Fit for Christmas – Part I
Less than three months until the end of the most profitable time of year: holiday season. It’s high time to set course to success and prepare your online shop for the Christmas business. In Part one of our Christmas specials in the ePages blog we take a look in the things, you can already do now to be best prepared for the upcoming business.
Check your product range.
October is your last chance to take a critical look at your product range. You should decide now if your product stock is sufficient to guarantee a sale without supply shortfall. Take a look at last year’s holiday season to get a reference: Which products sold well, which didn´t?
Inform yourself on current trends. Is there a new product that has the potential to be one of the high-flyers in this year’s holiday season? Then put at last a small amount of it on your online shelf. That way you may benefit from increased search traffic.
Start working on your product presentation. Keep in mind that during holiday season a lot of potential customers don´t buy for themselves but for family members or friends. Due to their lack of knowledge about your products they may need an additional consultation. Be ahead of your competitors by offering this additional service with advanced product descriptions or additional product photos.
Preparations for Christmas campaigns
Consider whether you want do a special marketing campaign during Christmas season to increase customer loyalty. One idea would be for example to attach an already stamped Christmas card to all delivered orders that you receive during the Christmas period. Customers can use it to send it to their beloved. Enhance the card with additional gift voucher and let your customers promote your shop to their friends.
If you decide for such or a similar campaign, now is the right time to make the necessary preparations. Ask for an offer for the production of the card at your local advertising agency. The longer you wait, the more likely it is that you have to pay a premium price for the production.
Another idea to present your shop to customers in a likable way is to use a special packaging with Christmas motifs and your logo. Again, do not wait too long before starting with the design and production.
Volker Schwarz
Volker Schwarz studied German, History and Politics at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum. From 2004 to 2009 he worked as a freelancer for several marketing and communications companies in Hamburg, including e-commerce companies. Between August 2009 and December 2011, he worked as an online editor at ePages.
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