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The 12 E-Commerce Tips of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa
By Jennifer Schiff
November 24, 2008

According to a recent survey conducted by the e-tailing group, this holiday season more shoppers plan to do their gift buying online instead of in stores. The reasons shoppers gave for the switch included time savings, better product selection, no crowds and saving money — in other words, convenience, value and time savings. Survey participants also said they planned on buying fewer holiday gifts and spending less money this holiday season.

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So if you own or operate an online store and hope to turn a profit this holiday season, the message is clear. Your site and your products really need to stand out. You need to make sure customers can easily and quickly navigate through your site. You need to make sure you have (in stock) the products that customers are looking for. And you need to make sure you have enough bandwidth, so if your site gets lots of hits, it won't slow down.

So how do you accomplish these goals and make your site a must-visit destination this holiday season? Ecommerce-Guide.com asked several e-marketing/e-commerce experts as well as several online business owners for their tips, some of which you may already be doing, others you may want to start doing — now.

The 12 Tips for Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa

2. Offer holiday-related specials and/or sales. Customers love to feel they are getting a deal, especially around the holidays. You needn't put your whole inventory on sale but offering a few, choice holiday-related items at a reduced price, right on your home page and/or key landing pages, is a great way to lure customers.

3. Run a holiday promotion, such as a free giveaway with a certain level of purchase or a no-purchase-required sweepstakes. And put it right on your home page, where people will immediately see it, with smaller links or boxes on landing pages. MountainGear.com, an outdoor gear and clothing store, for example, is currently running a Winter Getaway Sweepstakes on its home page, with anyone who makes a purchase automatically entered to win a vacation for two to Snowbird or one of 20 other great prizes. People who sign up to be on MountainGear.com's e-mail list are also eligible. Not only does that kind of promotion increase traffic, it increases sales and expands your e-mail list of prospective customers.

4. Use e-mail and mobile marketing to alert customers to holiday sales, specials or promotions — and offer coupons or discounts. Don't forget about existing customers, who tend to shop at your store in good times and in bad. Let them know about holiday sales, specials and/or promotions with a personal e-mail and/or Twitter or mobile alert. Also consider offering existing customers coupons and/or discounts on purchases above a certain amount.

5. Split Test. "No matter when you send e-mails, you should be split testing to look for the ideal subject lines that get the best open rates," said Anthony Kirlew, the founder of Web Traffic Team and the author of "The Internet Marketing Guide for Small Business." After all, what's the point of sending e-mails if no one opens them?

(Continue to Page 2 for Seven More Tips and Staffing Strategy)

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