‘Tis nearly the season to be jolly, but if you run an online business, how jolly will you be if you don’t snag your share of the Christmas sales boom?
Every year, more customers turn to the internet for their Christmas shopping. The benefits are numerous;
If your online store can offer some of these benefits to customers, and can get that message out, you stand to increase your sales over the next few weeks.
‘Tis nearly the season to be jolly, but if you run an online business, how jolly will you be if you don’t snag your share of the Christmas sales boom?
Every year, more customers turn to the internet for their Christmas shopping. The benefits are numerous;
If your online store can offer some of these benefits to customers, and can get that message out, you stand to increase your sales over the next few weeks.
Of course, all strategies vary depending on the product to be sold, but if any of your products would be suitable gift ideas, this needs to be communicated to your potential customers.
If you have the option to perform some site adjustments, it can help to add a Christmas theme. A welcoming Christmas message and a couple of well chosen images can show a visitor that your site is catering directly to their Christmas shopping needs. Christmas imagery produces a positive reaction through happy associations and promoting a jolly experience for your visitors can certainly help to improve sales.
With many Christmas shoppers wanting to send presents over long distances, you can become Santa Claus and make sure those gifts land in the right stockings on time – no chimney climbing required.
By adding a gift-wrapping service to your postage and packing, as well as the option to send the item directly to the family member, you save the customer time and money. Such a service could make the difference between you and competing stores when the customer makes their purchasing decision.
If you do offer this service, it is very important to stress the time needed to guarantee delivery before Christmas and let the customers know how many days they have to take advantage of your offer. This also produces a sense of urgency that can encourage customers to buy now rather than later.
You may not have church bells to announce your Christmas specials, but it is still very important to get your Christmas message out. Consider adjusting your search engine advertising to include Christmas themed adverts, highlighting your promotions.
Alternatively, if you have a blog or email newsletter, make sure you put out plenty of information of what you have to offer in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
These days, it seems that Christmas is over by Boxing Day, but the Christmas festivities traditionally last until January 5th, Twelfth Night. Superstition requires that all Christmas decorations should be brought down before the end of Twelfth Night to avoid bad luck in the coming year and this would seem to be a good practice to adopt for your website as well.
Of course, you may have already adopted a New Year theme by then, but whatever you choose to do, remember to remove your Christmas promotions soon after the Christmas holiday, to avoid giving the perception that your store is outdated and poorly maintained.
On the other hand, removing Christmas from your website too
early can look cold and cynical. A small adjustment in the content and imagery
can keep the Christmas theme running under the banner of a post-Christmas sale,
which also gives opportunities for late shoppers to get something for that
distant aunt in
So why not adopt the 12 days on your website?
If you adjust your sales plan to encompass the different needs of shoppers during the Christmas period, you can increase sales and have a Merry Christmas all of your own.
Jonathan Crossfield is the Marketing Communications Manager for PlanetDomain and Netregistry. He is a regular contributor on internet business to Nett Magazine and also produces a successful blog on writing.