Get ready for Christmas now/Business

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Merchants Should Be Preparing For The Holidays Now Eight merchandising tips

 

By: Lauren

Freedman<http://www.practicalecommerce.com/authors/37/Lauren-Freedman/>

Comments:

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or-The-Holidays-Now/#comments>

 

Just as most consumers begin to enjoy summer, it's time for savvy merchants

to put the finishing touches on holiday sales plans. While it is difficult

to estimate the volume of " gifting " purchases made online, there is no doubt

about the customers' penchant for buying gifts via this channel.

 

During the 2006 holiday season, the e-tailing group, in conjunction with

StartSampling, a marketing services company, conducted the inaugural Mindset

of the Multichannel Shopper Survey. The survey found that 54 percent of

those who intended to do any holiday shopping online did so because it saves

time and money, with the latter being at the forefront of shoppers' minds.

We don't anticipate much will change during the coming year except the web

channel's share of wallet will continue to expand.

 

Merchants who understand a customer's desire for saving time have embraced

ways to showcase products in robust gift centers: they've integrated gift

finders that allow shoppers to effectively search by price and other

features and they've implemented tools that enable buyers to shop for

multiple recipients during a single shopping experience.

 

To help you capitalize on this important (and hectic) time of year, we

thought it would be prudent to share the e-tailing group's " Gift-savvy

Merchandising Top Eight Tips. "

 

*1. Build A Service Culture*

Recent research shows consumers do not want any roadblocks in their online

shopping experiences. Ensure your 800 number is prominent, your customer

service hours are visible and your personnel are trained to handle the

unusual situations that almost always occur. Email queries must be answered

within 48 hours (though 24 hours is optimal and in keeping with the

e-tailing group's 23.79 hour benchmark). Train temporary customer service

reps on both product and order questions to ensure your brand puts its best

foot forward. Should you delve into live chat, it should be tested and

regarded as of equal importance as any phone call so that chat does not

result in brand degradation. Shop your own store to ensure each of these

targets is achieved. This will ensure you are not blindsided with customer

complaints.

 

*2. Create Comprehensive Content *

Fifty-four percent of shoppers plan to research products online prior to

purchasing them for gifts, so it is imperative that merchants provide

complete details about the products for sale. Additionally,

information-intensive categories provide an opportunity for robust how-to

guides that foster consumer education. Beyond these tactics, embracing

customer-controllable content such as product comparisons, ratings and

reviews each add valuable information for shoppers. The byproduct of such a

comprehensive strategy is higher conversion, reduced returns and fewer

costly calls to customer service.

 

*3. Be Onsite-search Savvy *

Your keyword search must move beyond mere functionality, as 54 percent of

those surveyed also opted to " search directly for a specific item at a

merchant site. " Returning landing pages should be optimized by highlighting

bestsellers, sale-priced items or new arrivals.

Cooking.com<http://cooking.com/>takes advantage of this prime real

estate to merchandise both top-rated

products and bestsellers, effectively directing customers' attention.

 

*4. Tout Gift Cards*

In 2006, consumers spent $27.8 billion on gift cards, according to the

National Retail Federation, and there is no reason to expect any slowdown in

this popular gift solution. It is our recommendation merchants offer gift

cards in both a traditional and an electronic format. Promoting gift cards

in the navigation bar at your site as well as strategic promotion in the

shopping cart and post-order email confirmations will bolster sales.

Remember that gift certificates are an excellent last-minute idea when most

ground shipping is no longer available. Target's execution is perfect: In

one click, shoppers can opt for either a traditional card or an electronic

version. The upfront visual makes it accessible and requires no drilldowns

to get started on this significant buying option.

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Park]<http://www.practicalecommerce.com/advertising/go/92/>

 

*5. Establish Cut-off Dates*

At an early point in the holiday season, merchants need to set cut-off dates

for Christmas delivery. Once established, the dates should be strategically

placed throughout the site ⎯ at a minimum, on the home page and in customer

service.

 

*6. Pay attention To Promotions*

Today's web shoppers would like every order to be shipped free and every

product to come with a discount. Unfortunately, merchants know such

promotions do not necessarily lead to profitability. It is important to

continually monitor the competitive landscape and to test behind-the-scenes

strategies that keep margin in check. Creative solutions to reassure

customers they are getting a good deal go a long way on the web. This could

include free shipping for loyal customers and members-only promotions. LL

Bean's interpretation of the selective free-shipping concept is exemplary;

its visuals are engaging and its promotions enticing, both of which should

generate repeat traffic.

 

*7. Stay In Touch*

During each holiday season, the e-tailing group tracks 100 merchants to

understand email patterns and frequency throughout the fourth quarter. Wise

merchants establish their own frequencies based on category, branding and

customer need for their particular products. Merchants should also test

mailing schedule performance and adjust as necessary as the season moves

into full gear. It may come as no surprise, but the results from the 2006

survey showed a marked increase in the average number of emails sent per

week by merchants during the holidays compared to 2005. Merchants have begun

to understand the value of effective email communication.

 

*8. Think Multichannel*

Merchants can give customers the convenience they seek in a variety of ways.

Ideally, those with a retail channel can include in-store pickup and the

growing merchant adoption of in-store lookup. Pickup brings the consumer to

your store. This may result in additional purchases, akin to the way

in-store returns often boost sales opportunities. With cut-off dates looming

and significant shopping remaining in the week prior to Christmas, email can

be an excellent retail support vehicle.

 

 

--

Cheers!

Kathleen Petrides

The Woobey Queen

Http://www.woobeyworld.com