3 E-Commerce Tips to Prepare for the Holiday Season

Gone are the days of parking lot traffic and chaotic shopping malls. The internet has created a new holiday experience facilitating gift-giving for everyone, but is your business managing e-commerce in a way that will promote traffic (the good kind) and encourage sales?

Here are three tips to ensure shoppers are visiting your online retail space and ending their shopping experience with an order confirmation and, of course, a tracking number.

1. Make sure your website is up-to-date, user-friendly and fully-optimized for both desktop and mobile.

Statistics will tell you shoppers prioritize viewing the lowest price offered for a product, but nothing will make someone click away faster than a cluttered or confusing website. E-commerce is successful when it eliminates the hassle of physical retail — but when online shopping becomes stressful, shoppers will be quick to abandon it. It is imperative users experience a smooth journey from landing page to checkout, because the easier it is to buy from you, the more they will buy. Pay extra attention to the mobile experience your brand offers as The Good shares that 66% of holiday sales in 2018 were made from mobile devices. Users need to encounter a friendly interface no matter where they connect with your brand.

2. Craft a custom social media marketing strategy.

You might have a stellar social strategy to get the job done throughout the year, but the holidays are a different animal. Every brand will bring out the hypothetical ‘big guns’ during this time of year, and the challenge increases to stand out from the increased clutter of messages. Think of some common holiday themes and how they can relate to your brand. Do you have a fun office atmosphere you can showcase? Are your customers or employees posting about your product during this season? User generated content (UGC) and “the human side” of your business are two great ways Social Media Today says will resonate with an audience in the season of gift-giving and good company.

3. Create a personalized experience based on your target audience and user analytics.

Take a look at your sales from the past few years. Who is your target audience? Where do they normally drop off in the shopping process? What platform do they use to shop? Fully analyzing these questions, among many others, will allow you to personalize the shopping experience specific to your audience’s preferences. By now, most brands have realized personalization is key with the current generation of shoppers. Anything appearing to be addressed to the masses will make shoppers feel as if you’re not listening to them. So, whether they prefer free shipping, buying directly on social media platforms, or having a discount code, you should act upon and implement what will increase your e-commerce conversion rate.

The way people shop is constantly changing, but the holidays will always remain the same. At the end of the day, customers are shopping because they want to buy something nice for the people they care most about. That warm and fuzzy feeling that comes with the season can still be harnessed through e-commerce. In fact, it’s the perfect opportunity to show your audience you understand their needs through a streamlined shopping experience and a little bit of your brand’s holiday spirit.

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