13 Ways to Boost Your Ecommerce Sales This Holiday Season
The opinions expressed by entrepreneurs contributors are their own.
Do you feel like the holiday season is getting longer every year? You are not wrong. This year's holiday deals have started earlier than ever, and while inflation and supply chain issues are behind this year's record dates (think early October), early risers have always caught the worm.
For this year, we're going to assume you have a few things in place: a website, products, and "x" number of customers that you want to grow to "y". After spending the last decade immersed in the world of marketing and e-commerce, I've identified 13 key areas to invest in right now that can generate the best ROI for your e-commerce businesses in anticipation of a frenzy. holiday.
Related: 3 Predictions and Tips for Attracting Customers This Holiday Season
1. Optimize your website speedThe faster your website loads, the happier your customer will be. And as with the 100m, every second counts! This is especially true during the holiday season when people are doing last minute shopping, tensions are high and there is a lot of virtual window shopping. Specifically, every second you can reduce dwell time increases conversions by 17%.
The compelling case study for all things website speed has been Amazon. When the world's largest e-commerce giant claims that every additional 100ms of page load costs them 1% in sales, it's time to listen.
How to do it: The main culprits are image size and caching mechanisms, and it's always worth looking into CSS and JavaScript minification as well. Larger, more complex websites will require different approaches, so it's best to turn to an expert if you don't have the know-how.
2. Optimize your mobile experienceAre you reading this article on your mobile device? According to the latest research, there's a 50% chance your customers are. Why is this important?
Quick and easy! These are the two golden rules for the mobile experience you want to deliver to customers. And to do that, investing in a mobile-friendly website and design is a top priority for any business owner with an e-commerce store. Forcing customers to zoom in to see the product or text or to scroll horizontally are big problems, as are forms that take too long to fill out.
A few years ago, luxury beauty brand Lancôme performed a high-level overhaul of its website design, focusing on creating a streamlined, store-like experience. application. The result? A 53% increase in mobile sessions on iOS and a 10% decrease in bounce rates.
3. Email Marketing Automation FlowWhat is an email marketing automation flow? In one sentence: in the right place, at the right time! In addition to keeping customers engaged, targeted emails show them that their experience (and purchases) matter! Plus, it frees up valuable time that you can spend on other topics.
For maximum impact, emails should be targeted and relevant to your audience. Think of a discount after abandoning your cart or a welcome message after subscribing to the newsletter.
While marketing is never about "set it and forget it," it's the closest thing to developing lines of communication that match a specific action or behavior. Case in point? The $0 to $289,000 per month success story of high-end home decor brand Eternity. Starting from the ground up with their email marketing, they've implemented clear, automated flows to cover all aspects of the customer journey, from cart abandonment to post-purchase upsells.
Related:
The opinions expressed by entrepreneurs contributors are their own.
Do you feel like the holiday season is getting longer every year? You are not wrong. This year's holiday deals have started earlier than ever, and while inflation and supply chain issues are behind this year's record dates (think early October), early risers have always caught the worm.
For this year, we're going to assume you have a few things in place: a website, products, and "x" number of customers that you want to grow to "y". After spending the last decade immersed in the world of marketing and e-commerce, I've identified 13 key areas to invest in right now that can generate the best ROI for your e-commerce businesses in anticipation of a frenzy. holiday.
Related: 3 Predictions and Tips for Attracting Customers This Holiday Season
1. Optimize your website speedThe faster your website loads, the happier your customer will be. And as with the 100m, every second counts! This is especially true during the holiday season when people are doing last minute shopping, tensions are high and there is a lot of virtual window shopping. Specifically, every second you can reduce dwell time increases conversions by 17%.
The compelling case study for all things website speed has been Amazon. When the world's largest e-commerce giant claims that every additional 100ms of page load costs them 1% in sales, it's time to listen.
How to do it: The main culprits are image size and caching mechanisms, and it's always worth looking into CSS and JavaScript minification as well. Larger, more complex websites will require different approaches, so it's best to turn to an expert if you don't have the know-how.
2. Optimize your mobile experienceAre you reading this article on your mobile device? According to the latest research, there's a 50% chance your customers are. Why is this important?
Quick and easy! These are the two golden rules for the mobile experience you want to deliver to customers. And to do that, investing in a mobile-friendly website and design is a top priority for any business owner with an e-commerce store. Forcing customers to zoom in to see the product or text or to scroll horizontally are big problems, as are forms that take too long to fill out.
A few years ago, luxury beauty brand Lancôme performed a high-level overhaul of its website design, focusing on creating a streamlined, store-like experience. application. The result? A 53% increase in mobile sessions on iOS and a 10% decrease in bounce rates.
3. Email Marketing Automation FlowWhat is an email marketing automation flow? In one sentence: in the right place, at the right time! In addition to keeping customers engaged, targeted emails show them that their experience (and purchases) matter! Plus, it frees up valuable time that you can spend on other topics.
For maximum impact, emails should be targeted and relevant to your audience. Think of a discount after abandoning your cart or a welcome message after subscribing to the newsletter.
While marketing is never about "set it and forget it," it's the closest thing to developing lines of communication that match a specific action or behavior. Case in point? The $0 to $289,000 per month success story of high-end home decor brand Eternity. Starting from the ground up with their email marketing, they've implemented clear, automated flows to cover all aspects of the customer journey, from cart abandonment to post-purchase upsells.
Related:
What's Your Reaction?
