Cyber Monday is on track to outpace Black Friday in terms of total sales. For online sellers, this is excellent news.
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To get a slice of the pie, it’s crucial that you position your website to appeal to Cyber Monday shoppers. Here are some things you can do to make sure your site gets the attention it deserves:
- Create a Cyber Monday-themed site — Take advantage of your website designers and developers by tweaking the design of your website to show that it is ready for the Cyber Monday sale. Similar to how a physical store announces deals on windows and fliers, utilizing the front page or vanity pages for your website can help advertise deals to your customers, while also letting them know that you are participating in the holiday.
- Send alerts about sales — It’s important to let your dedicated customers know what kind of deals are available to them during major shopping events like Cyber Monday. If you have an app or e-newsletter, send customers alerts ahead of time so they know when specific sales are starting. If someone has items in their cart, you can send an alert to them to let them know if that item is going on sale as well.
- Use searchable keywords — Since a lot of other online sellers will also have sales, the competition on Cyber Monday will be fierce. To put yourself ahead of the pack, make sure that you utilize searchable keywords with your content. These keywords should be associated with Cyber Monday and holiday shopping so people searching for your products will be able to find them easily. If you do the proper amount of keyword research, shoppers will be led to your site instead of your competitor’s.
- Don’t charge for shipping — Online shoppers love free shipping. If you don’t already offer this perk, providing it during the holiday season can help boost your sales. Even if customers aren’t saving a significant amount on shipping, they will feel more positive about the purchase with this freebie in place. If you don’t want to offer free shipping for everyone, you can create a threshold where customers get free shipping after spending a certain amount of money. However, make sure that your shipping deals are easy to see so that people are aware of what they will or won’t be paying.
- Keep your deals simple — Overcomplicating your sales can confuse your customers. You should limit the number of specials to less than five, and display those sales prominently on your website. If you want to mark down a broader range of inventory, offer a modest, site-wide discount on all of your products.
- Have your warehouse and inventory ready — Nothing’s more embarrassing than running out of the products you’re trying to sell. If your company doesn’t have a feature that tracks inventory numbers in real time, make sure someone is monitoring your merchandise quantities carefully so that you don’t have to tell customers they won’t be getting the items they ordered. You can also look at what you sold during the previous year’s Cyber Monday and project how many items you will need for specific specials you plan to run.
As you prepare for Cyber Monday, making sure your website is up to snuff is important to your bottom line and your customers. Make sure you run tests to determine if your servers are capable of handling a lot of shoppers. You should also let a fresh pair of eyes look at your website and move through the purchasing process to make sure there are no glitches that will trip up customers.