In early 2021, global eCommerce sales ballooned to $US 876 billion - that’s a 38% increase year-over-year! The momentum of last year’s eCommerce boom has continued, so retailers should prepare for a peak in online orders this holiday season.
A peak season is that frantic time when retailers are faced with an influx of new shoppers and sales. It is also the most important time for your business…no pressure!
Now masters of online shopping, consumers have high standards and high hopes. According to 77% of poor reviews aren’t about products but rather the post-purchase experience. Retailers and business owners must holiday-proof their store to uphold customer expectations. After all, nothing dampens the festive mood quite like shipping delays or sold-out wishlists!
You’re probably used to unpredictable times by now… but is your business? Scroll through for our best tips and tricks for prepping (and surviving) the holiday season.
We know there’s a ton to do over the holiday season. Simplify all the work by being super prepared. Here are a bunch of great tips to get you well on your way to ready.
The holidays are a great time to offer up limited deals on shipping to drive shoppers to purchase.
They have the opportunity to buy from a lot of retailers, so you want to make sure that your store is the one they choose. Be transparent and don't surprise them with costs when they get to checkout.
Here are some options to woo them:
It's no secret supply chain disruptions have put small businesses in a tough spot over the last year. As we head into the holidays, the best way to minimize the chance of disruption is to encourage shoppers to get started early. Most people have come to understand the impacts of COVID on shipping timeframes, but there's very few things you can say to a customer who's kids wake up to empty stockings (oh, that's sad!)
Try out some special incentives to get people shopping early, and communicate your shopping cut-off dates early and often. (All your shipping carriers, including Sendle, will be releasing their cut off dates in the coming weeks, so be on the lookout so you can plan accordingly).
To truly be ready for the holidays, you need to have your warehouse fully prepared for the action to come.
Now, warehouse is a big word. It doesn’t have to be some big echoey space with giant shelving units and a forklift. It’s wherever you keep your stock. This may be your stockroom, the basement, or that backroom in your apartment.
However it looks, you want to make your packing process as easy as possible. As the orders multiply, the flaws in your system will become more and more pronounced.
Here are a few inventory management tips to help you stay on top of things:
Once you’ve got your inventory situation well taken care of, you can move your focus to the most effective pick and pack processes for your particular business. Read about some of the methods for picking to see what will work best for you.
Finally, you are ready to pack up your fine products for shipping. Whether you are shipping apparel or fine art, you’ll want to pack things up nice and neat (we’ve got a great guide to help you through it). Your customer’s magical unboxing experience is at stake if you just leave it to chance.
Then you ship it out! Just remember to get your shipping policy in order so your customers know what to expect.
Taking returns is not a particularly romantic part of the retail story, but it is important nonetheless.
Shoppers usually expect retailers to take back whatever ware they had second thoughts about.
And that’s OK! But, you can always do your best to prevent returns by giving the customer as much information as possible (accurate product descriptions, sizing guides, great photos, customer reviews, etc).
Where you can’t prevent returns, you want to make them easy for the customer. Respect the customer experience and you will retain great customers. We even wrote about how a good return policy can help grow your small business.
And, of course, you aren’t required to take returns if you don’t want to. Just make it known in your shipping policy. Your customers will understand (if they know it beforehand).
It’s no secret that plants and animals are big fans of sustainability. But, more and more, consumers are too.
In fact, they are willing to pay a premium for products that are verifiably environmentally responsible. Check out our infographic that breaks down this amazing consumer trend.
Given the direction of consumer sentiment, going green is not only the right thing to do, it also pays to do it. While we can all make our individual sacrifices to shrink our carbon footprint, small businesses can have an even greater impact.
From the simplest actions, like recycling and shipping with Sendle, to the more complex changes, like moving to renewable energy, there are lots of ways to green your business.
And sustainable packaging can go a long way toward lowering your impact. Compostable packaging is easily your best bet for reducing waste and shrinking your carbon footprint. Luckily, Sendle has mailers and satchels that become worm food at the end of their time.
Just make sure you avoid some common mistakes on your journey toward sustainability.
Before the holidays kick into gear, take a look at your online presence with fresh eyes. Now's the time to polish up your site so it's ready to dazzle.
