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Home page 6 tips to boost your Christmas e-commerce sales

Published on 09/12/2022

6 tips to boost your Christmas e-commerce sales

The magic of Christmas is just around the corner! The festive season is a busy time for e-retailers. You will need to anticipate everything from traffic peaks on your website to the customer experience and payment and delivery options. How? Follow our six key tips to boost your Christmas e-commerce sales.  

6 tips to boost your Christmas e-commerce sales 6 tips to boost your Christmas e-commerce sales

1. Anticipate traffic peaks on your website

In the busy run-up to Christmas, your website must be prepared for traffic peaks. Your goal is to make sure there are no crashes or slowdowns, which will have a negative impact on the user experience and therefore on your sales. Your website must always maintain a high level of performance, meaning that is has to load quickly and smoothly. To ensure that this is the case, carry out tests on a dedicated environment beforehand, and don't forget to call in high-tech service providers to find out whether your equipment can handle traffic peaks. Prepare for the future by planning your actions according to each season to maximise your chances of being accessible to your visitors. Put together a calendar of the main events likely to generate traffic on your website so that you can better manage the flow of visitors.

 

Running out of stock can also quickly turn into disappointment or frustration for your customers, thus causing loss of turnover. How can you avoid it? Rely on sales from previous years to ensure that you have a large and sufficient inventory. We also recommend that you work closely with your suppliers. Ask them two or three months in advance whether they are able to deliver large quantities of your current best sellers. Prepare as much as possible to ensure that every product is a potential gift under your customers' Christmas trees. 

 

2. Create a smooth customer experience to boost your e-commerce sales before Christmas

Personalised user experience

Personalisation is always the key to success! By analysing your customers' needs and using your audience measurement tool or CRM1 to personalise your offer, you can improve your conversion rate and reduce the abandonment rate. A successful customer experience means greater loyalty.

 

To help you study behavioural, demographic or geographical data, use artificial intelligence tools such as Hotjar, Inspectlet, Crazy Egg, etc. By using these tools, you maximise your chances of creating a unique shopping experience that will boost your Christmas sales. 

 

Mobile friendly UX2

Today, an increasing number of French people are shopping on their smartphones. A mobile-friendly website is crucial to capturing the attention of shoppers looking for the perfect gift. You therefore have to optimise your website’s mobile UX by focusing on ergonomics and fluidity. Online shoppers shouldn’t notice that there is a surge in traffic on your e-commerce website in the run-up to Christmas.

 

A mobile-friendly UX builds customer loyalty by giving them greater confidence in your website and your brand. Proud to have an e-commerce website offering a mobile-friendly experience, FLOA’s expertise in UX makes it easier for our customers to browse through the final stages of their shopping journey. The result? The shopping experience is optimised and your conversion rate increases3 Many major e-retailers, such as Sport 2000, Cdiscount, etc., have already put their trust in us and are seeing their conversion rates improve! So this festive season, make sure that the ergonomics of your site are ready and optimised to welcome your future customers. 

 

Customise your offers to your products

To boost your sales before Christmas, remember to promote offers that align with your marketing strategy by focusing on the following:
 

  • Bundling: offer your customers discounts for multiple purchases to encourage them to consume more;
     
  • Special seasonal items: identify your flagship products sold specifically during the Christmas period so that you can customise your sales offer accordingly;
     
  • Star products: highlight a one-off promotion coupled with your current bestsellers.

 

Position your offers in the right place on your website, for example by creating a specific gift category. This festive season, every item should be seen as a potential gift for your customers.

 

Product comparison

Product comparisons highlight items that interest your visitors, so they can assess them more easily. Your customers can choose whatever items best match their criteria and add them directly to their baskets. Make sure your comparisons are clear and informative to help your customers make the best choice. Consider adding a button to your comparison table so that your customers can add the product they have chosen directly to their shopping baskets or favourites lists.

 

Abandoned baskets

Do your customers fill their shopping baskets but do not complete their orders? To encourage them to proceed with their purchases, you can send them push notifications directly to their computers or smartphones or personalised marketing e-mails. You can also offer them discounts.

 

Remember that every completed order can become a precious gift for your customers or their families. 

 

3 - Offer a range of payment solutions to boost conversions

At the final stage of the customer journey, offering diverse payment solutions can significantly enhance your conversion rates. This Christmas season, it's crucial to improve the buying process for your customers. Enriching your content with information about payment solutions can reassure your customers and encourage them to complete their purchases.

 

Payment page

First step: optimise your payment page to avoid losing visitors. Have a single payment page, because the more pages you have, the greater the risk of visitors becoming discouraged and abandoning their shopping baskets. What's more, don't force your prospects to register on your website when they pay. The simpler and smoother the payment stage, the greater the chances of basket conversion.

 

Different options for paying for your basket: the Floa offer

Next, diversify the payment methods available on your e-commerce website. Offer payment by credit card, including Visa, Mastercard and American Express or Floa's Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) solution. Offering different payment solutions to your customers can considerably boost your online sales over the Christmas period. By offering a wide variety of options, you can encourage shoppers to  

 

  • Buy items on special offer, with the option of paying later;
     
  • Add more items to their basket;

 

For you, the online merchant, offering payments in instalments means

 

  • Increasing your turnover;
     
  • Attracting and retaining new customers;
     
  • Improving the user experience;
     
  • Lowering risks, as the service provider is liable for missed payments.

