The days of traditional high street shopping are slowly coming to an end. The convenience of online shopping and free delivery is enough to convince many shoppers to never venture into a brick-and-mortar store again. This means that there is a huge opportunity for smaller online businesses to excel this holiday period. But, the question is, is your website ready for the Christmas market? In the following article, we will discuss the best ways to get your website ready for this time of year!
Have A Sale
While most traditional stores have sales in January, why not have a sale earlier? People have more money to spend and are willing to part with their money at the end of November & beginning of December, which is the perfect time to have an online sale. You could have your sale tie into Black Friday and Cyber Monday Week, starting November 26th. These will be the weeks people will be looking for a deal, so give them what they want. Having a sale at this time of year also assures your customers they will receive their items in time for Christmas, which is a great thing to include in your marketing.
Gift Cards
No matter how big or small your online business is, you should be selling gift cards! Gift cards are a great way to make extra sales, especially if you sell products or services at a high price point. If you choose to offer gift cards, make sure to announce them across your Social Media platforms. Creating gift cards for your online business will be no extra cost to you, as you can email them directly to the receiver. If you need help creating gift cards for your store, please contact us, we would be happy to help!
Content
As people are starting to search for what to get their loved ones for Christmas over the next few weeks, this is your opportunity to get yourself placed in front of them. You can do this by fully optimizing your website, running an email campaign, creating Facebook ad’s or just writing a quality article full of “gift-related” keywords.
Get yourself in front of your audience now so that when the time comes to make a final purchase, they will think of you. Do you sell socks? Why not write a blog post on the best socks for grumpy old men! If you need help running ads, optimizing your website, or running a successful email campaign, get in touch with us!
A Holiday Banner
You don’t have to completely change the look and feel of your normal website just for the holidays. IRONMAN’s homepage redesign is a great example of small changes going a long way. In fact, all they changed was the header image and text. You can do this too by simply adding a few festive images and promotions to your homepage. You could also add a “pop up message” telling people to “Order Now to Receive your Gift in Time for Christmas”. This creates a sense of urgency in your customers, pushing them to make a purchase immediately!
Add a Holiday Theme
No matter what you sell, I am sure you can add some sort of Holiday twist! Even if it means simply changing your wrapping or thank you cards to a more festive theme! You can promote this on your website and Social Media platforms, showing off your new festive packaging and encouraging people to place their order now to get your “Limited Edition” wrapping! If you sell products that are specifically for the holiday period, then make sure these are already front and centre on your site. Don’t forget to announce across your marketing platforms that your “Christmas Shop is now open”.
Encourage Early Orders
As discussed above, creating a sense of urgency is a Marketing tactic that has been used for years especially around the Holiday period. When you have added all your products to your site, you can encourage customers to get their orders in early! 80% of the shopping season’s revenue is earned well before Christmas itself. Only 20% of revenue is earned after mid-December. This means you have to prepare early! Make sure to include sentences like “Get your Gifts in Time” or “Receive your order in time for Christmas”.
If this article made you say “Crap, I’m not ready for Christmas” don’t worry, we felt the same while writing it! However, we’re here to help! If you need your website updated, your Social Media content made festive, or any help getting your business ready for the holiday period, contact us now!
