5 steps for preparing your online store for Christmas

02/01/2019

Angela de la Vieja

Christmas may be to the retail trade what the summer season is to the hotel sector. This also takes into account the rest of the sales campaigns that occur throughout the year, so this is the right time to take advantage of sales that will occur with almost 100% certainty. In whatever case, within a digital market, it is essential to establish a sales and pricing strategy adapted to the idiosyncrasy of the sales channel and its own characteristics. Perhaps Christmas is one of those cases in which the offline strategy is not equivalent to the online one.

So, what should we do to prepare our eCommerce before Christmas arrives? We summarise this in the following 5 steps, or options, that can be carried out to optimise sales during the Christmas season.

Within your website

Optimising your sales by ensuring that your website works perfectly one, hundred percent. For this testing is essential, as well as monitoring the results of each user’s actions.

What specifics should be monitored with special attention? Easy! Mobile responsive design and product stock levels. In this sense, the essential step is to put yourself in your potential client’s shoes and be critical of both the shortcomings and strengths of your eCommerce system. Make sure that the user experience is simple, fluid and safe, and that your client can perform the actions they want at any time.

On the other hand, pay attention to keep the stock of your online store up to date. A catalogue management tool will help you to be aware of which products have the most output and to check which products are working best for your competitors.

Christmas pricing strategy

During the Christmas campaign sales are practically guaranteed. However, this does not mean that it is not a good time to carry out specific pricing actions to promote, thinking in the future, the popularity of online shopping. As always, checking what your competition does with their prices is an advantage.

We propose two aspects: on the one hand, make specific offers on highly demanded products, create gift packs or offer discounts for future Christmas purchases; on the other hand, organise the prices in a standardised way (for example, based on rounding) to help the user find the gift he is looking for. This way, the user will have an improved experience thanks to the facilities offered by your eCommerce. A good example? Categorise products by their maximum value: eg. gifts of up to €10, €20, etc.

Shipping policy

At Christmas everybody, users and sellers, are in a rush; last minute purchases, failed gifts, unexpected commitments, etc. Establish, from the beginning, a calendar where the user can clearly see what the purchase deadlines for their goods to arrive before D-day (or rather, C-Day!).

You will avoid future problems, and reclamations, but above all nobody will be hung-out to dry without their Christmas gift.

Communicate with your potential clients

Preparing the Christmas campaign requires hours of work. Take into account the previous year and make it very clear how you will communicate your eCommerce actions to your users.

Mailings, banners, Texting... According to your business, it will be more advisable to carry out one type of action over another. Your marketing team should be at its best to make this Christmas campaign the most successful of the year.

Update payment methods

Last but not least, it facilitates purchases if you establish popular, simple, and direct payment methods. Always remember to keep security in mind, and let your users know who the payment gateway service provider to your online store is, as well as their conditions.

Today, over half of online transactions and purchases are made through a smartphone. This frees the user from having to enter card numbers every time and takes advantage of secure alternatives such as Paypal or Apple Pay. Explore collaboration opportunities with other entities to improve this part of your conversion funnel and allow the user to make their purchases simply and safely.

11/11/2022

Consumer behavior: How can behavior tracking be effective for setting the right pricing strategies?

Behavior tracking is becoming massively popular today. As a result, pricing strategies born from studying consumer behavior are a merchant's dream come true. If done right, it can conquer every market for the business quickly. With abundant data available, the strategic makeover of the pricing models is becoming easy for companies.

What is behavioral tracking, and how is the data beneficial in pricing?

For a quick understanding, behavioral tracking refers to gaining in-depth knowledge and insights into consumers through their web data. Their browsing habits, spontaneous decisions, shopping interests, and preferences come under behavioral tracking.

How can enterprises use customer behavior data?

Companies can use customer behavior data as a tool to strengthen their hold on the market. A customer’s preferences, values, and tendencies allow businesses to work in sync with them through the collected data. Apart from this, customer behavior can also aid in:

Tailoring customer needs for customer retention

Personalization is becoming the heart of a company’s growth. No matter in which area an enterprise is functioning, tailoring the services, products, and solutions is becoming increasingly crucial. Uniqueness and personalization attract the crowd like no other.

Increasing the overall value

One of the best ways customer behavior data affects a business is by upgrading the value of customers for the business. The customer’s characteristics allow the company to target the people that match the business prospects well.

Optimizing every type of content

Everything that is up for digital display requires content. You must have seen companies unveiling their products or services through advertisements and making the initial public appearance. Two essential sales strategies – upselling and cross-selling comes through content optimization.

Pricing Strategy

Last but certainly not least is the influence of customer behavior data on the pricing strategy. The pricing strategy essentially constitutes content derived from data analysis. Companies need to have a dynamic approach to the pricing system to attract the right customers.

17/02/2015

Saint Valentine’s Day, always a good opportunity

V-Day is looming, a long-awaited date for all and also a good occasion for the eCommerce. According the study conducted by Prosper Insights and Analytics, it is forecasted the average consumer expense that day will be the highest in last years. Furthermore, 25% of them will buy online, which means an increase of 4% regarding 2014 (The US department of Commerce). This is, therefore, a key date where market competitiveness increase and which could be assumed as a big opportunity for our business or, a big fail if we do not adopt the correct strategies.

How to turn this event into an opportunity? To achieve this goal, we need to adapt our prices to this hostile environment, i.e. we need to develop an appropriate Dynamic Pricing strategy that allows us to adapt our prices to the variations produced in supply and demand and to position us ahead of our competitors. In V-Day, the frequency in changes will be higher, carrying it out each hour or even each minute. It is estimated that 65% of leader retailers have the ability to respond quickly at these variations, such Amazon. For this reason, it acquires great importance the correct use of a software specialised in price motorisation of competitors. Do not miss the time and adapt your business to new adversities.

28/12/2022

Which are the best footwear marketplaces to sell on?

Footwear marketplaces are booming. The last decade has seen the launch of new specialized marketplaces with millions of different users. Among them are Spartoo, Sarenza and Farfetch, portals with international reach. Their main value is that they unite hundreds of footwear brands, as well as offering clothes and accessories. Although each has its own characteristics, they are all vertical marketplaces, i.e., they focus on a specific area, and their sales categories are interrelated. For sellers, these portals provide an opportunity to expand sales channels and drive the globalization of their e-commerce business. We explain how to sell on these footwear marketplaces so that you can assess whether they align with your plans for the future and then start defining a possible pricing strategy.