There was over $42 billion dollars spent on Christmas shopping online last year. $42,000,000,000. Did any of that money go to your business? Whether it did or not, it’s time to get your website ready for the 2014 holiday season. Here are 4 tips to make your website the biggest success it can be this year.
1. Plan ahead
Today is October 21st. That means you have a little more than 2 months until Christmas Day. It’s important to plan ahead as much as possible for every detail that is going to go into your holiday promotions online. Are you going to offer free shipping? Are you going to redesign parts of your website? These are all things that should be talked about before you do anything. Take an hour and write down all of the things you would like to do to your website to get ready for the big holiday rush. You still have time, no worries.
2. Make things quick and easy
Last year gearing up to Christmas, Amazon sold over 426 items every second. You know why people like shopping on Amazon for Christmas? Because shopping on Amazon is quick. Amazon has the “1 click purchase” feature that makes shopping for a lot of items quick and easy. Is your website’s checkout feature quick and easy or does it take as long as the checkout line at Target on Christmas Eve would take?
3. Mobile ready
Mobile shopping, any shopping that does not happen on a desktop computer, was at an all time high in 2013. And if trends keep going the way they are, they will be even higher in 2014. Is your website mobile friendly? If not, you could potentially be losing up to 40% of your sales. There really isn’t any excuses on why your website shouldn’t be ready to accept mobile users anymore. A lot of small businesses depend on the holiday season to help fund their whole year. If 40% of those sales go somewhere else, your company could be in big trouble.
4. Have a jolly attitude.
The holiday season, no matter how much is spent on Amazon, is all about giving. Why not show your online customers that you care about something other than sales this year? Set up a program that every $50 spent on your website your company will donate $5 back to a charity that needs help. This will not only show your customers that you care, but it will also make your website more desirable against your competitors!
If you follow these tips for your company’s website this holiday season, you should be able to not only beat last year’s sales, but also set the bar for your competitors in your industry.
If you need any help with these task items please let us know. We want to make sure that your company has the best holiday season possible. Contact us today to see how we can help.