 

Our offer is widely praised by our customers. We offer a complete solution for purchases up to €6,000, as well as recognised support for our partners and customers. We were voted Customer Service of the Year 20244, and our UX expertise has won numerous awards. 

 

4 - Offer several delivery options

Different delivery methods

Offer a variety of delivery methods for every taste and budget. Every delivery option you offer can transform your customers' shopping experience. The choice is yours: home delivery, relay point delivery, express or priority delivery, click and collect and scheduled delivery. To reduce your transportation costs, opt for multi-destination deliveries. Lastly, select several carriers to offer your customers a varied choice while expanding the price range.

 

Free delivery

Don't forget consumers who are "allergic" to delivery charges. To keep them happy, offer them free delivery on purchases over a certain amount. This will encourage them to add more items to their shopping baskets and help you increase your sales. To help your customers obtain free delivery, offer them the option of paying in several instalments. Free delivery can be seen as an extra gift for your customers.

 

Returns

Customers will request a return or exchange on items that are damaged or the wrong size. Be proactive and include free return labels with your package. A simplified returns policy remains a key criterion for online shoppers. Well-managed returns build trust in your brand and, above all, remember that returns improve the customer experience and increase customer loyalty. Also make sure you insure your packages against loss or theft.

 

Digital logistic solution

Make sure you stay on top of your logistics at Christmas. In particular, use an automated digital stock management solution in order to

 

  • optimise your flows, particularly pick-ups;
     
  •  be able to fully track customer and supplier orders;
     
  •  give your customers full visibility on their orders.

 

Remember to think about your packaging, which is a marker of your brand's visual identity. The packaging must reflect your image, be original and meet consumer expectations. Careful, personalised and eco-friendly packaging can make all the difference, turning every purchase into an unforgettable gift. 

 

5 - Implement a marketing and promotional strategy

Multi-channel strategy

To implement an effective multi-channel strategy, explore a range of digital points of sale (marketplaces, Instagram) and respond to posts on your social networks linking back to your website. This will raise your profile.

 

Plan your marketing campaigns

Use your audience measurement tool and your CRM to better understand the needs of your consumers and target their expectations more effectively. By personalising the offers in your e-mail campaigns, you'll be able to send the right offer to the right person at the right time. Tailor your promotions to customer profiles to attract interest in your product.

 

Omnichannel communication and acquisition strategy

Use paid advertising to complement your e-mailing strategy. You can create advertisements on relevant media using sponsored banners, inserts on social networks, etc. The aim is to promote a variety of content across all digital channels to appeal to your readers and encourage them to buy. For example, you can insert a paid Facebook ad linking to your company's Facebook page or directly to your website. Remember, a good omnichannel strategy can turn every interaction into a sales opportunity.

 

Pop-up banners

The festive season is a great time to use pop-up advertising. Dress up your site in Christmas colours and use pop-up banners rather than traditional pop-ups to highlight your promotions. The pop-up banner is more discreet than the classic banner, while remaining clearly visible at different stages of the user journey.

 

The FLOA payment solution

Thanks to the Floa Buy Now Pay Later solution, your customers can make purchases and pay for them in instalments5.  You can always advertise this solution in the preview of the item for sale. This service, offered as part of our Floa solution, enables you to considerably increase your conversion rate and therefore your sales. It's also a great way to boost your sales over the Christmas period, as your customers will see this flexibility as a gift.

 

Customer engagement

To get your customers involved and reach as many people as possible, launch a competition with a voucher or product to be won. All you have to do is prepare a post and ask your community to share it on social media. This will also enable you to strengthen your online presence.

 

Loyalty programme

This feature, designed to reward your loyal customers, greatly enhances the user experience. Think about it! Start by giving your loyalty programme a name, assigning a point value, determining the number of loyalty points to award and then creating a page presenting your new loyalty programme on your website. You can offer loyalty points to your customers on various occasions:

 

  • when they create their customer account;
     
  • when they refer a friend;
     
  • for their birthdays, etc.

 

A well-designed loyalty programme can often trigger new orders. 

 

6 - Set up your customer service

It's essential to make your customer service easily accessible. We strongly advise you to adopt a multi-channel approach: via chat, e-mail and telephone. In this way, you can respond using the communication method preferred by your customer. The team in charge of the customer portal needs to be reactive in order to respond to consumer queries and deal with any problems encountered during the purchasing process. This will reassure your customers and help them complete their purchases. A quickly resolved question or problem increases consumer loyalty. To decrease the burden on your teams, you must create or update your FAQ to provide a rapid response to your customers' recurring questions. 

Getting your customers' opinions and ratings after they've made a purchase will help you build up your e-reputation. Positive reviews influence your credibility, reputation and visibility on the Internet. Ask your customers to review and comment: positive comments considerably increase your conversion rate, as they create a relationship of trust between consumers. Other people's opinions make it easier to decide whether or not to buy a product. Negative reviews will enable you to implement action plans to remedy any dissatisfaction. You have everything to gain!

 

As you can see, the Christmas season needs to be prepared in advance if you want to boost your online sales. The customer experience must remain your top priority. Of our six tips, the easiest one to implement is the payment in instalments. By paying in several instalments, your customers will have more peace of mind during this period of high spending, and their average shopping baskets will be higher. In addition to the payment in instalments solution, our UX expertise will help you increase the conversion rate of shopping baskets while ensuring a fluid and optimal customer experience. Contact our FLOA Pay team now for a free demo! 

 

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