Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Flipboard 0 By the year 2040, it’s estimated that 95 percent of all purchases will be through ecommerce, and that includes holiday sales. If your ecommerce store doesn’t cater to the craze of the holidays, then your brand is missing out on increased sales, subscribers, and revenue. Paying attention to seasonal promotions and holiday marketing strategies is essential for any ecommerce business. However, if you don’t take a good look at how your brand can increase its sales during this period of increased customer spending, then it’s losing out on tons of potential revenue. Retail sales in the U.S. are expected to climb 3.8 percent this holiday season, making it the perfect time to create a strategy that increases your business’ sales and keeps customers happy. Let’s dive into three tactics your business can use during the holidays to increase sales and reach growth like never before. 1. Improve customer support With increased traffic and customer spending during the holidays, your brand must be able to provide stellar support for website visitors. Users will inevitably have questions about your brand, its products and services, purchasing, and more. If you don’t have the answers and don’t tend to their needs, they’ll do business with a brand who does. This holiday season, improve your customer service department so you know you’re catering to every area of your customer base. Use live chat to cater to visitors when live agents aren’t available. Providing 24/7 support shows customers, both repeat and new, that you care about their concerns and want to answer their questions. Other ways to improve customer support include: Offering free shipping Creating a FAQ page Tending to customers through multiple channels Utilizing SMS marketing and text notifications Collecting and implementing customer data and feedback 2. Use an omnichannel strategy Whether customers interact with your brand via your website, social media, email, or your physical store, they expect a seamless user experience (UX). Customers shop and buy differently and are affected by different buying behaviors. They use various channels and platforms to browse content and purchase products. Therefore, your ecommerce store needs an omnichannel marketing strategy. Omnichannel marketing leverages multiple platforms to cater to customer needs and move them through the sales funnel. Omnichannel marketing uses a multi-channel sales approach that provides a streamlined customer experience. So, whether your customers purchase from your business through social media, a brick-and-mortar store, or your website, the process is seamless. Take Starbucks, for example. Users can earn rewards, pay for purchases, order online, and more through its mobile app or website. Regardless of the platform customers choose to engage with the brand, it never fails to provide an integrated experience that simplifies the purchasing process. Image source 3. Simplify checkout The easiest way to steer website visitors away from your content is by making the checkout process a hassle. We’ve all come across an ecommerce store or two with poor design. Perhaps the navigation bar was nonexistent or the checkout form asked for 20 different pieces of information. Whatever the case may be, you need to make sure it’s easy for customers to purchase products on your website so you boost conversions and generate sales. Simplify your order form. If you’re asking customers for too much information, especially when it’s unnecessary, you’ll see a spike in your abandoned cart rate. People don’t have time to waste, so streamlining the checkout process is not only crucial, it’s a must. CoutureCandy eliminated the clutter from their checkout page to provide a distraction-free checkout process for customers: Image source Let visitors create accounts on your website while they shop. Not only does this keep their shopping process more organized, but it also provides you with their information so it’s easier to personalize their shopping experience. You can use this information to market relevant content to them in the future and increase conversions. Conclusion With the holiday season right around the corner, businesses are coming up with new and improved marketing strategies for their online stores. Ecommerce is taking over as it provides convenience and ease for shoppers eager to get their holiday shopping done. You can use this to your advantage and streamline the UX for better results. Improving customer support, creating an omnichannel experience, and simplifying checkout are simple yet effect ways to cater to the consumer and increase sales. How will your ecommerce store do the same for the holidays this year? Twitter Tweet Facebook Share Email This article was written for Business 2 Community by Chris Christoff.Learn how to publish your content on B2C Author: Chris Christoff Follow @chriscct7 Chris is the co-founder of MonsterInsights, the leading WordPress plugin for Google Analytics.… View full profile ›More by this author:How to Write Marketing Copy That Drives Massive Conversion4 Basic Yet Amazing PR Tactics That Work For Every BusinessHow to Decrease Your Website Bounce Rate