Your About Us (or Meet the Team or Who We Are) page is that personal point of connection with your customers. Don’t treat it like an afterthought! We’ve got a guide on how to make a powerful About Us page and another great post with examples to give you some ideas.
Another page that often gets overlooked—wrongly—is the Thank You page. Having found themselves on your Thank You page, these are highly valuable customers. The intent is there and you want to use that intent to gather information, build brand awareness, and ultimately, increase sales.
Your product pages are obviously important. They are a vital juncture where shoppers either turn into customers or turn to find the door. The way to keep more of them moving toward checkout is to provide descriptions that leave no questions and photos that capture your products to their fullest.
If you’re busy preparing for a holiday season store launch (that’s brave of you!), amp up anticipation by creating a Coming Soon page.
Finally, with all your pages in order and your store ready for action, you’ll want to use social media to promote your holiday sales offers. There are plenty of channels you’ll want to take advantage of, from Facebook and Twitter to Instagram and Pinterest.
Think of your website as an experience. The better the experience, the more likely shoppers are to buy.
What your shoppers most want is an easy and intuitive path to purchase. So, to boost your eCommerce sales you need to pay attention to how they navigate, what excites them, and what drives them away.
Understanding how they interact with your site and responding to it can be powerful, both for them (they get what they want) and for you (they buy more of your great stuff). It’s called eCommerce personalization and when you do just enough of it, your customers will love you.
At the end of their journey, with their cart filled to the brim, they can still just leave. To reduce cart abandonment, you’ve got to get rid of surprises, make the process friction-free, and keep them informed.
To learn more about boosting sales and reducing cart abandonment, check out our guide.
You know what they say, money never sleeps.
As you're hustling to make some serious bank over the holiday season, so are your manufacturers, suppliers and distributors. Increased demand often leads to rising costs and each holiday season, the shipping surcharge cycle starts like clockwork. Remember, behind every step of the supply chain is a person needing to make a profit - just like you!
Sendle’s mission is to take care of the little guys. That’s why this year, we're giving small businesses a break as we head into their most critical 'make or break' time of year.
In Australia, we've reduced our rates by up to 30%, from now all the way through the holidays.
For Sendlers in the US, where peak season surcharges are all the rage, we've committed to remain completely surcharge free, and free of all other fees for that matter, now through the end of the year.
Now business owners can ship with confidence that there will be no hidden fees or pesky surprises, and they'll be getting the very best rates all season long. Definitely puts the ‘Merry’ back in Merry Christmas, right?
With so much to do and so little time, revamping your customer experience may feel like less of a priority than sales-driving activities.
But for many micro and small businesses, the holiday season may be the first (and maybe last!) time a customer shops with you. This is your one chance to pull out all the stops to make them shop...and shop again.
When you deliver top-notch customer experience, you’ll increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. This will ultimately attract new customers (never underestimate the power of word of mouth!) and generate more sales. When it comes to eCommerce, creating a great customer experience is not as easy as offering a warm in-store greeting and a groovy store soundtrack.
Here are a few ways to double down (digitally) on your customer experience:
Once your customer experience strategy has gone from drab to fab, you are better placed to collect glowing feedback and testimonials that will drive sales. Learn more about the marketing magic of customer testimonials here.
As we approach peak holiday shipping season, you'd be hard pressed to find a retailer or shopper not thinking about shipping delays. Will I be able to get my customers' orders to them on time?
While we in the shipping industry have worked incredibly hard this year to get set up for peak season success, it's important that as a business owner, you have a plan in place to communicate the status of every shipment, and be ready to communicate proactively should challenges arise.
Supply chain slowdown and unexpected demand can prove challenging to even the most prepared of business owners. No matter how stressed out you may be, your customer is still expecting efficient and clear communication before, during and after their purchase.
If in doubt, over communicate. You may hate deadlines, but when it comes to holiday shopping, your customers will appreciate the heads up.
Broadcast your ship-by dates. Do you have a sneaky suspicion products will sell out? Tell them. Does your speedy shipping track record slow down each Christmas? Tell them.
Create a banner on your site, send out some holiday planning emails, create a countdown timer—whatever you need to do to keep your customer in the know. By communicating early and often, you’ll reduce the fall-out from unhappy customers who missed out.
While you can't control everything that happens along your supply chain and delivery network, you can communicate openly with your customers, and approach the season with empathy and kindness. After all, that's what it's all about.