Season’s Earnings: 5 Tips for Achieving Holiday

eCommerce Success

Season’s Earnings: 5 Tips for Achieving Holiday eCommerce Success | Page 1 | jaggedpeak.com

1 Ensure website readiness

In the months leading up to the holiday season, your IT team should test your website to make sure it can handle peak traffic loads. Use last year’s data as a guide and switch to an auto-scaling system, if necessary, to accommodate any spikes in traffic. Focus on maximizing site speed. A page that loads even a second slower can lead to a drop in sales, with 40% of shoppers saying they’ll leave a mobile eCommerce site that doesn’t load in under three seconds. As you get closer to the holidays, implement a code freeze to prevent new performance issues from arising during this critical period.

2 Optimize warehouse systems

The holidays can put a major strain on your fulfillment centers, so make sure you’re prepared. Evaluate your slotting practices and optimize your system to reduce travel time, improve

accuracy and decrease the number of touches. Consider how you can group inventory to make the picking process more efficient.

You may need to temporarily add headcount to meet demand.You should also evaluate your reverse logistics strategies to account for an uptick in returns. Include pre-printed return labels or provide an easy process to print return labels from your site or shipping partner. Dedicate sufficient warehouse space to store and process returns. Collect data as you inspect and organize returns so you can quickly re-kit, re-package, re-stock and re-sell your products.

3 Provide total customer care

Peak sales mean peak customer interactions. Be ready to capitalize on these touchpoints and provide an outstanding customer experience. Arm service representatives and update chatbot systems with all relevant sales and promotion information so they can fully address customer questions. You may need to contract seasonal employees for your call center to handle the influx of calls.

Make sure you maintain those staffing levels beyond the holidays and into the “season of returns.” Receiving one of your products as a gift may be someone’s first interaction with your brand. If they have questions or even if they ultimately return the product, a good service experience could convert them into a new customer.

The holiday shopping season can be make or break for many brands and retailers. To maximize Q4 sales, you need to adjust your strategies to account for unique seasonal activity while capturing new customers. Below are five tips to help you thrive this holiday season.

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Season’s Earnings: 5 Tips for Achieving Holiday eCommerce Success | Page 2 | jaggedpeak.com

4 Make your marketing merry

Seasonal promotions like Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals have become standard practice for many brands and retailers. But they aren’t the only ways

to drive holiday sales. Make sure to use seasonal messaging in all social and paid campaigns, and optimize your retargeting strategies to attract ideal customers. Try to limit cart abandonment with reminder emails and leverage customer experience (CX) strategies like one-click purchasing. You can also prompt sales by offering free shipping before a certain date, or add a countdown clock to your site that lets customers know they need to purchase by a certain date to ensure delivery by Christmas.

5 Add a personal touch

Personalization techniques are the heart of any winning CX strategy. Offer customers unique experiences such as interactive gift guides, wish lists and personalized offers. You can also use gamification strategies to reward returning customers and increase brand engagement. Offer product suggestions based on a customer’s purchase or browsing history and adjust product descriptions to speak to customer needs, not product specs. Crafting an eCommerce experience that makes the customer feel seen and valued is ultimately the best way to strengthen brand loyalty, increase sales and help your brand thrive this holiday season.

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Make this a record-breaking holiday season by putting the power of Jagged Peak’s tools and expertise to work for you. Contact us today.