How to Prepare Your Online Business for the Christmas Shopping Season

The run up to Christmas is a busy time for everyone, and your e-commerce business is no exception. If you want to make the most of the festive shopping season, you need to start preparing now. Here are a few tips to get you started.

1. Make sure your website can handle the increased traffic

As the holidays approach, you can expect a significant increase in traffic to your website. This increase of traffic will likely come from ads as you promote your sale across each platform, many businesses choose to increase their ad spend during the holiday season to really boost traffic and sales. This is great news for your business, but it can also be a bit of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, more traffic means more potential customers and more sales. On the other hand, if your website isn’t prepared for the influx of visitors, you could end up causing more harm than good. Your site could crash, or pages could load slowly, leading potential customers to go to a competitor’s site instead. 

Having a slow site can negatively affect search engine rankings, user experience, and overall traffic. As a result, people won’t want to return. When websites load quickly, conversion rates are significantly higher.

To avoid this nightmare scenario, make sure your website is ready for an influx of traffic by testing it out ahead of time. Whilst it may be hard to predict, or estimate, you may also want to speak with your hosting provider who can offer server scaling or increased resources and memory to cope with any strain.

2. Get your stock in order 

Another thing you’ll need to do as you prepare for the holiday season is to take a look at your stock and make sure you have enough products on hand to meet the expected demand. This is especially important if you sell products that are popular gifts. No one wants to visit an online store only to find that the item they’re looking for is out of stock. By ensuring that you have enough inventory on hand, you can avoid losing potential customers and maximise sales during the holidays.

3. Offer special deals and promotions

Everyone loves a good deal, so why not offer some special deals and promotions on your website during the festive season? You could offer discounts on certain products, free shipping for orders over a certain amount, or even bundle some of your products together and offer them at a discounted price. Whatever deals and promotions you decide to offer, make sure they’re prominently featured on your website so that potential customers don’t miss them. And don’t forget to include any relevant details, such as expiration dates, codes or minimum purchase amounts.

You should also ensure you’re promoting these deals across your social platforms through organic posts and paid ads to maximise your sales. A retargeting ad with a unique discount code may just complete a sale someone has been considering for a while. Another great way to advertise a sale is through email marketing so be sure to look into setting this up if you don’t do it already. 

4. Spruce up your website with some festive cheer

Make sure your website has a festive look and feel that accurately reflects the holiday season. This will put visitors in a Christmas-shopping mindset and make them more likely to make a purchase. Add some holiday images, banners, and even change up the colour scheme on your site if necessary. 

Have you considered creating a specific Christmas landing page? When it comes to big events, it’s better to direct customers to a specific optimised page rather than the homepage. We have a blog post all about best practices when it comes to Christmas landing pages which you can read here. 

If you have social media accounts, spread the Christmas cheer across those too!

5. Get started on your Christmas marketing campaign early 

Don’t wait until the last minute to start marketing specials, discounts, or deals for the holidays—you want to give people time to see and act on them. If possible, plan and launch your marketing campaign at least a month or two before Christmas. This will help ensure that you’re able to maximise sales during this crucial time of year.

The Christmas shopping season is a vital time for all businesses, but especially small businesses that rely on every sale. If you’re running an online e-commerce business, there are some key things you can do to prepare for the influx of shoppers, including making sure your website can handle sudden waves of heightened traffic, reviewing your product inventory, creating special offers and discounts, sprucing up your website with some festive cheer, and getting started on marketing campaigns early. By taking these steps now, you can ensure that your business is ready to take advantage of the Christmas rush!

Need a little help with your business’s marketing? Here at Bronco we are e-commerce specialists and can help your company thrive. Contact us today to learn more.