Preparing Your Online Store for Holiday Sales

Consumers are feeling festive this holiday. They’ll celebrate and give gifts, while carefully managing budgets. Shoppers are heading to their favorite stores in search of holiday sales. However, websites are particularly appealing to those who want to avoid long lines while holiday shopping, as well as enjoy free shipping.

What are the biggest sales days of the year?

Consumers are always shopping — stocking and restocking various items at different times of the year. The holidays are some of the busiest times of the year. A retail survey this year revealed most consumers are planning to shop for holiday gifts in November (41%) and December (33%).1 Adding to the frenzy, there are only 27 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas – five days fewer than last year.

Black Friday (November 29), Small Business Saturday (November 30) and Cyber Monday (December 2) will again be among the biggest sales days of the year.

Capture your share of $39 billion in online holiday sales.

Online sales are expected to reach more than $39 billion this season.2 Are you ready to cater to your customers? Here’s what you can do to capture your share of holiday shoppers.  

1. Update your online inventory to feature holiday gift ideas and promotions.

   Make it easy for customers to find holiday deals. Create a special section on your site that features an attractive banner that drives customers to pages that offer products and services of interest. Consider segmenting the gifts by price and/or category. For example, "Gifts under $50" or "Gifts for the Gardener" target specific shoppers. Be sure you’ve organized and tagged your inventory prior to display.

2. Personalize customer communications.

   You’ll learn about customers' product preferences and buying habits when examining business data, including holiday traffic patterns. Check past sales data to see which items are best sellers and showcase those and similar gift options. You can install an app on your site that makes product recommendations based on browsing history and previous purchases.
   
   Examine which items shoppers bookmark or leave in their shopping carts. These are clues that they might be waiting for a discount. Follow up with a personalized email that includes a special promotional offer and you’ll also increase loyalty. Consumers say they feel more connected (73%) and loyal (71%) to brands that give them exclusive deals.3

3. Offer gift cards.

   Gift cards make shopping easier. They are available as physical cards or can be shared as electronic files. In addition, gift cards allow the recipient to choose their own goods or services. Fifty-four percent of consumers plan to give them to family and friends this year.4

4. Clearly display shipping options and timelines.

   Seventy-two percent of shoppers said free shipping is the number one reason they will shop online.5 Even if you don’t offer free shipping, clearly display shipping options, expected delivery times, costs and cut-off dates to receive packages at specific times. If you have a physical location in addition to your online store, offer in-store pickup as an alternative to free shipping. You could potentially drive more sales as well.

5. Share product recommendations and tips.

   Consumers rely on reviews and referrals when making purchase selections. Social media is an ideal tool for sharing holiday gift ideas and tips. Also capture comments and recommendations on your site, and quickly respond to requests for assistance or feedback anywhere your business is mentioned.

Wrap up holiday sales with a stress-free online experience.

Promoting holiday sales is essential to the success of your business. Equally important is providing seamless transactions for satisfying customer experiences.

• Provide a frictionless shopping and checkout process.

  Customers will abandon shopping carts if the checkout process isn’t smooth. Test drive your online process – both mobile and desktop – and fix any problems you find. Offer a range of payment options and consider adding a guest checkout option so shoppers don’t have to create an account to make purchases. If customers can quickly make purchases, they’ll be more likely to create an account and profile in the future.

• Secure customer payments.

  Though consumers look forward to shopping during the holidays, they are concerned about online fraud (62%), especially during Black Friday and Cyber Monday (53%).6 Diligently protect customer data in compliance with industry regulations and you’ll build trust.

• Hire extra help.

  The holidays are a busy time. If needed, hire additional staff to help with inventory, answering customer questions, processing orders and shipping. You’ll prevent delays and enhance customer satisfaction.

With just a bit of prep work, your online store will be able to easily handle the holiday rush. The Synovus Commerce Suite features shopping cart integration and inventory management, as well as secure online, mobile, contactless, recurring, and unattended payment functionality. For more details, call 1-888-SYNOVUS (1-888-796-6887) or stop by one of our local branches.