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10 Tips to Prepare Your eCommerce Store for Cyber Monday

October 20, 2016

Last year, shoppers spent $70 billion online during the holiday season. The biggest online shopping days in the U.S. are between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The number one day for eCommerce stores is Cyber Monday, which is always the first Monday after Thanksgiving. Is your online store ready?

 

1) Prepare Your Inventory

The holiday season can account for up to 30% of a retailer’s annual sales. It would be a shame to run out of stock halfway through the biggest shopping day of the year. Take a look at your company’s historical data to get a feel for how much inventory you’ll need on hand to meet an influx of demand. Don’t forget to take into account any special deals and promotions you’re advertising. No one likes to hear about an incredible deal, only to find out the item they’ve been eyeing is gone!

2) Speak the Language of Your Customers

82% of shoppers want to see promotional offers tailored to their unique interests. Personalize your emails with your customer’s name or even suggested products based on their shopping habits. Don’t worry about what Amazon is doing for Cyber Monday. What are your customers thinking about this holiday season? What do they need, what do they want, and how do they talk about those things? For example, if you’re targeting Millennials, market in a way that’s clever, quirky, and fun. If you’re selling luxury items, keep things classy and chic.

3) Prepare for Increased Traffic

No website is above the possibility of crashing from a sudden influx of traffic. Just last year, Target crashed on Cyber Monday when an unprecedented number of shoppers flocked to the site to take advantage of a 15% off sitewide sale. Make sure your online store will be able to handle higher traffic volume because if your customers experience delays, they’re likely to take their business elsewhere. Use a reliable host or eCommerce platform for your store. If you have any doubts, contact your hosting provider to ensure your site is prepared.

4) Make Checkout Quick and Easy

Your checkout process should be as simple as possible. If shoppers get bogged down in the checkout process, they’re likely to bail. Only ask them to give you information you absolutely need, and don’t make them enter their billing and shipping address twice if it’s the same address. Give shoppers the option to check out as guests, and don’t surprise them with any last minute fees. For more tips on optimizing your checkout process, download our free whitepaper, ”15 Checkout Flaws to Avoid.”

5) Spread the Word

There’s no use having a Cyber Monday sale if nobody knows about it. Use advertising and social media to get the word out. Use a combination of strategies like Tweets, holiday Facebook posts, email newsletters, and popup ads on your site to raise awareness about your store and your special deals so that by the time Cyber Monday rolls around, shoppers will be chomping at the bit to make their purchases!

 

6) Prepare Your Team

It’s one thing to make sure your server can handle increased traffic on your site, but can your employees? Make sure you’ve got enough hands on deck to meet an inevitable increase in demand for customer service. Familiarize your team with any special holiday promotions you’re offering so they can anticipate the needs of your holiday shoppers. Also, make sure your customer service contact details are easy to find on your site to prevent customers from getting frustrated and leaving.

7) Optimize for Mobile Devices

25 million shoppers did their Cyber Monday shopping via mobile devices in 2014. This means if your site isn’t mobile optimized, your business will suffer. Ensuring your site is simple to navigate and each page has a speedy loading time under 3 seconds is essential, especially on Cyber Monday. If customers get frustrated trying to navigate your site on a mobile device, they’re likely to abandon the site and look elsewhere.

 

8) Offer Time Sensitive Incentives

Like Black Friday, Cyber Monday is all about creating  excitement by offering incredible deals for a limited time only. Try offering a sitewide discount or free shipping for one day only. Or, offer a huge discount on a few select items in the hopes that customers will add other, regularly priced items to their cart too. For more ideas, check out our list of 5 irresistible incentives here.

9) Grow Your Email List

Cyber Monday is just the beginning of the holiday season! An increase in traffic on your site is the perfect opportunity to capture customer email addresses for your newsletter. Be sure to add an opt-in popup to your site that shoppers can’t miss. Make it enticing by offering a Cyber Monday coupon that can only be claimed after they’ve entered their email address. After Cyber Monday, use the email addresses you’ve collected to continue your marketing efforts.

10) Prepare Your Cart Recovery Campaign

Unfortunately, you’re not the only one thinking about Cyber Monday. Your competitors are too. Customers are sure to shop around in search of the best Cyber Monday deals. If a customer abandons your site without completing their purchase, don’t let them get away! Make sure you have a cart recovery email campaign in place to entice them back onto your site to check out. Hire our design team to update your email campaign for the holidays, and offer an unbeatable deal customers can’t refuse!

Contact our design team now to get a quote on a custom holiday email campaign.