This year’s holiday is fast approaching and consumers are already on the lookout for that perfect gift item. For retailers, this is the time when shoppers will spend more time on online stores and fewer times in traditional brick-and-mortar stores. As it stands, hundreds of retailers all over the world are gearing up for this holiday shopping extravaganza. By now, you should too and if you haven’t, our winning tips on how you can prepare for the shopping season can be handy.
Before this holiday season, adequate preparation ought to be made especially if you want to record great success this holiday shopping season. From starting early to managing inventory, creating shopping campaigns to offering a great shopping experience, there is work to be done.
5 Actionable Solutions for Preparing the Shopping Festival
Check out these five winning holiday shopping extravaganza tips for this shopping festival.
1. Prepare for the next shopping extravaganza
Early preparation is the best way to achieve something in life and business. According to a study by Coresight Research, 1/3rd of consumers start their holiday shopping earlier than usual. In 2019, customers start buying holiday gift items as early as October. The reason you need to prepare early for the holiday season is to ensure smooth operation of your store, avoid downtime, and avert last-minute stress e.g. shipping chaos.
2. Manage your inventory in advance
As part of your inventory management techniques, managing inventory in advance is essential. For most retailers, stocking an inventory during this holiday season is a big challenge. Don’t worry, help is on the way. By dropshipping, retailers can now sell during the holiday without owning an inventory or renting a warehouse. With an online store and the right dropship supplier, anyone can make huge sales during the holiday in the comfort of your home. And if you happen to use dropshipping suppliers like SaleYee, you have added advantage. SaleYee is an outstanding global dropship and wholesale platform that offers a wide range of profitable SKUs. They offer high-quality products at discounted prices and fast delivery to ensure that retailers can make high-profit and satisfy your customers this holiday season. More interestingly, the SaleYee platform is free to use and can easily integrate with eBay, Amazon, Walmart, Shopify, and Wish.
3. Create a shopping campaign to attract the customer and get more traffic
Many retailers get so busy preparing their eCommerce inventory management without focusing on how to attract customers to their store. Creating shopping campaigns even before the holiday season can encourage customers to get started with their shopping early. According to Deloitte, holiday eCommerce sales are expected to rise by 25% to 35% compared to 2020. If you can:
- Start promotions from November, including special offers on shipping.
- Create personalized offers/recommendations based on previous shopping data, trends, and buyers’ decisions.
- Customize deals sent to customers via social media and email marketing campaigns.
- Use other various marketing channels to drive consumers to your online store: try influencer-driven campaigns, flash promotions, etc.
- Create dedicated pages to get customers in the holiday mood.
- Try 3D renderings and other AR & VR capabilities that can flip and turn your products.
Offer holiday deals and discounts: When creating your shopping campaign, there is a need to emphasize deals and discounts. It is called a holiday shopping season and while shoppers are looking to spend money, it is only natural for them to expect the best deals and big discounts. When it comes to offering holiday deals and discounts, retailers need to compare pricing with competitors. This way, you won’t offer very low or high pricing instead you will set the best-priced campaigns to boost your sales. If you want to attract customers to your store this season, pick several items and offer deals and discounts.
4. Provide your customers with the outstanding shopping experience
To retain existing customers or attract new ones, ensure you provide customers with an impeccable shopping experience every time they visit your store. From Apple to Samsung, McDonald’s to Chanel, the best businesses provide a strong customer experience that keeps them bound to the brand. Many retailers think creating a shopping experience is all about selling. On the contrary, good customer service entails everything from user experience to buying, customer service to convenience, etc.
a. Shopping experience: Providing outstanding customer service can either make or mar your business. Here’s why! 65% of shoppers who feel unsatisfied when they visit a store say they never use that brand again. The inception of eCommerce has transformed how retailers should relate with customers. A brand doesn’t necessarily have to see a customer before satisfying him/her. By simply offering value, convenience, and meeting expectations, shoppers will feel as though they were a part of your brand. The first step to providing an outstanding shopping experience to your customers is by positioning yourself as the customer. If I was offered this sort of service, will I be satisfied?b. Payment option: Part of the reason why people are still keen to shop at traditional stores is because of the flexibility of payment. As we continue to adapt to the ever-changing technological innovation, offering additional payment options is crucial. From MasterCard to Visa, PayPal to Paytm, Bitcoin to Cash, implementing flexible payment methods in your store will offer ease and convenience to your customers. This seemingly little change in your payment options can increase your conversion rate and help you boost your online sales this holiday season.
5. Prepare your online store for heavy traffic
One thing is certain during the holiday shopping season, and that is traffic surge on eCommerce websites. After preparing small business inventory management, you want to get your site ready to accommodate traffic this season. Customers are used to completing their buying process with a few clicks on their smartphones. Anything that will not provide a seamless experience will be ignored – that is you losing customers to your competitors free of charge. Review your site and optimize the same speed and quality of experience to accommodate heavy traffic.
Conclusion
This holiday shopping season promises to be awesome. We’ve started seeing signs of customer rush and that is good news for retailers. The revolutionary shift in customers’ shopping habits is a pointer that businesses should act quickly and adapt. Implementing inventory management techniques isn’t enough, following trends and digital transformation will help you grab opportunities when they show up.