There are slow months in any business including online shopping. Summer is the time when most people spend time outdoors, instead of online, so it goes without saying that summer is a lean period when it comes to online shopping sales. Compared to December – which is the peak month in online shopping – sales go down by as much as 30 percent during the summer months.
So, what should you do then to bring up your sales figures during slow online shopping months? Here are some suggestions:
- Get in the season – Change your website’s look to match the season. If it’s Christmas, make it Christmassy. When it’s summer, make it look like summer. Showcase a product that’s apt for the season and make promotions that are season-appropriate. Most consumers are visual. If what they see appeals to their eyes, they will be more encouraged to buy.
- Update images and descriptions – Use this period to update product images and descriptions. An updated product page is fresh to the eyes of prospective clients. Make sure that your product page has complete information that will push clients into buying. Updating your content is likewise beneficial when in comes to SEO. Research what keywords your target customers are searching for, then act on it.
- Competition – Having a contest is a sure way to increase traffic to your site. Offer big ticket items to your visitors if they enter their email address. This item could be one of your products or something that your target customers are interested in.
- Sale – The lean season is a good time to have sales – flash sales, back-to-school sales and clearance sales. Make this practice a year-round conversion rate optimization strategy.
- Trim off excess inventory – Clearing out excess inventory through clearance sales is a good strategy. Customers are always on the look out for deals. When you clear out excess inventory, you make up space for products that are more popular.
- Product collections – Fix your online store by creating product collections. This will give the online shoppers an easier time whilst browsing through your products. You can classify your collections based on seasons or similarity for items. Draw attention to your collections via emails and call-to-action pop-ups that will drive traffic to these particular pages. The goal of this strategy is to make it easiers for shoppers to shop.
- Loyalty program – A loyalty program is effective when it comes to driving sales from existing customers. This lessens the pressure to get new customers during leans months.
- New content – Content marketing adds value to the shopping experience by providing more information to shoppers which will help them in the buying decision. New content may be newsletters, how it works videos, design and style guides, recipe books and buying guides.
- Email capture – Email marketing is of utmost importance in E-Commerce. Almost 90% of your website’s new visitors will leave without converting. Getting your visitor’s email address is important when it comes to traffic conversion. It is more effective in converting sales than any other traffic source and it is still the most effective form of communicating with leads.
- Cart abandonment – Cart abandonment is a big hindrance to sales conversion. According to recent findings, 68 percent of shopping carts are abandoned. Reducing cart abandonment will increase monthly income. Why do customers abandon their carts? The main reasons are unexpected costs (shipping, service fees, etc.), window shopping and price shopping. Customers nowadays always look for the best deal before making a purchase, meaning you have to meet their needs and give them a reason to buy from you. Discounts, free shipping and other promotions will entice them to buy. Fight cart abandonment by working on your cart and checkout pages. Engage abandoners with an exit pop-up that has an offer that will make them proceed with the purchase.
