if you sell on competitive marketplaces like eBay or Amazon. Consider eBay Promoted Listings or Amazon Advertising.
… that is when the final Christmas shopping time comes. Shoppers can get fiercely competitive then. This is a good time for you to make use of all the contacts you have collected earlier in the year: existing and former customers, leads and potential buyers. It’s highly probable that your special deals or Christmas offerings such as gift wrapping will meet with very high interest.
It’s time again for sales: on Christmas and Boxing Day and later in January.
Remember to nurture your Christmas shoppers and build relationships with them. You can offer them discount codes and membership plans, thus increasing the chances of winning loyal customers.
Your Christmas sales and success extend far beyond December!
Christmas is a perfect time to see a real boost in sales, not only on your domestic but also on international markets.
This year can offer you even more ecommerce sales potential now that shopping from home has become the norm in the time of coronavirus.
If you start preparing and planning your stock in advance, you can stay more relaxed when December finally arrives.
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