Ensuring e-commerce success during the holiday season

In the competitive world of retail, early planning is your secret weapon for a special holiday season. Preparation makes all the difference between a successful holiday season and a disastrous one. Putting off these efforts can seriously damage your business. So why wait? Start planning now.

The importance of e-commerce

The world of retail has gone digital. Gone are the days when brick-and-mortar stores were the primary destination for holiday shopping. E-commerce reigns supreme and is increasingly a driving force during these busy shopping months. How big has e-commerce become? The 2023 holiday season was its biggest year yet, with a staggering $1.17 trillion spent worldwide. Events like Cyber Monday and Amazon Prime Day underscore the growing popularity of online shopping.

An online presence is not optional, it is essential. However, standing out online requires a lot of effort and a significant time commitment.

E-commerce development roadmap

Holiday shopping typically doesn’t get into full swing until Black Friday, but many consumers are getting started early. Statista reports that 43 percent of consumers start their holiday shopping before the end of October. If you’re looking to give your e-commerce site a visual facelift or need to make sure it can handle the expected holiday demand, act now. A website redesign isn’t an instant fix; it can take three to six months from concept to launch. That timeline includes potential design changes, bug fixes, and thorough testing. Additionally, finding and selecting the right development partner can add time to the process. By starting early, you can make sure your site is ready to attract early customers and provide a smooth holiday shopping experience.

Key Tips for Preparing Your E-Commerce Site

Assign a product owner. Designate someone with the authority and power to make decisions. In a time-constrained situation, the product owner shouldn’t waste time chasing down multiple stakeholders for input or approval. It shouldn’t be added to an already long to-do list either. The product owner needs the time and autonomy to make decisions as they arise.
Test in a test environment. As the holiday shopping season approaches, it’s important to reduce the risk of errors or downtime that negatively impacts the customer’s shopping experience. Implement any potential changes in a test environment first and test them thoroughly before rolling them out live.
Optimize your site speed. Online shoppers are impatient. Our attention spans are shrinking. According to Google research, if a webpage takes between one and three seconds to load, the likelihood of rejection increases to 32 percent. Making sure your website loads quickly and reliably is crucial to capturing potential customers who have already clicked on your page but may be put off by a slow load time.
Stress test your website. Load testing evaluates how your site performs under extreme conditions, such as high traffic or heavy data loads. This helps ensure that your site is prepared for an unexpected influx of users, especially if your products go viral.

The time is now

Don’t wait until your e-commerce site is ready for the holidays. By following these tips, you can ensure that your business is well-positioned to capitalize on the holiday shopping boom. Putting it off will only lead to stress and missed opportunities. Start your e-commerce development or updates now to ensure a smooth and successful holiday season for your retail business.

Nick Froehlich is CEO and founder of Saritasa, a custom software development company.