Fall isn't officially here, and yet for Web shop owners, it's time to start thinking about the winter holidays. Lauren Freedman, president of The E-tailing Group and Jamus Driscoll, vice president of marketing for Demandware, recently outlined tips and techniques for cashing in on the 2007 holiday season.
But first, a look back at last year provides some insight for preparing your holiday check list for this year. According to Demandware's fourth-quarter survey conducted in 2006, online shopping is expected to remain strong. Use of the Web by holiday shoppers increased last year, up from the high teens in 2005 to 23 percent in 2006, with 60 percent saying that the Web was their primary source of gift information.
Additionally, according to Demandware's Driscoll, site features that played a major role in conversions included gift certificates and wish lists, as 64 percent said gift certificates equaled 25 percent of online purchases and half of those surveyed said they shopped using someone else's wish list.
In addition to trends, The E-tailing Group's Freedman underscored the importance of having the basics covered before the peak of the holiday rush. Though it seems obvious, she said you must manage your inventory, as 62 percent of respondents in an E-tailing Group study conducted last year said that clicking on a promotional e-mail led to out-of-stock items "once in a while" to "always."
Product Page Essentials
Freedman also recommended having comprehensive product pages. "Fifty-two percent of online shoppers say they spend six minutes on a product page," said Freedman, "so it's essential to have information that's engaging and comprehensive."
To be competitive, Freedman said, e-tailers should offer the following on a product page, and cited the percentage in the survey who did so: 98 sites, or 31 percent, offered conditional free shipping on certain products; 32 percent offered rebates while 38 percent included ratings/reviews and 90 percent of product pages featured up-sell and cross-sell merchandising.
Other essential elements of a product page include special offers and deals that are grouped and highlighted, links to deferred financing and tabbed navigation to product details and recommended items.
Another way to increase sales during the holidays is to have your site search set up so that people can look under topics by category, most popular, top rated or discount.
For those who sell items that draw a lot of attention, such as the iPhone or, for example, a hot video game or Harry Potter book, Freedman said offering "pre-orders" is a must.
Suggestions, Lifestyle Marketing and Wish Lists
In regard to what Freedman calls "the nuance of gifting," the power of suggestion is critical to generating revenue. This involves prominently promoting gift ideas with graphic icons and arranging gifts by price range and categories such as "top sellers."
She also advises e-tailers to market product by lifestyle, so, for instance, if you have a gardening site, offer gifts for the "nature lover" or "flower lover" along with best sellers in each category, or if you're sell clothing, group products "for him" or "for dad" and so on.
Freedman said wish lists are another big trend in holiday shopping. "I was not a big fan of wish lists, I didn't think they'd take off, but it's been proven that they work if done right," she said. "All wish list functionality should be on one page, offering access to items with real-time inventory, and, of course, you need to be able to e-mail it."
Make It Plural for Profits
Another strategy that can boost the bottom line during the holidays is the practice of encouraging customers to think in multiples. This can be done by offering multiple ship-to addresses, by allowing items to be shipped on different dates and by letting shoppers edit delivery dates and other information from within the shopping cart functionality.
On the e-mail marketing front, reminders are effective. Freedman said that 68 percent of consumers surveyed in an e-mail marketing study said they were prompted to visit a site after receiving an e-mail from the Web shop owner. She cited "countdowns to Christmas" or "count down to last day of shipping" as a creative e-mail marketing reminders, and advised e-tailers to use e-mail to notify shoppers when a popular item is back in stock.
Finally, customer service should always be exemplary during the holiday rush. According to Freedman, toll-free numbers, live chat and accessible contact information are extremely important to shoppers. She also emphasized the need to display shipping cut-off dates and simple return policies in a clear, concise way on multiple pages of your site.
Post Holiday Cheer
And, if you think the selling frenzy is over once New Year's arrives, think again. Freedman said many people shop online right after the holidays, either because they are on vacation and are online at home, didn't get something they wanted as a gift, or want to buy an accessory for a gift they did receive, or want to spend a gift card. She said e-tailers can leverage this time period by having promotions and post-holiday sale tactics in place.
Michelle Megna is managing editor of ECommerce-Guide.com.
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