8 Tips to Boost Your Online Christmas Sales
Published on 12th December 2023
We’re just a matter of weeks away from Christmas, and the race to secure online sales has never been more intense. This time of year is potentially one of the most profitable for many e-commerce businesses, but how do you prepare and boost your online sales?
To help you boost your online Christmas sales, we’ve put together our top tips to guide you and make this festive season the best yet.
Top tips for the best online Christmas sales
Of course, every online business is individual, and what works for one may not necessarily work for another. However, our top 8 tips are tried and tested to help your business be seasonally successful.
1. Preparation, preparation, preparation!
If you're attracting a rush of sales to your website, your customers will want a smooth and easy transactions. So, ensure your e-commerce website is set up to handle a significant increase in activity.
Check that your infrastructure is robust and that your hosting provider can service a surge in online traffic without slowing down your website or, worse – crashing! At it'seeze, our servers are custom-built for our websites and optimised to minimise resource requirements, ensuring your it'seeze website stays live throughout Christmas and into the New Year.
2. Double down on your marketing strategy
Make sure your marketing strategy is targeting your ideal customers; go on, check it twice!
Add a Christmas theme (like our Christmas competition winner this year) to your website and socials, keep your inventory well stocked and get promoting with a range of attractive offers, early bird discounts, limited-time purchases, and bundle deals your customers can't refuse.
Add a seasonal bespoke banner to your website to improve engagement and encourage customers to click more. Don't forget to use email marketing to your advantage. It's a great way to keep your existing customers up-to-date with your latest promotions and offers, recommend products, remind them of their abandoned shopping carts, send out gift guides and present ideas to keep them engaged.
3. Make shopping easy for your customers
The easier it is for customers to find the perfect gift for their loved ones and family, even that favourite uncle who has everything already, the more likely they are to buy from your website.
Consider promoting a gift guide, showcasing popular gifts or great ideas and offering an add-on service, like gift wrapping or personalisation. Another option is offering digital or physical gift cards, a perfect gift idea. But remember, when it comes to marketing, target specific customer segments to reach the right people. You might also want to consider adding a dedicated Christmas landing page, home to all your special festive season deals, gift ideas for friends, family members and loved ones, great Secret Santa pressies that don't cost a fortune, and so much more.
4. Make checking out easy
We're sure your e-commerce site's checkout process is good, but have you checked to see if you can simplify it even further? Keep it clean with as few steps as possible to boost impulse sales. Ensure the checkout page has minimal distractions, such as other products diverting their attention.
Consider a 'Quick Add' or 'Express Checkout' option to ensure the buying process is positive.
Recommendations are a great way to promote and upsell your products to your customers. You can do this by choosing which items to display on product pages or by enabling the automated 'People also bought' feature available on our e-commerce websites.
5. Mobile, mobile, mobile!
Did you know that 56.8% of online sales in the UK are through a mobile device? That's just the UK; imagine how many sales are done on mobiles worldwide. You're missing out on valuable sales if your e-commerce site isn't fully mobile-optimised.
No matter which mobile device it is, make sure your website delivers a frustration-free user experience. Ensure it is responsive with a thumb-friendly, easily navigable design with optimised imagery.
6. Optimise your social channels
At this time of year, in particular, your social channels are your best friend. Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok and other platforms have built-in features designed to make it easier for customers to discover your products.
These platforms are powerful marketing tools for driving traffic to your website, so make sure your offers, discounts and any other Christmas promotions are posted and shared on your social media channels. Also, use social retargeting and advertising features to reach those people who may not have seen your ads or didn’t make a purchase the first time around.
7. It’s all about the user experience (UX)
It really is! Studies reveal that 70% of online businesses fail because of a bad user experience. So, make sure your website’s navigation is seamless, your call-to-action buttons are clear and visible, your menus are layered and easily understandable, and the page load speeds are faster than a sleigh ride with Santa!
8. Brush up your customer service
As well as UX being important, so is your customer service. In fact, 86% of consumers will pay more for a better customer experience, particularly during this holiday season. Customers are looking for gift advice and ideas, asking about potential present returns after Christmas, gift wrapping service and a whole load of other queries you’ll need to deal with. Remember that for many people, the pressure of Christmas can be stressful, and expectations are high. So, always be friendly, helpful and quick to respond.
Although there are only a few weeks left until Christmas, our top tips will help ensure they are the most successful, profitable and enjoyable two weeks of the year for your business and your customers.
At it’seeze, our network of professional and experienced it'seeze experts throughout the UK and Ireland are knowledgeable and adept at refining your e-commerce site to maximise Christmas sales opportunities, including optimising for mobile devices and dedicated landing pages.
We help businesses of all shapes and sizes design and build fully optimised e-commerce websites.
Tagged as: ecommerce
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