Christmas is one of the most crucial periods in any business’s calendar.
According to a recent study, around 44% of small UK businesses expect to generate over a quarter of their revenue for the year during the festive period alone, so it’s important to ensure your customer conversion tactics are fine-tuned and optimised ahead of time.
A well-prepared customer conversion strategy can be crucial to make the most of your increased traffic, boost sales, and enhance customer satisfaction during what is essentially the most high-stakes shopping season.
So how exactly do you form the right strategy?
To help you out, we’ve listed out X tips for improving your customer conversion rate ahead of Christmas, working to ensure your business is not only attracting visitors but turning them into satisfied customers.
Refine Your ‘Abandoned Cart’ Tactics
In another study undertaken back in January, almost 70% of Shopify shoppers end up abandoning their carts, and this will be the biggest killer for you if you don’t have a backup plan.
It’s important to note, of course, that just because they have an abandoned cart Shopify customers might not be disinterested in continuing the purchase.
All you need is one or a sequence of emails that remind them of what they left behind, and give them another chance to complete their purchase.
What’s more, these emails don’t have to be written manually. There are plenty of ways to automate the process, track customers who have abandoned their cart, and send out automated emails at the optimal time.
Optimise Your Website for Speed
Other than following up on abandoned carts, it’s important to consider exactly why they were abandoned in the first place.
One of the most common reasons is the website itself. Just before Christmas, it’s likely your website is going to be experiencing more heavy traffic, which can have a negative impact on the server if it is not properly optimised to handle the influx.
Slow loading times, broken links, or crashes can easily frustrate potential customers and drive them away before they even get a chance to complete their purchase.
To prevent this, make sure your website is thoroughly tested, optimised for speed, and able to scale with increased traffic during peak periods.
Speed tools like Google PageSpeed Insights can be particularly useful here, particularly for mobile formats where the majority of holiday purchases are made.
Create Limited-Time Offers
When it comes to driving more customers to your website, one of the best ways to do it is by creating a sense of urgency – customers must make their purchase now, otherwise they’ll miss out.
To achieve this, it’s a good idea to create limited-time holiday offers such as ‘early-bird discounts’, bundle deals, or flash sales in the lead-up to the Christmas season.
These can then be highlighted on your homepage and product pages, with countdown timers to emphasise that urgency.
Another key contributor to success, here, will be social media.
Optimise Your Social Media Campaign
According to experts, influencers on social media now have more sway over the Christmas gifts people buy than multi-million-pound advertising campaigns.
With this in mind, if you want to highlight your exclusive limited-time deals – or simply push your products to a bigger audience – it’s worth checking out the influencers who might align with your brand values and have a strong, engaged following within your target market.
Partnering with the right influencers just before Christmas could give your business a significant boost, driving traffic to your site while also building trust with potential customers.
In a recent study, it was discovered that nearly 70% of consumers trust influencer recommendations, while over 90% don’t trust traditional ads.
These stats alone prove how important your social media marketing strategy is going to be leading up to the Christmas season, so it’s important to put the work in now and reach out.
Offer Free Shipping
Last but not least, during the Christmas season, many customers expect free or discounted shopping – especially when shopping for gifts – so it’s a good idea to offer this if you haven’t already.
Once again, looking at those abandoned carts, another reason why your website may have been left behind could be because a competitor is offering something similar, but with the shipping price tag chopped off.
To compete in such a busy season, then, make sure shipping costs and complicated return policies are not barriers to purchase.
Offer free shipping on orders over a certain amount – or for a limited time – and prominently feature this on your website.
By doing so, you’re giving your customers yet another reason to stick around and see their purchase through to the end!
(pic by Unsplash)
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