3 E-commerce Christmas ideas to boost sales
The holiday season is one of the hottest shopping periods throughout the year. Online commerce is predicted to grow up to 20 percent this year. That's an increase of as much as 8 percent compared to last year anyway. With Christmas just around the corner, it's the perfect time to implement strategies that can also double your profits. Don't miss it!
In this article, we will present 3 ideas to boost your e-commerce sales this Christmas. Let's get started!
1. Decorate your store for Christmas to boost e-commerce
Every year almost all brands change their website theme for christmas. How to do it right? The biggest mistake is to go ‘all red’. So in fact there are a lot of overwhelming elements. Check Virgin mobile:
zdjęcie: virginexperiencedays.co.uk
Instead of ‘all in red’ Keep your decoration simple. Use christmas banners but never with auto-rotation, especially on mobile. Let the user navigate through the elements by itself. The great power of Christmas is calm and family-focus time. Remember that and try to make a new theme calm. Using too much red colour makes the opposite effect and is against core design principles. Use only small, Christmas red and green additions to your theme but still keep your brand identity visible:
zdjęcie: coca-cola.com
As you can see Coca-Cola is using one banner. They don't not adding more christmas elements to the logo, background etc. To make the best approach clear: keep the new subtle theme in line with this pattern. Then see how better the subtle layout looks compared to the red pattern. Look at the example below:
Remember that people are overwhelmed by ‘Special offers’ every day and christmas is not black friday. Too much decoration is the key and common problem. Does that mean that you should avoid Christmas decorations at all? No! It shows to the user your offer is up to date and it could have great impact but… use it wisely!
2. Be mobile friendly to increase sales
In the next step, you should make it as easy as possible for customers to shop in your mobile shop. 92% of people under the age of 24 and 88% under the age of 35 most often buy using a smartphone. In the age group up to 45, mobile commerce transactions are carried out by 74% of people. That's the same number as using desktop computers.
This is why you need to optimise your e-commerce platform to match mobile-user needs. However, check if all your christmas theme elements or gift finders work perfectly on both - mobile and desktop. Avoid ‘special christmas offer’ pop-ups on load cause it affects higher bounce rate. Keep design simple. Do not overwhelm the user with the red colour, check if all main actions. Buttons should be reachable with a one finger while holding the mobile phone with one hand. The best possible approach is to run UX research during the christmas time and eliminate all friction points for the next season.
Learn more: How to design interfaces for m-commerce?
3. Increase sales with a personalised user experience
Who knows your customers better than you! Firstly, boost your e-commerce by offering a personalised shopping experience. According to a report from DemandWare across the holiday shopping season as a whole, clicks on product recommendations led to 28% of all retail income. Check your data year over year and compare user behaviour.
But be careful! Christmas is a time when users change their shopping habits. They tend to make slightly different choices when buying gifts for loved ones than when shopping for themselves.
The way to increase conversions in your e-commerce business will be to focus on the most recent data. Check the product categories viewed by the customer, the sources of traffic. By combining it with the information you already have about the customer, you can create the ideal offer that will maximize the probability of purchases.
Secondly, highlight best sellers. Based on an analysis of last year's sales (and product margins), you create special categories "Perfect Gift for Mum" etc..; Also pay attention to the profitability of your products. Make sure the products you offer are in stock ready to ship. Nothing irritates a customer more than adding a product to a shopping cart that is out of the stock.
Last, but not least. Make sure that not only the visual aspects of your site look great. Take care of the performance of your website. If you don't know if your e-commerce will handle the increased traffic during the holiday shopping season, we recommend test your site with the Monogo Performance Tool. We developed the Monogo Site Performance Test to help you analyze your e-commerce performance. This is a fast and free way to check the performance of any website. Click to download a full report for your e-commerce.
To summarize, the holiday season is a golden opportunity for e-commerce businesses to maximize their profits. By implementing these 3 Christmas ideas, you can create a festive and engaging shopping experience that attracts customers, drives sales, and boosts your overall profitability. Make the most of the holiday spirit, and watch your e-commerce business flourish this Christmas season.