Read tips on how to prepare for the online sales season, including strategies for selling gift cards.
The end of the year is usually a successful time for online stores. Alongside traditional domestic sales seasons, a set of international sales days has become established, during which customers expect online stores to offer deals. Even if your company did not originally plan these seasons in its marketing calendar, a quality CRM system allows for quick response if needed. There's still time to consider whether participating in one of the year-end sales days fits into your business and whether it could potentially lead to additional sales. Upcoming online shopping sales seasons in November-December include:
- Singles Day (11.11.)
- Black Friday (24.11.)
- Cyber Monday (27.11.)
- Christmas sales
- New Year's discount sales
For example, Black Friday is now often a campaign that lasts the entire week. Many companies also make a conscious choice to avoid, for instance, the Black Friday campaign due to its partially questionable (consumption fest) reputation and plan their own campaigns instead.
Pay Attention to the Basics of Your Online Store
Whether or not your company participates in seasonal online sales, it's worth reviewing your online store in general and paying attention to a few basics regardless of the time. Your online store should provide the customer with all the information they need to support their purchase decision. For example, polished product presentations and realistic, compelling images are an essential part of the service.
Product Presentations
Descriptions of products and services should be as illustrative as possible and convey the benefits to the customer.
Consider the tone of voice you want to use to address your customers.
Remember to clarify your text with paragraph breaks and use subheadings if necessary.
The more accurately you can describe a product's details and features to the customer, the more likely the sale will go through.
Product Card Images
Product images should be high quality and showcase the features of the products in a diverse manner.
It would be good to have several images of each product available in the online store.
Clear Instructions and Sufficient Information
Customers want information to support their purchase decisions.
In addition to the product information itself, it's essential to clearly and visibly convey, for example, delivery duration.
Important information also includes instructions for returning and exchanging purchases, as well as customer service contact details. So, don't hide these.
Inventory Levels
Even if, for example, the WisePlatform system can automatically ensure that the product stocks of the online store and inventory management correspond to each other, it's still the company's responsibility to order products to its warehouse. It's good to check the inventory status before online store campaigns, so it doesn't happen that a product is sold during a campaign that cannot be delivered to the customer.
Jose Laaksonen
Manager / WiseEvent
Jose Laaksonen is a seasoned professional in event production with a rich background in organizing exhibitions and producing concerts. He has managed a wide array of events, from traditional horse races to various cultural events including exhibitions and concerts. At WiseNetwork, he continues to leverage his extensive experience to enhance event management solutions.