9 Ways to Get Ready for Online Holiday Shopping

by Ben Johnson - Posted 13 years ago

More ways to make your Website Holiday Shopper Ready!



November is here already! Only 25 days until Black Friday shopping kicks off the frenzy of deal-hunting and buying the civilized world likes to call the Holiday Season. Cyber Monday is becoming increasingly popular to holiday shoppers that don't want to risk getting trampled or even get out of their PJ's to find a good deal.  And as more people shop online this year than ever before, more companies are focusing on their online store as carefully as they do the brick and mortar one.  

As promised, we've posted a few more ways you can get the most out of your website this holiday shopping season. 

1. Test your features!

Just because your ecommerce coupons worked for your sale last year, it doesn't mean they still will. Browser upgrades, website changes, even just regular use of the system can cause new errors or broken links to occur. Go through your website and test everything to make sure the
user experience is a good one.

2. Make sure all your services are up-to-date.
Not only should you test your features, make sure any third party service integrated with your site (like merchant accounts, SSL certificates, fulfillment/shipping, etc.) are all working properly and have not lapsed. Nothing worries shoppers more than seeing an SSL error while checking out!

3.  Suggest Gift Ideas.
People are searching for gift ideas (haven't you scoured the Internet in the week before Christmas, desperately hoping SOME website is going to tell you the perfect gift for your mother-in-law, the husband with everything, or the kids that you only see a few times a year?) . Tell your shoppers what their spouse will love, and they will thank you for it.

4.  Want to save a headache after the holidays?
Make sure all your policies (like a return policy or disclaimer) are clear and easy for users to find.

5.  Test the speed of your site.
That fancy new flash banner with lots of falling snow and "Ho, Ho, Ho"-ing Santas might be spectacular, but is it slowing down the load time of your site? Visitors are not going to wait around for Santa to load, so find a way to optimize the speed of your site to avoid losing those potential customers.

6. Shipping matters.
Shipping is important for your shoppers "“ after all, if it isn't going to arrive until after Christmas, what is the point in buying? If you ship products, make sure your customers know when it will arrive, costs, and any policy related to shipping.

7. Be sure your top sellers are featured somewhere for visitors to see.


8. Make your special deals obvious.
Free shipping, buy one get one free? Let your visitors know as soon as they land on your website, or through your social media sites!

9. Include some share tools.
Make sure your site visitors can share a great deal or good gift idea with their friends all over cyberspace!



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