Christmas really is just around the corner and no doubt you’ve been stocking up in preparation for the season.
The great news for etailers is that consumers at Christmas turn to the web to avoid the hassle of the High Street; in 2008 a third of all shoppers did more than HALF of their Christmas shopping online and a significant number avoided the High Street altogether. Although, more shoppers this Christmas will be looking for competitive pricing, the good news is that they are more likely than ever to turn to the internet to source the best deals, widest choice and greatest shopping convenience.
The season starts early – the peak online shopping weekend last year was end of November – with consumers purchasing early so that deliveries reach them in time. So the message from us is don’t delay, you need to start getting your website shop ready for Christmas NOW.
Here’s our list of tips to make the most of the peak shopping season:
1. Decorate your Shop!
Make sure your ecommerce website has a seasonal feel. The Oxford Street Xmas lights are switched on 3rd November this year, so target October to launch your shop’s Christmas makeover. Inject a little Christmas cheer by purchasing one of our design packages for a seasonal shop banner, home page image and component box tops. Prices start at £39.99 in our Services Shop.
2. Set up Gift Categories
Make it easy for shoppers to find gift ideas by setting up gift categories, ‘gifts for him/for her’ etc. Use the ‘Featured Products’ facility to display your top gift ideas. Create a Content page reached via the top navigation menu to showcase your products in a ‘mini online brochure’. Consider getting this page professionally designed to optimise this feature. Our Content page designs cost just £299.99.
Gift Ideas
3. Review your Delivery Charges/Deadlines
Your Xmas delivery options, charges and deadlines should be displayed very clearly on your home page. As with last Christmas, we believe that free (or minimal delivery charges) will play a significant role in delivering online conversions. You can use the ‘Free delivery’ message within your on and offline communications to drive traffic to your website shop.
4. Upgrade your Product Pages
Fine tune your product pages so that they are relevant for the Christmas market. Compelling descriptions and great images go a long way to turning visitors into customers. Read our blog post on optimising product descriptions to get more tips.
5. Put in place some great Xmas Promotions
Put together some enticing promotions/offers for the season. Buy 2 get one free, free gifts with purchase etc. Make the most of upselling opportunities – use the Related Products feature to promote accessories or alternative product options.
6. Get Email Marketing
Your Tiger Commerce ecommerce website has an email marketing feature so now’s the time to use it to encourage repeat buying during the Xmas season. A current favourite email marketing promotional technique used by leading etailers is to offer one day deep price cuts on certain products – “25% off Christmas Gifts for 24 hours only” If you want help in setting up a professional and impactful Xmas email marketing campaign, take a look at our email marketing template design service.
7. Use Pay Per Click to bring in customers
Consider using Pay Per Click marketing to gain page1 visibility for your products in the search engines. Search engine traffic increases significantly during the run up to Christmas – from early October onwards. So now is the time to get a profitable return from Pay Per Click. We have recently revised our PPC packages to deliver you a cost efficient service, even for budgets below £500/month. Not only will we take the hassle out of setting up a PPC campaign, but our PPC team who spend all day, every day managing client PPC campaigns, know all the ‘tricks of the trade’ when it comes to optimising your budgets.
8. Reduce your payment processing charges
If you are looking to reduce your payment processing charges, or need a new payment solution provider, we have an exclusive deal for all Tiger website shop clients. PayPoint.net, our strategic payments partner, are offering 2 months FREE payment processing. Sign up now and you could end up paying nothing for your Christmas payment processing. PayPoint.net has a payment solution for all types of online business.
PayPoint - 2 Months Free Payment Processing
We know it’s too early to say….but, wishing you all a busy & profitable festive season…….
