With November now well underway, holiday shopping is about to kick off in a big way. However, for many people, holiday shopping is a frustrating chore. They would much rather get it over with quickly. Ironically, many of these same people are the type to procrastinate. Several online shoppers fall into this category. To avoid crowded shopping malls, they take to the internet to hurriedly buy their holiday gifts.
That means that now is the time for your brand to shine online! What can you do to encourage them to pick your online store for their needs?
Simplify the checkout process.
If online shoppers know that it takes forever to process their transactions on your e-commerce site, they will avoid it. Here is what consumers hate: going through the process of selecting items, putting them in their carts and then discovering that the shipping costs devalue the purchase. Make your shipping costs clear throughout your site. Better yet, consider offering free shipping. There is arguably no better way to avoid cart abandonment then omitting shipping costs.
“Allow users to estimate shipping costs by entering their zip code on product pages,” suggests Future Holidays, “Offer free shipping for high purchase order values, like orders above $50. Include any handling fees in your shipping costs, rather than showing a separate line item. Add taxes into your product costs on product landing pages and early in the checkout process.”
Ramp up your social media advertising.
This is definitely the time to reach out to members of your target audience directly. Millions of people use social media every day. Your Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok accounts are excellent places to inform the world of the amazing products available in your online store. Highlight the discounts you’re offering and be sure to include vivid photos in your posts. Most importantly, place a link to your online shop in each post and tweet.
“Update your Facebook page and other social media with pictures of easy gift ideas,” recommends Bob Phibbs, The Retail Doctor, “Don’t just do transactional emails with a broad discount – everyone does that in their marketing campaigns. Instead, use buyer personas (like if you were a toy store, what would grandparents buy for their grandchild? That should differ from what a new mother would buy). Keep the copy short and engaging; tell why it makes a great gift and give the price.”
Create a countdown clock.
There’s nothing like creating senses of both excitement and urgency to elicit sales. By placing a countdown clock on your e-commerce site, you will help to grow the anticipation of the holidays. More significantly, you will alert your site’s visitors to the importance of completing their purchases right away.
“Creating a sense of urgency for your visitors is one of the best ways to boost your conversion rate,” says OptinMonster, “When our purchasing decisions are based on urgency, we automatically lean towards the “take action” route, because we’re afraid of missing out. Countdown timers are the most effective way to get customers to act: Nothing is more convincing than actually seeing that time is running out.”
Is your company in need of a safe and secure e-commerce solution?
At Divvia, we offer a secure e-commerce solution that enables you to easily and securely accept and process all credit cards from your website. To learn all about it, call us at 1-877-748-2884 or send us a message on our Contact Us page!
