Getting Ready for Holiday Shopping
2020 has been anything but predictable, so it is important for business owners to take extra care this year when preparing for the holiday shopping season—especially if you are in one of the industries that have been negatively affected by COVID-19 shutdowns. As you know, a profitable holiday season could mean the difference between ending the year in the red or making a profit.
If you’re not sure where to begin to ensure a successful fourth quarter, follow our guide below:
Create and implement a strategic holiday marketing plan.
Increasing sales and ending with a nice profit takes time and preparation. We recommend creating your strategic holiday marketing plan early so that you have adequate time to implement and adjust if needed. If marketing isn’t your forte, it’s always wise to consult experts.
Create a winning user experience.
A positive user experience will encourage consumers to shop with you, rather than a competitor. And remember: that winning user experience includes your website! So, make sure it’s ready for increased traffic well in advance.
Evaluate
Before the holiday season officially starts, your team needs to evaluate your website. Look for issues with:
- Navigation
- Product listings, information and images
- Account creation
- Checkout
- Order tracking
- Bugs
- Security
- Returns
Test your website.
If your website goes down for even a few minutes, it could cost you thousands of dollars in sales. Prepare ahead of time by performing stress tests on your website and scaling where necessary.
Automate as much as possible.
Automate your online sales, shipping, fulfillment and customer service as much as possible ahead of the busy holiday season. Software like Infusionsoft by Keap allows businesses to automate a variety of tasks, making them more efficient and profitable.
Review the data.
Once the holiday season is over, review the data and measure the success of your marketing campaign. Apply what worked to future campaigns and then evaluate and improve what didn’t.