Ready, Set, Sell! Your 2018 Online Retail Holiday Season Checklist.

By all accounts, the 2018 online retail holiday season is likely to make sellers very merry. While 2017 brought a year-over-year sales increase of 16%, 2018 online sales are expected to increase over 22% YOY for the holiday period. What’s driving the expected surge? Consumer confidence in the economy is at an 18-year high, so most are planning to spend at least as much if not more on holiday gifts this year versus last year.

With Q4 just getting underway, your holiday marketing budget is already set. But there’s still time to make sure you get the most out of the crucial online retail holiday season by using the handy checklist below to set your campaigns up for success. Remember, many consumers start their holiday shopping well ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, so the sooner you get started the more potential customers you’ll reach.

2018 Online Retail Holiday Season Checklist:

1. Promote your best-reviewed products – Your customer reviews are a powerful sales tool, as they offer an unbiased source of information for prospects. Focus your campaigns on the products customers rave about and you’ll be well on your way to guiding gift givers to the good stuff.
2. Update your imagery – Appealing product pictures can help your customers envision their presents in action. Make sure your product shots are fresh, well styled and reinforce the value proposition set forth in your marketing copy.
3. Prepare now to extend your shipping dates – Last year, two of the top 10 online buying days of the entire holiday season occurred within a week of Christmas. Make sure you’ve optimized your fulfillment process to get purchases to their destinations as quickly as possible, so you can be there for those last-minute shoppers.  
4. Make sure you’re mobile first – These days, more than half of all internet traffic comes from a mobile device, so your website needs to be optimized for a mobile shopping experience. Mobile e-commerce grew by more than 40% in Q4 of 2017, and it’s expected to increase by nearly 33% this year, so you can’t afford to let this slide any longer.
5. Give consumers your best, boldest offers – With the sales volume you’ll likely see during the online retail holiday season, this is not the time to hold out for maximum margins. Consumers are looking for deals, especially on the all-important Cyber 5 shopping days between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday. Don’t be afraid to be aggressive with your offer strategy to capture greater market share.

Need some more advice? Reach out to your Skai rep or contact us for a demo of our e-commerce platform to make sure you’re prepared for a record-breaking online retail holiday season.

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