Tips, Plus Why it’s Never Too Early to Plan for Q4 E-commerce

 

It’s never to early to get ready ASAP for Q4 online sales. Why? A study of e-commerce released in 2012 covering from Nov. 24 to Dec. 24, 2011, discloses some secrets you might need to know.

MerchantTribe.com reports shoppers are buying more items daily in the holiday shopping season, but the size of the typical order soon decreases significantly. That’s the conclusion from studying data from merchants using MerchantTribe shopping cart software – for books, clothing, electronics, software, and sporting goods.

“We were surprised by the significant change in how much is spent per-order over the season,” said Marcus McConnell, founder of MerchantTribe.

“That seemed to defy the conventional wisdom that shoppers are as influenced by price at the beginning of the season than at the end,” Mr. McConnell added. “Perhaps shoppers purchase gifts for more important recipients first. Or maybe they wait for harder to shop for friends and family members and they’ve exhausted their budgets.”

He provides another important conclusion: “Either way, they become more cost conscious the closer to Christmas they shop.”

More details from the study:

• Customers placed more online orders as the season progressed, peaking on December 20.
• Merchants made the highest amount of revenue per day shortly after Thanksgiving.
• Customers spent significantly more per online order at the beginning of the season than at the end.
• Conversion rates rose throughout the season, but dropped off around December 20.

To attract more cost-conscious buyers late in the selling season, Mr. McConnell’s suggests:

1. Bundle your sale items.
2. On minimum orders, offer discount shipping rates.
3. Create late-breaking affordable groups.
4. Because conversion rates increase when shoppers stop comparing prices, but conversions decrease about Dec. 20, consider increasing shipping rates to offset the smaller orders.

For more, Website Magazine published a informative article: Merchant’s Marketing Guide to Christmas in July. It provides excellent reminders about promotions, keywords, e-mail, social media and mobile advertising.

From the Coach’s Corner, here are related resources:

• Timely for Q4 Sales: Latest Trends in E-mail Marketing
• How Small Businesses Can Capitalize on Cyber Strategies for Profit
• 10 Best Marketing Tips for Growth Even on a Tight Budget

“E-commerce businesses, even e-commerce specialists, have yet to realize that the WWW is first and foremost an emotional experience. Few websites reflect this important priority.”

-Grant Fairley

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Author Terry Corbell has written innumerable online business-enhancement articles, and is a business-performance consultant and profit professional. Click here to see his management services. For a complimentary chat about your business situation or to schedule him as a speaker, consultant or author, please contact Terry.