Whether your peak trading period is Q4, Spring or Summer, this post covers the main 5 areas to focus on for success.
As ecommerce evolves, more sellers enter the market and the level of sophistication – of both consumer buyers and sellers – increases. All the more reason, then, to make sure you’re set up for success. You don’t want things to slip through the cracks, which is why a checklist is always handy. In this post we cover 5 main areas to check and offer a free resource that goes into more detail, in essence a series of checklists covering each area. If you want to skip the post and get the resource, here it is.
1) SEO Data Optimisation. With such high traffic and conversion rates during Q4 peak, for example, being found in search has never been so important. A good sales ranking on each product can set you up to sell beyond your forecast the following year. Study the parameters for each channel and optimise for different consumer touch-points like mobile, in the following areas:
2) Marketing. A well thought out and optimised marketing strategy can increase revenue by around 15% (depending on the particular products enrolled) at very little cost. Each channel has its own versions of what’s possible, but they all follow the same principles. Consider the following areas, some of which may not be available on every channel:
3) Shipping. Shipping is an important part of online strategy as it can give you an advantage over your competitors. A perfect shipping strategy looks like this for all channels. Creating these shipping profiles will give you the best chance to offer the customer what they expect and gain an advantage over the competition. Understandably, this approach will not be possible for all products:
4) Customer service. Customer service is an integral part of any online business, especially during such high traffic periods as Q4. Make sure everything is up to date on your website and marketplace store information – in fact everything customere can see about your business – including:
5) Post-peak plan. Taking Q4 as the key example, it’s important to have a plan going straight into January to get the most out of what can be a bad trading month. Schedule and implement Boxing Day and New Year’s sales. Customers will be looking to pick up a bargain and this is another high traffic opportunity. Try to get customers back into your store with targeted email campaigns offering discounts for returning customers. Post-Christmas returns are inevitable, so try to have a plan in place to deal with them swiftly and efficiently, so the customer has the best possible experience.
In summary, don’t leave your busiest trading period to chance. Every merchant, retailer and brand selling on marketplaces experiences uneven sales throughout the year, with busier seasons and quieter seasons. The objectives are always the same for any peak – drive sales, be as operationally efficient as possible, service customers as well as you can and grow the business. There’s no checklist for every single aspect of your business, but the checklist should reveal a clear pathway to good preparation, a maximised peak and analysis of what went well, and what didn’t, so you can improve your next peak.
We’ve prepared a more detailed resource for you to reference every time you’re planning for peak. You can get it here, along with other free-to-download resources on our resources page.
To talk more about planning your best peak trading period, get in touch and schedule a no obligation call.
