According to eCommerce experts, October 15th was the deadline for implementing strategies that would help increase your sales this Christmas. However, there are a few tips that Practical eCommerce magazine have suggested that can easily be put into practice to enhance your sales figures in the build up to Christmas…
1. Offer Free Shipping – this will encourage online shoppers to buy more
2. Extend Guarantees – removing or reducing the risk for the customer will have them reaching for their credit card.
3. Add value to Gift Vouchers (e.g. pay £20 for £25 voucher)
4. Accept More Payment Methods – it’s very frustrating for a customer to get all the way to your checkout page to discover their preferred method of payment is not accepted
5. Offer Gift Wrapping (even better if this is free!)
6. Give them suggestions – this can be based on any previous purchases, or the pages they have recently browsed
7. Offer a variety of delivery options – some shoppers are happy to wait a bit longer if it means a cheaper delivery charge
8. Help a Charity – show customers that you will do your bit by donating a % to charity, you could even offer a choice of cause at the checkout
There are also other ways to increase sales this holiday season. A well-structured, focussed Pay-Per-Click advertising campaign can work wonders. Creating adverts for specific products; identifying popular products with social media; and regularly analysing your results can all contribute to high winter sales figures.
Furthermore, translating your site into several languages will attract more and more customers – after all, only 5.4% of the world’s population speak English as a mother tongue. Think of all those people who are missing out on your products and services simply because they can’t understand what it says on your website.
Christmas may only be a couple of weeks away, but there is still time to make a difference to your online sales figures this year.
7 December 2010 10:17