This year we polled the Intershop team around the globe to find out their top ecommerce ideas for Christmas 2012. Here is a snapshot of the best ideas from Intershop teams in the UK, Germany and US.
1. A/B testing
Give your retail organisation the gift of A/B Testing. A/B testing adds a significant level of intelligence to any e-marketing strategy. By providing an evidence-based means of tweaking and revising marketing strategies until they are as effective as they can be, it is the magic bullet that every online retailer should have.
The Intershop 2012 E-commerce Report showed that 58% of retailers are currently unable to implement A/B testing into their websites, yet 48% say that it is important to them. This Christmas A/B Testing should be an essential e-commerce tool to maximise the success of any seasonal promotions.
2. Run promotions
Promotions are the wheel that keeps Christmas shopping going. You may want to make sure you run promotions across all channels from your e-commerce presence to mobile and in-store shopping for consistency.
You don’t want shoppers to be frustrated because the in-store promotion does not align to the e-commerce promotion. This boils down to the message that it doesn’t matter where you buy, the deal is the same – a great price or offer on a product.
However, if you want to encourage people to use new channels, say because you have just recently launched your mobile channel, then use a different approach. Vary promotions between different channels and encourage shoppers to use a number of these.
This will entice your customers to visit for example your mobile store so they get familiar with it and have a reason to use this over other channels. Once your customers are aware of all the channels available to them, you can take two positions:
▪ Push customers to the most cost effective channel to maximize margins
▪ Enable customers to shop through the channel that they like best – and then cross promote to other channels from time to time
3. Promotion combinability and budgeting
Popular promotion options are free shipping, 20% off discounts, half price items, and discounts on specific categories. On any given day an e-commerce site can easily have a handful of these promotions underway. However, most e-commerce systems will only allow one effective promotion to be applied.
This is a short cut for not wanting to analyse how different promotions combine. The problem is that it can be a deterrent to sales since most people want to get the half priced item and free shipping. And if they have to make a choice, it might be to go elsewhere.
Give yourself another Christmas gift – the ability to combine multiple promotions at the same time. With this feature, promotions cannot just be combined, but also selectable.
In addition, many e-commerce marketing teams don’t have budget control over a promotion campaign. The team will use time and segmentation of their consumers to limit the campaign, but cannot stop a promotion once they have reached certain financial value from the store’s perspective.
This is where budgeting capabilities help. A campaign can be set to a specific financial amount and it will stop immediately once the amount is reached. Notifications can also go out when the limit is approached.
4. Daily shopping period
Most people don’t have time to do their Christmas shopping. This is one way to help those busy shoppers, even if it sounds simple. Start a daily shopping period at a set time, lunch time or evenings for example, where people will get the most popular items on your e-commerce site together with a special Christmas gift and/or promotion.
5. Collect data
Think ahead. Help prepare for the 2013 Christmas season by collecting as much analytical data as possible this Christmas. You’ll be glad you did when planning next year’s marketing promotional campaigns.
6. Think CSR
As consumers get savvier about where their purchases originated and perhaps how they were made, you’ll need to consider Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Sometimes this is more powerful than another sale or special offer. It will help attract loyal and conscientious customers.
7. Hold specific Christmas events
People love Christmas and the holiday festivities associated with it. If you are a bricks and mortar retailer, try inviting your customers to a special Christmas event at your local store(s). Celebrate a Christmas party combined with a special offering or promotion. Use your e-commerce site to drive attendance by offering special deals to be had at the event.
8. Santa is coming to your house!
This is one of our favourites especially for children. Run a promotion where shoppers can place orders to be hand-delivered by Santa, gift wrapped to their home. This is a very special delivery method and it might only work in your local area so be mindful not to over promise.
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