Gearing Up for the Holidays: 5 Ways to Increase Your E-Commerce Sales

Posted November 13, 2009 By Nick Weynand |

Forrester Research expects online spending during the months of November and December to top $44.7 billion, up 8% from 2008.1 If you own an e-commerce Web site, now is the time to get it in gear for the 2009 holiday season. Here are five simple ways that you can increase your sales during this busy time of year.

1. Create a holiday special or promotion

Your Web site is one among many, many online retailers. Make your products stand out by creating an unbeatable holiday special or promotion. If you’re not offering free shipping, now may be the time. Promote the sale of gift cards or offer them as a freebie for making a purchase. In this economic climate, shoppers are searching for deals. Make sure your Web site catches their attention.

2. Create special gift categories

During the holiday season, your Web site should promote gift ideas. Creating special categories for gift buyers is a great place to start. Here are some examples of special gift categories you can create:

Feel free to get creative with your categories, but make sure they are truly useful. If done right, your shoppers will appreciate the suggestions you’ve made.

3. Promote to the last-minute shopper

Let’s face it: many of us wait until the last minute to get our shopping done. Take advantage of this by reaching out to customers when the holiday shopping season is drawing to a close. Consider sending out an email promotion and offering a last-minute deal. Or offer free rush shipping so that your customer’s order arrives just in time.

4. Increase your online advertising

More people are online looking for products during the holidays than any other time of year. There’s no better time than now to increase your online advertising. You may want to increase your pay-per-click budget or offer a special commission rate to affiliates during this busy time.

5. Offer gift wrapping

Offering a gift-wrapping service is a great way to increase your average order amount. You can also throw gift wrapping in for free as part of a holiday promotion. Of course, you have to find someone who is good at wrapping gifts. Sorry, I can’t help with that one.

Is your Web site in gear for the 2009 holiday shopping season? If not, use these tips to take advantage of holiday shopping and increase your sales.

1Forrester Research: http://www.forrester.com/Research/Document/Excerpt/0,7211,55548,00.html

« Return to current issue

Let's get the discussion going. Please comment on this article.

About the Author

Nick Weynand is the founder, president and strategy director for TradeMark Media. Nick provides strategy consulting for clients and manages the business activities of TradeMark Media.

Learn More about Nick »

Leave a Comment