Last-Minute Online Sales – Amp Up Your Site!

More than 60% of online shoppers who take the time to load a shopping cart and begin the checkout will abandon and never finish the process! In the last few trading days to Xmas, retail sites must double-check to ensure more shoppers are encouraged to complete transactions, online.

Latest estimates are saying that sales are up 10% on 2008 with Visa expecting to process a new record of more than 17 million transactions in the UK on 23 December, up 16% from the same day last year. As a result of heavy snowfall, more shoppers are turning to eCommerce sites to purchase online and many will need help with the purchasing process.

There are a few easy last-minute tweaks you can make to ensure your website design is easily and clearly understood every step along the way, from finding the required products to ordering and making payment. At the same time you can maximise selling opportunities by making attractive offers to gain a competitive edge.

Free delivery is often used as an incentive to buy but for low-cost items with small profit margins, it is obviously not feasible. But maintaining your friendly online brand identity with new and previous customers is important so instead, try offering a free product, gift card or valuable coupon from another company or advertiser, as an inducement. The perceived value will be much greater than the value of free delivery. And because advertisers will be willing to exchange their product or service for exposure on your site, it will cost far less than delivery costs.

According to a recent survey, consumers trust user reviews 30 times as often as they would trust a critic! Always include as many user reviews on your site to build trust for your brand and add credibility to your product or service – and help optimise your sales! Remember – in the world of social media, your customers are by far the most influential advocates for your product.

Offer a variety of payment options, not just credit card brands such as MasterCard, Visa, Maestro, etc, but include recognised and trusted secure payment such as PayPal or convenient and affordable alternative payment options

Please remember that regardless of how much you simplify your checkout, some customers may still require assistance. It’s important to include customer service contact info or a help menu directly on the checkout page. Otherwise, a confused customer will have no choice but to abandon their cart to find your site’s help page, or worse, make a purchase on your competitor’s site instead!

Do everything you can to make your customers’ online shopping an easy and straightforward experience by offering attractive promotions, real added value services and a simple to use basket to boost customer satisfaction – and successfully completed transactions!