Holiday E-Commerce Tips For Small Businesses

The holiday season is here y'all which means more online shopping is going down. So, if you're a product-based business and/or have an online store (if you don't - I HIGHLY recommend getting on that) you'll want to keep reading. 

There is so much that goes into creating the customer experience online to make a sale. "When customers don't have a good experience (online or in-store), 60% of them never return" - Shopify! Wild!!

Below are my top five tips for e-commerce small businesses this holiday season.

Customer Experience

Make it easy for your customers to shop online and in-store. Having your inventory available in-store and online will have both of your bases covered when it comes to how your customer is going to shop.

For example, if someone sees something in-store but wants to wait and purchase it online — give them that option. For online shopping specifically, you’ll want to make sure it’s a seamless process to find what they’re looking for, click buy, and checkout.

Hot tip: Create shoppable posts via Instagram posts, stories, and reels this holiday season to help increase traffic flow.

The Checkout Process

The easier the checkout process, the more likely you’ll make a sale. For online shopping, the fewer clicks and touch points the better. For in-store shopping, creating a space that’s easy to organize and manage during the holiday season is important. Make sure you're properly staffed for the holidays in-store to manage the expected traffic, and having your go-to e-commerce manager to take charge if any issues arise.

Gift Card Option

Gift cards could be the hot ticket this season! According to GlobeNewswire, 77% of consumers think gift cards are thoughtful especially since the pandemic. Being able to purchase a gift card at your favorite small business to gift a friend is just the cherry on top!

Hot tip: Make sure gift cards are redeemable both in-store and online to create a convenient shopping experience. This means creating e-gift cards too!

Transparency

Being transparent about your products and other elements throughout your website are crucial as a small business. With products, you’ll want to make sure you’re including an in-depth product description that gives the product a purpose and a story. For example, if you’re a women’s boutique and you’re selling the Free People Dolman Jacket dupe, you’ll want to be clear on the fabric, sizing, materials used, etc. to grab your customer’s attention.

Another area where small businesses lack is the transparency of the shipping and return policies. Whether that be not having a policy in place or not making it easy to find your site, your customers will want to know this. During the holidays, people are buying more than they usually do, so having a solid plan in place for shipping and returns will make their shopping at ease. Having options of store credit, exchanges, or refunds in place will build that trust with your customers too.

Hot tip: make this known in multiple spots online. Placing the shipping and returns on product pages, navigation, and in the footer (which is where it’s most known for) are all great places for customers to easily find.

Marketing Your Products

Marketing your products on different platforms for a larger reach during this time of the year is KEY! Utilizing social media aka your free marketing outlet is a must. There are so many different ways to expose your products on social media, especially Instagram. Instagram allows you to create shoppable posts by tagging your products along with tagging products in stories and reels.

Pinterest is another free business marketing tool to utilize - especially for product-based businesses. Pinterest isn’t a social media channel, it’s actually a search engine like Google. So, when you have the right string of keywords and descriptions, your pins can be searched and found even on Google not just Pinterest.

Email marketing is another great tool to utilize during this time of the year. Tap into your email subscribers inboxes with what’s happening this holiday season and get them excited for what they can expect and shop.

All in all, get creative with your marketing efforts, have fun, and remember who you’re catering to.

Although these tips are important during the holiday season, they should be utilized throughout the year for your small business to thrive.