Christmas Ecommerce Guide

Online retail continues to grow year-on-year, with the run up to Christmas being the peak of many retailers’ annual revenues.  Predictions from the Centre for Retail Research have stated that 2011 will see a rise in online sales by 16.3 per cent this Christmas from 2010. This comes as no surprise as the online world provides consumers with an accessible channel allowing them to easily buy anything they need for Christmas, from CDs and DVDs to the more unusual gifts, at competitive prices.  With this in mind, it is important that retailers are more prepared than ever to make the most of this time of year. 

As we get closer to Christmas, it’s important that retailers of all sizes consider bespoke planning around seasonal goods. The planning and activity should have started already, but if it hasn’t, it’s still not too late for smaller retailers to really gear up for Christmas and ensure the make the most of consumers’ greater propensity to buy around this time of year.

This report details what these retailers should be doing when it comes to planning for Christmas, including steps that should have been taken 60 days prior and further steps that should be taken 45 days, 30 days and 15 days prior. The report offers essential tips around marketing and promotions, content and inventory and is aimed at anyone who is selling products online and looking to take advantage of the Christmas rush.

Planning for Christmas

Online retailers of all sizes should be thinking about Christmas as early as August, but they need to really start gearing up for it 60 days prior to the 25th December if possible, working towards the following deadlines in order to ensure they don’t become snowed under by the demand and volume of sales: 

1. 60 days prior to Christmas: This is the time for retailers to identify the entire inventory needed for the festive period. Whether this is ensuring that there is enough of the bestsellers in stock which are sold throughout the year, or items that are made available for the season such as Christmas decorations and specialist gifts 
2. 45 days prior to Christmas – Now that Christmas inventory is highlighted and ready, this is the time for retailers to double check that this entire inventory is listed and available. Many customers often get a head start on Christmas shopping and want to be assured that their chosen online stores have  the products they are looking for 
3. 30 days prior to Christmas – With just a month to go, retailers must have 100 per cent inventory availability. This not only makes it easier when dealing with the volume of orders they will receive in a timely manner, but it ensures customer satisfaction when orders are accurate and completed 
4. 15 days prior to Christmas – For many consumers, just over two weeks until Christmas starts to become manic, however retailers at this time should ideally have sold and dispatched 50 per cent of their inventory for the season

If retailers don’t yet have plans in place, it’s still not too late for them to gear up for Christmas and take advantage of the huge opportunity. Some key tips for maximising sales opportunities include: 

1. Get categories set up now
– categories help the buyer search more easily whether it is by a product type or price points
2. Run promotions around Cyber Monday & Black Friday – these are two dates in the online retail calendar when sales boom in the lead up to Christmas. Retailers can really maximise the sales they make by running promotions on both of these days that would appeal to the  festive market 
3. Review the impact of last year’s Q4 performance – taking the time to analyse the success of the previous Q4 performance is one of the most effective ways of gaining an understanding of what sales were like, what tactics were used and what worked well. This will put retailers in a good position to know what they should be doing this Christmas 

Finally, retailers must remember to pull all the relevant seasonal content the day after Christmas. It is also key that the next page is pre-planned and ready to go up straight away, preparing themselves for the next round of sales.

Seasonal Marketing

Getting seasonal marketing techniques right isn’t as complicated as it would first seem, yet many smaller retailers are struggling to roll campaigns out successfully. With a host of diverse seasonal events throughout the year, whether it is Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Halloween or Back to School, retailers need to think strategically, as well as consider the quick wins when it comes to marketing and promotions to drive seasonal sales. 

One area that many retailers often overlook is keyword optimisation on product listings. They should begin identifying and optimising selected seasonal keywords 60 days prior to the relevant event. It is simple to do and when done successfully it can lead to a 35-55 per cent uplift in traffic on eBay alone, allowing retailers to really maximise seasonal events. In addition, retailers should be making full use of custom pages if selling through eBay, as landing pages for search engines. 

Around seasonal peaks retailers’ priorities are to increase traffic to their website and ultimately sales, as consumers are often more willing to spend their hard earned cash. To help in driving this retailers should consider the following four simple steps: 

1. Create a custom page specifically for gifts – creating a page that displays gifts that are specific to a particular season allows customers to easily find and purchase what they are looking for 
2. Use images to engage – using a selection of good quality images helps people identify what a product is likely to look like in real life, maximising the online shopping experience 
3. Use small sentences – including short and snappy descriptors alongside images helps ensure the browsing experience is as simple and engaging as possible for the customer 
4. Include FAQ, shipping and ‘about us’ pages – allowing the customer to easily access as much information as they may need before making a purchase is a essential to ensure browsing is converted into sales 

Email marketing is increasingly being neglected and is another area where some smaller retailers fall down in seasonal marketing. However, its value cannot be under-estimated and it is a key promotional channel, particularly in the run up to Christmas.  To maximise the effectiveness of email, retailers should be looking at the following timings:

1. 45 days prior – This is when retailers should be sending reminder emails to their database regarding availability of festive stock
2. 30 days prior – With shopping for the season in full swing, this is an ideal time for retailers to send out discount offers over email
3. 15 days prior – With just over two weeks to go until Christmas or any other seasonal event, there is quite often many consumers who are still looking to compete their shopping lists. This is a great time to send an email out offering free shipping or other deals to encourage last minute sales.

On a final note, it’s important to remember with all seasonal marketing to keep messages consistent across all channels through which you’re selling and communicating – whether that be a website, third-party retail channels, social media or physical and electronic mailers.

Conclusion

Despite the increased revenue opportunities to be had in the run up to Christmas, it seems that some online retailers are still struggling to take advantage of increased consumer spend. While activity should really begin in late October, it is not too late for these retailers to turn this around and reap the benefits here. Inventory is possibly the lowest hanging fruit, with retailers just needing to ensure that they get the balance of timing and availability right.

However, in such a competitive space as online retail, just getting your seasonal inventory right is not enough, it is crucial to focus on promotion and the user experience as well. Seasonal marketing is an area where some retailers can struggle, and the first thing they should be focusing on is findability; optimising content for search engines on seasonal keywords and creating dedicated landing pages.

Email marketing with seasonal promotions is also crucial, particularly around the busiest shopping days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Finally, the basics of a good online user experience can also not be ignored and retailers must ensure that they take steps including creating custom pages for gifts, using engaging images and offering FAQ, shipping and ‘about us’ pages.

By investing the time in take these reasonably basic steps, retailers of all sizes can ensure they take their share of the online Christmas spend.