Are you selling your products online this holiday season? If so, you are probably seeking new ways to boost your holiday sales and make the most out of your e-commerce platform. You’re not alone. Online shopping is a hot market this holiday season and rightfully so. Forrester Research expects online sales to rise 11% in November and December, which is about three times the growth of overall retail for the holidays. If you want to see your e-commerce sales rise this holiday season, we have got some advice for you.
Participate in Cyber Monday
One of the most important things you can do to grow your e-commerce sales this season is participate in Cyber Monday. Cyber Monday is the online equivalent of Black Friday and it occurs the Monday after Thanksgiving (November 30th this year). According to Fortune, last year on Cyber Monday alone, online sales came to $2.5 billion in the U.S.! Offer special sales and discounts on Cyber Monday and be sure to market those deals on social media, email marketing, and AdWords.
Optimize for Mobile
All season long, and beyond, it is important that your e-commerce platform is optimized for mobile. According to Bill Siwicki of Goldman Sachs, “tablets will play an increasingly important role as worldwide consumer spending via mobile jumps from $204 billion in 2014 to $626 billion in 2018...” (Entrepreneur). Ensure that your e-commerce platform, all of your ads, and your entire checkout process are mobile-friendly. If any step along the path to purchasing is not optimized for mobile, you are sure to see a high rate of cart abandonment.
Make Checking Out Easy
Ensuring that the checkout process is as easy as possible is a great first step in increasing your sales. According to Social Media Today, the average online shopping cart abandonment rate is a whopping 69%! To decrease your site’s abandonment rate, only require the necessary information and keep the steps to a minimum. Social Media Today also recommends the option of guest checkout and the inclusion of a progress bar to keep things quick and simple.
Run Social Campaigns
Creating great deals for your e-commerce platform isn’t always enough. You need to bring people to your website through external channels, like social media. Put some marketing dollars toward Facebook advertising to help drive traffic from the social platform to your site. Social share and follow buttons as well as social login options are additional ways you can incorporate social media into your e-commerce strategy.
Have Fast-Loading Web Pages
One major reason for online cart abandonment is a slow loading web page. According to Kissmetrics, 40% of people abandon a website that takes more than 3 seconds to load. Before launching your holiday campaigns, test your platform to ensure that your web pages are loading in 3 seconds or less. You can quickly test your site load time by using this free tool. If your site is loading slowly, remove any unnecessary files and optimize images for the web. Also, contact your web developer as they may have additional ideas for improving site speed.
If you need assistance with managing your e-commerce strategy this holiday seasons, please feel free to contact Informatics.
