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Top tips for Christmas e-trading

It seems like shoppers start making Christmas purchases earlier every year as they seek out bargains and try to spread out the cost of the festive season.

A rise in sales was noted as early as September, with the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index revealing online sales surged 20% year on year, however, the peak shopping season won’t truly start until December 2nd, the first Monday in December when people realise they only have three weeks until all presents need to be bought and wrapped.

Last year, data from IBM revealed that online sales rose by 15.8% year on year on what has become known as ‘Cyber Monday’ in the US and ‘Mega Monday’ in the UK and retailers need to be prepared for a similar surge this year.

Here are my top tips for getting your e-store ready for the Christmas rush.

1 – Consider delivery options.

To put yourself ahead of the competition this Christmas consider improving your delivery options to offer next day delivery – perfect for last minute shoppers. Experiment just before the peak trading period to see whether you can cope with demand. If you can’t get stock out that quickly, tempt customers with free delivery in December instead.

2 – Think multi-platform.

Figures from IBM show that more than 14% of shoppers on Mega Monday used a mobile phone to access a retailer’s website, while iPads drove 10.6% of online shopping.

Retailers need to test their site and ensure all content works well on mobile phones and tablets.

3 – Consider stock levels.

People won’t be willing to wait a few weeks for items in the run up to Christmas so make sure you have enough stock. Don’t just base your projections on last year’s sales; take into account how quickly you are growing. It’s always better to have large stock piles as you’ll struggle to order more over the festive period.

4 - Increase communication.

Customers tend to get anxious that their presents won’t arrive in time for Christmas so make sure you keep them up-to-date about when orders are dispatched and when they can expect to receive them. Send alerts if anything occurs which could change delivery times, such as extreme weather. It’s also advisable to increase cover for email, social media and phone lines to help cope with customer queries.

5 – Don’t forget about Christmas Day.

The hard work doesn’t end on Christmas Eve for online retailers, with a growing number of people heading online on Christmas Day itself. Make sure you are prepared for an influx of traffic and that you have staff available to offer support.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Alibaba.com .