PREPARE YOUR ECOMMERCE WEBSITE FOR BIG SALES EVENTS

There are several sales seasons throughout the year and the retail strategy is promotions and discounts being offered at these times. If you manage an ecommerce business then it is critical you plan for sales events through these sales seasons, because if you’re not prepared you are likely to miss opportunities!

Common Sales Seasons

Some of the key dates for sales are below so put them in your calendar. You can tailor your promotions and marketing with the common themes associated with these special events.

• Chinese New Year
• Valentine’s Day
• Mother’s and Father’s Day
• End of Financial Year
• Stocktake Sales
• Black Friday
• Cyber Monday
• Christmas
• Boxing Day
• New Year
• Back to School
• Summer and Winter

Depending on the products you sell, consider other special events throughout the year like World Book Day, International Women’s Day, World Health Day, World Environment Day - the list is endless. Also consider your company’s birthday or other special days for sales.

Prepare a Sales Calendar

Plan for your chosen sales seasons with a sales calendar. Prioritise the events that are most likely to result in sales for your business and list them in your calendar. Choose a team to run the events, determine when they will occur, how long they will last and how much they will cost your company.

A sales calendar helps you plan your content, schedule product releases and make sure you have enough stock. Use it for your ecommerce store to select the sales channels and the campaign types you’ll run.

Prepare Your eCommerce Strategies

Your goal at these times of the year is to create an amazing online experience for the high traffic that is expected during sales events and result in a boost in sales. If you are not well prepared it can lead to unhappy customers, lost sales and a dent to your reputation.

Begin by creating a comprehensive checklist with the essential tasks you need to do. Some of the broader areas to focus on include:

• Sales Strategy - understand how your website can work towards your sales goals. Use multiple sales channels to reach as many customers as possible and then work to convert traffic to sales.
• User Experience - ensure great customer experience for all visitors to your online store. Clear messaging and product descriptions are important to prevent confusion and frustration among your shoppers.
• Analytics - use your analytics tools to gain insights into your sales and customer behaviour. Monitor your inventory so you don’t run out of popular products.
• SEO - explore your SEO practices for both immediate and long-term benefits.
• Technology - make sure your website will be able to handle an influx of customers. Have your customer support team ready to handle extra enquiries and make the most of automation tools to work effectively.

Set your Goal and Audience

For each sales season, highlight certain products you offer and target relevant customers to increase the chances of conversions. For instance, for Mother's Day promote any products suitable as gifts to target audiences who are most likely to be purchasing them. If you want to clear stock, be clear about how you will do this.

Optimise Traffic

Google Ads PPC advertising to only pay when someone clicks on your ad is a cost-effective way to drive traffic. Increase traffic and find potential customers with discounts or freebies. If you have subscribers, offer them deals to create a sense of exclusivity.

Capitalise on the particular event and provide themed promotions or donate a percentage of your sales to a worthy cause to attract new visitors. Offering referral incentives can promote your brand by the people who already love it.

Analyse Your Performance

Using the data from one sales event can help enhance the results of the next one. You can use the reports in Google Analytics to measure metrics such as customer data, revenue growth, conversion rates and more. This allows you to identify which areas to optimise next time.

Enhance Your Website

Your website must be able to handle extra traffic because the last thing you want is your online store to crash. Web Force 5 can assist with your ecommerce CMS and infrastructure as well as helping you test it prior to the actual sale so you can address any issues.

Your website should be able to adapt to different screen sizes so it can be accessed from tablets and mobile devices. This function is critical as more people shop using their phones. Ensure your load time is fast and navigation is easy.

Easy Checkout

Big sales events are hectic, and customers will be shopping around. Therefore, a smooth shopping and checkout experience is essential. A messy and time-consuming checkout process will have customers abandoning their cart.

In the cases where carts are left, follow up with an email or notification to encourage them to finalise their transaction. Streamline the process, provide various payment methods and allow guest checkout.

Build Up the Excitement

Customers are expecting sales and great deals at certain times of the year, but it is still important you don’t let them forget about these events. Creating a sense of urgency is a clever marketing strategy to build excitement and motivation to buy.

Perhaps set up a countdown on your website stressing visitors must act quickly if they want a good price, or communicating when stock is low, so they are tempted to buy before they miss out.

Use Social Media

Social media will get you in front of your audience and is an opportunity to market your business on a large scale. Use these platforms to build your online presence and relationships with your audience by providing entertainment, useful tips and inspiring stories to increase engagement. Give away rewards for sharing or commenting on your posts.

Collaborate with Other Brands

Working together with brands who can complement yours but are not a direct competitor can help capture sales. This works well with a company who has the same target audience but offers different products.

Offer Free Shipping

Free shipping is one of the largest incentives to purchase and many customers expect it, especially when spending a certain amount. If you can’t always absorb the shipping costs, try to use it specifically at sales times.

Free Samples

Everyone loves free products, and giving customers a free sample of a product may entice them to change to your brand. Personalised product recommendations match your shoppers with products they are likely to love and therefore purchase.

 

Challenges of Big Sales Events

While it is a great idea to offer discounts and watch products moving through the check-out at lightning speed, be careful you don’t over-discount and damage your profit. Also be mindful of setting unrealistic expectations such as an enormous increase in new traffic or sales in a single event.

The legal aspects must be considered too, such as false marketing claims and misleading pricing. Deal with complaints fairly and quickly and provide clear return and refund policies.

 

Watch Your eCommerce Website Thrive

Implementing ecommerce strategies can be relatively straightforward with the right tools. These strategies can be applied to all ecommerce platforms, whether you’re using Adobe Commerce, BigCommerce, Shopify or another platform.

Web Force 5 can help with your big sales events. Speak with a specialist consultant for a free no obligation chat and watch the improvement in selling products during the next sales season.