Holiday Ecommerce Business Tips

While Black Friday and Cyber Monday has come and gone, the holiday season has just started. Here are some tips to make sure your E-commerce website makes the most of the holiday season.

Tip 1: Check for Errors

The last thing you want to do is discover in January that something was broken on your website and it prevented people from completing online orders! Don’t laugh, I’ve seen it before. It’s important to review your website for errors  at all times, but especially during high traffic periods. You might be surprised at what you find. Make sure the customers can get through the ordering process and that emailed receipts are being delivered.

Thorough testing is important. One idea is to make a X / Y grid. Along the side, list all payment /checkout methods and along the bottom list all browsers. The idea is to test all payment / checkout methods against all browsers. You could create a similar grid for testing special price tiers, give-a-ways or other such promotions. During your testing try different things- don’t always click the same checkout button (assuming you have more than one) and don’t use the same product during all of your testing. Lastly, it would be wise to actually test using a live credit card to make sure payments are fully accepted by the payment gateway (be sure to void these transactions).

Tip 2: Check for Omissions

You may be surprised to find that your website doesn’t explain your shipping terms or return policy. These are key things when someone chooses to order during December. If they can’t get their product on time or are confused by your return policy they’ll simply move on to the next store. They won’t even bother asking you. So, make sure that you explain exactly the who, what, when, where and how. consider things like your international orders policy. I have seen websites just stop getting orders around the 10th of the month because they fear they won’t get the product in time. I have also seen effective websites make more money  by taking orders all the way up to December 20th for delivery by Christmas. Be clear and concise. Customer confidence is key.

Tip 3:  Check with your Vendors

It’s likely that your vendors will also be busy during the holiday season so it’s important that your website is well stocked and ready to go. If you dropship, will your vendor be able to get the orders out in time? Are all products and options represented actually available? The worst thing you could be dealing with is wasting your time refunding orders because you can’t fill them. Remove product options that you can’t get or traditionally have to backorder. Otherwise, you may blow a whole order because one piece has to be backordered. Make sure that inventory is continuously updated on your website and in clear view of your customers.

Tip 4: Throw Out a Little Holiday Cheer

Posting some holiday graphics and promotional offers on your website is a great way to show customers that you are on it. They’ll notice your site is current and relevant, and not just a stale website sitting in cyberspace. It will also get people in the buying mood. Show customers how your product will make a great gift. Let them know if you include gift wrapping or gift cards. Essentially, you need to create a buying atmosphere to get customers excited to purchase. Consider giving away a small free gift in exchange for someone placing and order in December.

Tip 5: Post-Christmas

Christmas day isn’t the last word in the holiday season. Many buyers will be looking for post-Christmas discounts.  You also have New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day and Easter just around the corner.  I would recommend that you have a newsletter sign-up form and let customer’s know that you’ll be sending special promotional offers after Christmas. If you have invested in some advertising this is a great way to double or triple your returns. If pre-Christmas sales were not as good as expected you might find substantial redemption re-marketing to customers and visitors who never purchased before.

Tip 6: Watch for Fraud Orders

For many ecommerce website owners, the holiday season is their busiest and most profitable time. You don’t want to tarnish that having to deal with fraud orders. Sometimes it’s so hard to resist a big juicy sale paid and ready to go. I know, it’s happened to me before. There it is, you want the money, but something is nagging you about the order. It’s busy so you decide to ship it anyway- bad. I’ve seen this so many times before both in my experience as a web host but also as a credit card processing representative. Keep in mind that by accepting credit cards you are responsible (financially and possibly otherwise) for everything that happens on your merchant account. Too many chargebacks could not only ruin your company financially, but you might also loose your merchant account (and the ability to get one later for a different business) permanently.

Today there are many technology options to help prevent fraud orders, but the final word usually comes down to common sense. One of the best ways is to create what I call a “loss-limit” for domestic and international orders. Don’t be mistaken thinking that fraud only comes internationally. Some of my biggest losses have been from orders right here in San Diego (and no I never collected). A loss-limit is an INTERNAL policy that says you will NOT accept orders over a certain amount (the amount you are willing to loose) for orders domestically and internationally. YOU have to determine what those amounts will be. For instance, domestically you say to yourself I can afford to loose a $500.00 sale and internationally a $100.00 sale. Thus, you will not accept orders over those amounts no matter what. Some things to keep mind mind when setting a loss-limit: 1) Chargebacks can happen up to 6 months (1 year in some cases) later. 2) What would happen if you got 10 chargebacks? 100? Can you afford to dish out $5,000.00 6 months from now? and 3) You are on the hook for that money until the chargeback period is over.

Tip 7: Advertise!

Just because it’s holiday season doesn’t mean you should layoff the advertising. Now is the time you will get the best results from your advertising. Unless you are dug in well with organic search results customers won’t just come knocking at your door. Get your website out there and seen by visitors. Remember Tip 5 above- sometimes re-marketing to your customers is just as, or more profitable than, during the holiday season. Take it from many successful website owners it’s important to re-market to your customers and visitors. It’s also important to watch how much you are spending on advertising, especially for Pay-Per-Click programs that offer a low rate to get involved but end-up costing a lot. That said, don’t be shy to throw out some cash to try to help your business.

The holiday season is an excellent time for ecommerce websites and is likely a big part of your overall bottom line. Effectively applying these tips will help ensure a profitable holiday season. Feel free to contact me This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (Att: Joe Rebis) or post a comment for more tips or clarification. Keep in mind that these tips apply equally well to  the rest of the year too!