As an online e-commerce business owner, I know that it must be a very busy time of year for other business owners in similar situations, where it is this time of year that matters most, and most online businesses try to make the most out of maximizing their business profits. Christmas isn’t just the only time where you can become profitable. The New Years sale can also bring some great opportunities too, not only to make an extra income but to also clear some of your old stock to make way for new stock in the New Year.
Ok, in this post I’d like to share with you some of the most affective sales promotions and methods that I’ve personally used myself to maximise my business profits for this time of year.
Free Shipping
This is by far an extremely popular form of enticing consumers to buy. Some people may feel that it is not much of a promotion in itself, since they implement it throughout the year anyway, however if you’re use to charging for delivery then consider doing a free shipping period throughout the Christmas trading time.
Guaranteed Delivery Service
What many consumers fear of, is ordering goods online that won’t be delivered in time for Christmas. This alone can determine how profitable you are over the Christmas period. If you can use a dedicated courier service such as DHL or FEDEX that work on a tight and efficient delivery schedule, and can guarantee delivery before Christmas, then by all means state this clearly somewhere on your website.
Discount Codes
Another fantastic way to encourage sales is using discount codes. This can be something that you email to all your subscribers, or you can even place a special note on the homepage of your website telling people if they make a purchase before Christmas they can get up to so many percent off their order.
Incentives
We’ve looked at using consumer incentives to boost online sales in one of our previous posts. Everyone loves something free these days and what could be better than offering something like a free gift with every online purchase over $50 for example.
Gift Wrap Service
I know this can probably be a time-consuming task to be undertaking but a little extra service goes a long way. Offer a Gift Wrap service to your customers if they purchase before Christmas. You might be able to be cheeky enough to charge a couple of dollars for it in the checkout area. Of course if your website sells digital goods then this would be no option to you.
What ever you do for your business over the Christmas period, make sure you plan in advance and organise yourself in good order.
Image courtesy of jscreationzs / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
About Fabrizio Van Marciano
