Tips to increase online sales during the holiday season

Boosting online sales in the week before Christmas

Today’s guest post offers timely advice for last minute online sales:

Christmas is only a week away, but you still have time to adjust your site and email marketing service to pull in more holiday buyers. Fortunately, consumers are in the shopping mood during the festive season which increases your chances of successful online sales.

Email marketing experts such as James Gurd, Stephen Pavlovich, Dave Gowans and Gemma MacNaught from Conversion Factory and others offer the following tips to improve your holiday messages and boost online sales:

Give your newsletter and website a Christmas makeover. A festive design theme makes newsletters and the website more fun. Use traditional Christmas colours such as green, red, gold, silver and white to create a themed background. Add a Christmas product category to existing categories and landing pages to sell your Christmas offers.
Keep your visitors engaged.
It’s essential to encourage the consumer to click the link and stay before they are even ready to make a purchase. You can provide daily deals, Christmas related content and online calendars with a new offer each day.
Offer free delivery on all purchases.
This simple trick may help remove one of the biggest issues that prevent impulse orders and gift purchases. Make sure the last delivery date is prominent.
Target last-minute shoppers.
Shopping in the last days before Christmas can be tough. If you offer e-vouchers over gift boxes and physical vouchers, you are likely to be at a great advantage, being able to sell when your competitors can’t. Send vouchers that can be used in January.
Showcase possible gift wrapping options.
Ensure that all the wrapping options available are visible to the visitor right on the landing page.
Integrate social media with email newsletters.
Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest are “mission-critical marketing tools, as well as powerful customer service and sales tools”, according to Mitch Harper, co-founder and CEO of ecommerce platform Bigcommerce. Update your social profiles with Christmas related links, videos, pictures and offers.
Engage your customers with social pages after they purchase.
However, avoid the temptation to share what products they ordered so as not to spoil the surprise!
Wow your customers with smart promotions.
Instead of offering 10% off all your products, go for cross-sell promotions in your newsletters. For instance, you can offer 25% off an extension drive when buying a computer or 30% off a mouse and pen-drive when purchasing a laptop.
Surprise readers with rewards.
There’s no better time to reward dedicated customers for their loyalty than the holiday season. Try offering email subscribers and social followers exclusive products, free shipping and other ‘wow’ promotions during the holidays. However, make sure these short-term offers are effective in helping you reach your long-term goal.

The list can be continued as the festive season is great for getting both desktop and mobile customers on the hook. The bottom line for maximum online sales is to make the customer’s Christmas shopping experience as smooth as possible.