November is upon us. Thanksgiving and the excitement of Christmas is around the corner. Are you preparing your business for the holidays? Online holiday sales would be a great way to give your business a revenue boost before the end of the year. What better way to reward your customers for their loyalty than with exciting promotions, discounts and giveaways?
This year, retailers are predicting an over 20% revenue boost for 2013 holiday sales. In addition, large retailers are predicting that mobile and ecommerce will be central to their holiday sales and business strategies. According to Retail Touch Points, “one in three retailers predict that mobile will drive more than 10% of total holiday revenue. In addition, 38% of respondents noted that mobile will renew interest in brick-and-mortar stores, which also will attribute to increased revenue.”
If large retailers are prioritizing their online sales through mobile and e-commerce, why not you? As you get ready to take your business online in preparation for this year’s holiday sales, here are some tips that can help you succeed.
Make the online shopping experience enjoyable
Customers have millions of options and a short attention span. To get them to make a purchase from your website, you would need to make sure you set up your online store in the most intuitive way possible. Some small business owners just make do with shopping cart solutions, while others impress their customers with a full online store.
Setting up an online store for your business complete with media rich experience for categories and products, real time shipping estimates based on customers’ location, ability to drag and drop products to a shopping cart can make buying from your website a easy and enjoyable experience.
Delight your customers with discounts and giveaways
Everyone loves thoughtful giveaways and discounts. Delight your customers this holiday season with promotions such as free shipping that can encourage them to shop for more items. You can also set up a refer-a-friend program to help spread the word to new customers.
In the spirit of the season, you can also give customers the chance to make charitable contributions or offer to send a Christmas card to the needy per a certain amount of purchase. That way, your business would be making a tangible difference to society while encouraging your customers to give and be charitable during the holiday season.
Optimize your site for mobile
Every year, more and more users shop online via mobile, and so it is imperative that your website looks great on all smartphones. Luckily, with Yola you can quickly optimize your website for mobile and instantly enable custom mobile features such as click to call and the map button. All this should make for a great experience for your customers and could increase sales for your business.
What is your business offering for the holidays?