5 Tips to Help eCommerce Businesses Plan for The Holiday Peak Season

To maximize sales and customer satisfaction during peak season, e-commerce businesses must take critical steps to prepare. From identifying target customers and the season’s winning products to establishing new sales channels, businesses should create a strategy to ensure a successful holiday season.?

With the right plan that delivers an exceptional shopping experience, e-commerce businesses can increase profitability, earn repeat customers and build brand loyalty.

The holiday season is a win-or-bust period for e-commerce businesses. In fact, many businesses see their sales increase significantly during this time of year. According to Digital Commerce 360, online revenue will increase to $224.31 billion over the holiday season in 2022 from $211.41 billion in 2021.?

From stocking up on inventory to optimizing your website for conversions, e-commerce businesses need to prepare to take advantage of the opportunities this peak season.

In this article, we present five tips to help businesses prepare for a successful holiday season.

Test and prepare your website for a traffic surge

E-commerce businesses should prepare for a spike in traffic as the holiday season draws near. It is important to run stress tests to ensure your website can manage increasing traffic, identify any possible bottlenecks, and address them in time for the holidays.

Begin marketing your website and products as soon as possible to increase awareness and ensure that all your content is current and appropriate for the holiday season. Product descriptions, blog entries, and other marketing materials should be optimized to help your customers find your products.?

Develop a marketing strategy

Everyone is busy over the holidays, so it's crucial to start organizing your marketing initiatives well in advance. Make sure your marketing initiatives focus on delivering value to customers by providing incentives that enhance their holiday season through special offers or original content.

Last year, Walmart launched a great Black Friday Marketing campaign on TikTok with six top creators. Customers “unwrapped” virtual Black Friday deals and discovered surprises using the shoppable TikTok filter. Users posted their challenges with the #Unwrapthedeals hashtag, and if others liked their win, they could click straight to the Walmart website to buy the product. This campaign was a remarkable achievement, generating over 5.5 billion hashtag views and an 18.4% engagement rate, both of which surpassed TikTok Hashtag Challenge standards. When used properly, social media is a great way to draw in both new and recurring customers.

Improve the cross-border shopping experience

Cross-border shoppers are an important target market. Provide multiple languages on your website, offer shipping options suitable for international orders, and use local currency pricing to make it easy for shoppers to see how much they will be spending.

Promote special offers and discounts that appeal to cross-border shoppers and prepare your customer service team to handle inquiries from international customers.

Build an effective shipping and delivery plan

The holiday season can be as stressful for shipping and logistics companies as it is for e-commerce businesses. To forestall delayed deliveries and other logistic-related hitches, consider hiring additional help specifically for shipping and delivery purposes to lighten your workload and allow you to focus on other aspects of your business.?

Keep your customers updated on your shipping and delivery plans to manage their expectations and prevent unpleasant surprises. You can use digital tools to automate shipping and delivery processes to ensure a smooth and efficient operation.

Create a personalized customer experience

One way to stand out from your competition is to offer a personalized customer experience. Learn about your customers' needs through surveys, interviews, or simply paying attention to their interactions with your business.

Use customer data (location, purchase history, etc.) to customize their experience on your website or in-store by showing them relevant products, offering personalized discounts, or sending them targeted emails.?

A perfect example of a brand that portrays practical customer experience is Amazon, they dominate the market because of the massive amount of data they have at their disposal. They can see information such as your full name, purchase history, category browsing behavior, purchase times, and more, and they use this data to understand consumer preferences better, assist product discovery, and continuously improve their marketing.

For customer support, make it easy for your customers to get in touch by providing multiple channels (phone, email, chatbots) and ensuring the support is available 24/7 during the holiday season.

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