Holiday E-commerce: How to Boost Sales Like a Pro

Every year, during the holiday season, searches with high purchase intent peak during the holiday season. It’s a time of year associated with joy, family, celebration, and bonanza deals. People buy more things and are willing to spend more money than usual.

As customers line up with their wallets open, e-commerce platforms are finding new and innovative ways to grab their attention this holiday season.

While attention alone won’t drive sales, if you can create a memorable shopping experience for your customers this holiday season, you should see an increase in visitors and sales.

But before you invite passengers on board, you need to prepare the ship for the voyage.

Get ready, the customers are coming!

Preparations before launching on the market

Regardless of your marketing strength, your eCommerce platform will see an increase in traffic during the holiday season. The key challenge is to design a customer experience that encourages purchase and inspires brand loyalty.

First, you need to remove any obstacles a customer might encounter on your e-commerce platform.

Very customers are giving up on purchases due to additional fees, complicated checkout processes, slow shipping, and website errors. You need to eliminate such issues from your website. Your eCommerce platform should be working flawlessly. Additionally, your shopping website and its servers should be prepared for the additional traffic.

Offers, deals and packages should indicate costs and taxes with the utmost transparency. Most importantly, every customer expects timely Delivery because many of the purchases are made to give someone a gift.

Tips to attract more customers

Now that you’ve prepared your brand to attract more customers, let’s see how to attract more shoppers to your e-commerce site this holiday season.

Advertise early

Most brands would actively target customers during the holiday season. You can gain a significant advantage over your competitors by marketing early. By starting early, you have more opportunities to connect with your customers in more ways.

People start looking for “holiday gifts” and “holiday gift ideas” as early as September. The search trend peaks in mid-December. This means that people have already decided what they will buy 10 to 15 days before the holidays.

This consumer trend extends to all holiday-related searches. Get ahead of the competition by advertising before shoppers start searching.

Implant ideas

If you start marketing early, your brand will have the opportunity to instill ideas in the mind of the customer. In addition to products and offers, the brand should also focus on content marketing through listicles. Articles like “10 Best Halloween Gift Ideas for 2023” or “The Perfect Christmas Gift for Parents in 2023” can make a strong impact.

These types of articles not only create a desire in the customer’s mind to make a purchase, but also help create a psychological association between holiday shopping and your eCommerce brand.

Tips to get more customers

Once potential customers start pouring into your website, you’ll need an effective sales strategy to make sure they make a purchase. Advertising can only get you so far. Conversions depend on what you’re selling and how you’re selling it.

Convert early

You would be wasting your early marketing advantage if your brand didn’t initiate the sales conversation. Your eCommerce brand can provide a “Set Reminders” option via email or messaging so it can communicate with your customer.

Additionally, your brand can approach the customer with subtle offers to trigger early conversion. Make it easy for early buyers with offers like “Buy now, pay later” or “Pay in installments.”

Upselling and cross-selling

Once a customer lands on your website, increase sales by suggesting better products to the customer. For example, if the customer is buying wired headphones, you can suggest wireless headphones or true wireless earbuds. The suggested product should be an upgrade to the selected product. It should be of better quality and have better reviews.

On the other hand, cross-selling suggestions require relevance. If someone is buying a dress, suggest a handbag that matches the color.

eCommerce brands can increase their revenue by 10 to 30% through upselling and cross-selling. If you can combine these tactics with a sweet offer or a stunning package, sales are almost inevitable.

Check out the offers

69.7% of sales are abandoned on the payment page.

The customer has already come all the way—it would be a shame to let them go without connecting with your brand. This is your chance to nudge the customer with something that will close the deal. The offer doesn’t have to include an additional discount.

Some of the most popular offers at checkout include:

• free delivery
• Discount coupon / Gift cards for future purchases
• Membership / Loyalty Program Subscription

Although if you really want to ensure conversion, provide an additional discount with a timer. Make the offer available only for immediate purchase.

Once someone makes a purchase on your eCommerce platform, you should make sure they buy from you again. It is much more expensive to acquire a new customer than to retain one.

Tips to retain more customers

One-time purchases can be due to various reasons such as great deals, discounts, product availability, etc. Such purchases are usually due to convenience. However, customer retention depends entirely on memory. If you have promoted yourself well, your brand will receive an influx of buyers. Retaining these people depends on your ability to create an enjoyable and memorable experience.

Offer for the next holidays

There is more than one holiday during the holiday season. If a customer made a purchase from you for Halloween, entice them with a Black Friday or Christmas offer. This should be done immediately after the purchase. The order confirmation window should ask the customer to sign up for an email or newsletter with the promise of a tempting offer.

Information about further offers can be provided to customers via:

1. Order confirmation email
2. Delivery schedule email
3. Newsletters
4. Mass email sending

But there is an even more enjoyable way to communicate future offers to your customers.

Christmas surprise

A purchase is complete when a customer receives a product. This is your chance to make the customer experience even more memorable.

Imagine this: A customer receives their package. They are happy that it arrived on time. When they unpack the box to check out the product, an unexpected surprise greets their eyes. Along with the product is a thank you note from your brand, as well as a gift card for future purchases. Who could forget such a pleasant shopping experience?

Experience is all that matters

As the holiday season approaches, customers expect offers and deals. In the race to sell eCommerce brands, they often forget about brand loyalty. A customer will only engage with brands they remember. Therefore, you focus more on creating a brand experience than on a quick sale.

At every stage of the shopping journey, the customer should not only be enticed by your offers but also by your brand identity. You can increase your e-commerce sales this holiday season with marketing tactics, but brand loyalty is all about the customer experience. Make the shopping journey as warm and joyful as the holiday season and you can enjoy the privilege of loyal customers.

Lead photo by Jill Wellington.