Are You Prepared for the 2010 Holiday Shopping Season?
Practical eCommerce just published a two-part series featuring insightful tips from some of the online retailing industry’s most successful leaders and brands. In the spirit of it’s never too early to be thinking about your own holiday promotions, here are a few highlights:
Plan Ahead for Holiday Rush
“Have an escalation plan for marketing. Like any aspect of your business, all marketing and advertising aspects need to be planned in advance. Shoppers are much more likely to make a purchase in November and December than any other part of the year. Plan for the increase in phone orders and customer service questions. You can’t just hire additional reps in November and expect them to be knowledgeable in your business. Allow time for proper training.” – Dave Sasson, CEO of OverstockArt.com
Freshen Up Your Gift Shop
“If you don’t have a gift shop on your website, be sure to create one before the fourth quarter begins. If you already have a gift shop, start making plans now on how you can improve upon it. Monitor your sales at least once a week by creating a campaign in your analytics program tied to the gift shop page URL – Ken Kikkawa, President of eHobbies
Holiday Cleaning
“Think spring cleaning, but make it ‘holiday cleaning.’ Take some time to start from a fresh browser and find your site like a newbie would. Then add your most popular product to your cart and go all the way through checkout. Did it work as you remember it? Are there things you need to fix? Have you tried this in all five popular browsers, and on both Mac and Windows? Don’t let faulty assumptions dampen your holiday sales. Test, clean, and repeat until you succeed.” – Rick Wilson, President & COO of Miva Merchant
Too Much Inventory Can Kill Profit
“You can’t go broke by selling out of an item. On the other hand, having too much inventory can kill your profit (and possibly your business). Be conservative with your estimates. Look at each item individually and compare its previous year’s sales to this year’s sales. Make sure you take into account external factors such as high-profile placements for an item. If an item you sell was in last year’s Oprah Holiday Gift special, you probably benefited, but don’t expect this again.” Jamie Salvatori, Owner of Vat19
For more pointers, read Holiday Tips for 2010, Part I and Holiday Tips for 2010, Part II. And, if you’re still not convinced that now’s a great time to be gearing up for the 2010 holiday shopping season, take note of what Practical eCommerce’s Lisa Morgan points out in Gearing Up for the 2010 Holiday Season… mainly, that many retailers are extending the holiday shopping season by offering early discounts. For example, Sears is already selling Christmas ornaments, collectibles, and outdoor deco!
