Santa’s Helpers: 5 eCommerce Strategies for Increasing Sales During the Holidays

For most retailers, the holiday season is the most important sales period of the year. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), 2015’s holiday retail sales in the US alone reached an astonishing $626 Billion, while eCommerce sales increased by 13.4%.

Black Friday might be right around the corner but that doesn’t mean it’s too late to increase sales during this critical time. Use these five fast and easy eCommerce strategies to improve your yields, engagement, and sales during the holiday season.

Count It Down: Whet Consumer Appetite for Deals

It’s not enough to simply have a sale to get noticed by consumers. After all, every single site will be doing the same exact thing during the holidays. Tis’ the season for deals, deals, deals.

So how can you make your site and your products stand out? By creating a sense of excitement and anticipation around your sale by installing a countdown-to-sale clock on your site.

You can also add an email collection form to sweeten the deal, offering early access to those who register. Everyone likes to jump to the front of line, even if that queue is digital.

Welcome Shoppers to Your Ho-Ho-Homepage

eCommerce sites might not have a physical front door but that doesn’t mean that they can’t welcome customers with a personalized message. Show shoppers holiday related offers that are specific to them, taking cues from affiliate sites and other kinds of data.

Getting a personalized message with a discount is better than sending a holiday card with a picture of family in embarrassing Christmas sweaters.

I’ll Have What She’s Having: Use Social Proof Messaging During the Holiday Sales Season

During high volume shopping periods like the holidays, consumers may feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of products and deals available. Knowing what other consumers are looking at can help bewildered shoppers make a decision.

Retailers can use “social proof” messaging to help guide shoppers and increase conversions. Show consumers trend alerts, messages and badges based on real-time data and visitor activity. You can also emphasize best sellers and show purchase and view counters specific to each visitor’s geo-location.

Top Sellers Recommendation Widget

Product recommendation widgets are a tried and true tool in eCommerce. They’re great for helping consumers discover new products. They also assist up-selling, cross-selling, and conversions. And these widgets can really help with conversions during the highly competitive holiday season sales period.

Consider tailoring these commonplace widgets for your holiday sales. Instead of simply showing consumers widgets with the usual “Recommended for You” message, use language and design that evokes the holiday season such as “Black Friday Recommendations” or “These Are the Products Everyone is Going Crazy Over.” Make the widgets feel like the holidays– happy, festive, and fun.

Get Flashy: Holiday Flash Sales

Everyone loves a good deal. In fact, during the holiday season consumers expect to receive steep discounts on products. According to a survey from Accenture, nearly half of consumers say they won’t pay full price for items purchased during the 2016 holiday season.

But not all sales are created equal. If you want to create a sense of urgency around a particular product and get people to convert quickly, consider a holiday flash sale. You can offer significant discounts on a particular item (or items), announcing them just a day in advance to get visitors to return to your site.

You can also build a separate landing page for the flash sale, adding new items every day, which rewards repeat visits. And every time a consumer arrives at your site, well, that’s another opportunity to convert.

While the competition for consumers’ holiday bucks might be stiff, these easy eCommerce strategies can help your business rack up the sales so Santa writes you in on the “profit” list for Q4.