6 Tips To Improve Holiday Sales

It’s the most wonderful time of year, and in the retail space, that means it’s time to gear up for your annual holiday sale. The problem is, your competitors are likely doing the same thing. During this competitive time in retail, we’ve gathered 6 tips to help you edge out the competition and get the most out of your year-end spending bonanza.

 

1. Start early.

From planning to executing, starting early with your sales initiatives can make all the difference. Don’t start the planning process weeks before the holidays, begin months in advance. Additionally, launching your holiday sale early can encourage customers to buy your products over your competitors who haven’t started yet and allows you to optimize revenue for your holiday sale. Make sure to inform your customers about your sale early as well. Additionally, suggesting gift ideas early in the holiday shopping process can inspire customers to return later to purchase your product. Starting early in the planning, informing, and marketing of your sale can only work to your advantage.

 

2. Make a festive homepage.

Lean into the holiday spirit, and bring some festivity to your homepage. Be sure your holiday sale is the easiest thing to find on your website. Customers often visit websites around the holidays strictly to discover Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or end-of-the-year deals, so make it easy for them to do so. Decorate your homepage with holiday cheer graphics, and clearly display your call-to-action (such as “75% Off Holiday Sale - Shop Now”) across your website’s top banner. Make your homepage easily scannable and user-experience-friendly. You may even consider adding a holiday countdown timer for a fun, festive flair.

 

3. Take advantage of holiday SEO tactics.

Like you would for any product page, target holiday-specific keywords in your product copy. This will help you boost your search ranking on major search engines like Google, which will increase traffic to your webpage. Taking advantage of these holiday keywords can give you a big advantage over your competitors.

 

4. Create gift guides.

Tis’ the season of giving, so provide gift guides for your customers to help promote your products while providing assistance to your customers. You might create a list of products to give to a neighbor, apartment repairman, significant other, or anyone you could see yourself buying a gift for. Try using an SEO keyword generator to come up with creative ideas for gift guides that people actually search for.

 

5. Use creative sales techniques.

Utilize limited time sales to encourage people to buy quickly. Take these limited time sales to the next level by increasing the sale value during a particularly short window of time (such as “Get an extra 10% off this Friday from 1-3pm”). Consider cross-selling and bundling products as well, especially based on past purchases the customer has made. For example, if your customer bought two board games in the past, offer them a third similar board game at a discounted rate to see if they’re interested.

 

6. Get ready.

Sales bring in more revenue but also require more resources. Make sure your inventory is amply stocked, you hire enough well-trained staff to handle the upcoming busy period, and that your website can handle the increased traffic without crashing. Being prepared for your sale is a necessary factor many companies overlook during the holiday season, leading to poor execution and lost revenue.

 

Now go forth and launch that holiday campaign! Once the rush of the holidays are over, be sure to take note of what worked and didn’t work about your holiday sale, and use that information to execute it even more effectively next year. For more helpful tips on e-commerce and retail business best practices, visit our blog.