Preparing Retailers for the Holiday Crowds

Before the holiday crowds hit, your IT department should have performed tests on your website to ensure that the consumer shopping experience is going to be easy, smooth, and pleasant. Slow load times and clunky checkouts only mean one thing – Lost Sales. So do your company profits a favor and test exhaustively before the holidays so that you can get your share of the 42 Billion, yes Billion dollars of holiday purchases!

Similarly, your IT department should have the mobile web functionality working perfectly by now. Mobile shopping is increasing year after year. Consumers are busy and they expect to be able to go through the full cycle of searching for products, saving favorites, and making the purchase all on their mobile phones or devices. If your site is mobile ready, then you are one step ahead of most of your completion. According to comScore, the mobile market is worth around $25 billion! This holiday season, the mobile market is nothing to sneeze at.

Holiday Advertising Campaigns are essential for online marketers. Google Adwords has rolled out new Enhanced Campaigns this year, “allowing an advertiser to use a single campaign to reach people with the optimal ad based on user data like location, time of day, and device type, “ according to Website Magazine.  If your business is not currently taking advantage of Adwords, check your mailbox. Chances are, there is a little Gift Card from Google offering your $100 of free Adwords. Tis the season for Holiday Campaigns!

You don’t have to run a brick and mortar store in order to run holiday promotions for your prospective customers. Cyber shoppers search for deals and promotions every bit as actively as their foot traffic counterparts. Deal sites such as Groupon and Living Social can give you great brand exposure. While offering coupons on sites such as RetailMeNot.com can boost your holiday sales and bring in return shoppers.

However you choose to prepare for this year’s holiday shopping season, these few tips can save you headaches and increase your profits. The economy is global and Internet shoppers represent a billion dollar opportunity for retailers. Be sure that when the crowds hit, you are ready!