The following is a guest post from the Ecommerce Adviser
Make Gift Shopping Easy With Recommendations
Choosing the perfect gift takes time. Some of your customers may not know what to buy for their spouse, let alone for the office Christmas gift exchange! Make it easier for them to choose by giving recommendations. Common categories could include:
Ladies / Men / Mother / Father / Boy / Girl / Husband / Wife / Under 5s / Toddler / Under £25 / Under £100 / Stocking Fillers.
And the list could go on and on!
Use Your Thank You Page to Generate More Sales
When a customer buys online, they have put some trust into your site and they want to reassure themselves that they made a good decision. It may seem counter-intuitive, but one of the best ways for them to get that reassurance is to enter into another transaction with you – whether that is a further purchase or signing up to a newsletter.
So offer additional suggestions for complimentary products, either yours or your partners, on the thank you page. At least, recommend your email newsletter so they can be updated with your latest special offers.
Make Christmas Delivery Cut off Times Clear
A big concern for online shoppers is how late they can leave it to buy presents, and still be sure they will arrive before Christmas. One of the fastest ways to lose a repeat customer is for your Christmas gift delivery to reach them on December 26th!
Reinforce delivery date options throughout your site. “If you order by today we guarantee delivery by December 21st”.
You could use persuasive ways to show this on your site, perhaps with a countdown clock; have a look at sites like Amazon, Comet or M&S for ideas.
Provide a Range of Delivery Options
This is a good idea all year round, but it becomes especially important in the run-up to Christmas. If you can offer next day, or even same day, delivery then you can sell right up to Christmas Eve, and attract more last minute shoppers.
Make Returns Policies and Delivery Charges Clear and Easy to Find!
Cost of delivery, returns policy and how easy it is to find this information on your website, always play an important part in the decision to make a purchase. But at Christmas when your customer is buying a gift which may not fit; they already have; they don’t like – returns policies become even more important.
Make this information clearly accessible from anywhere on your website.
Offer Free Delivery
According to Econsultancy, more than half of Christmas shopping visitors to the top 30 retail sites said that they chose to buy from one retailer over another because they offered free delivery.
Displaying this on the homepage and elsewhere on the site immediately answers customer questions about delivery charges which increases trust.
Offer Gift Wrapping
If you don’t normally offer this service, it’s worth considering. It’s a valuable extra and can be used on the shopping basket page to bump up average order values.
Offer gift Vouchers
Gift vouchers can provide a useful alternative for customers who just don’t know what to buy. And they are great for last minute shoppers, as they can be delivered by email or SMS!
Make it Easy to ‘Save for Later’
Lots of people shop from work, but we’re often reluctant to actually pull out the credit card while sitting at the desk. Make sure that your visitors have a way to save their shopping cart items so that they can complete their purchase on their computer at home.
Approximately one third of consumers spend 2 or more days researching before buying.Make sure they can easily get back to the products they were interested in on your site.
Is your website ready for Christmas? If you would like more tips on taking advantage of Christmas with your website, call Jayne on 01235 424716 or visit the Ecommerce Adviser website.
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