5 Tips to Get Your Website Ready for a Record-Breaking 2021 Holiday Season

The 2021 holiday season is fast approaching and with it, good tidings after a year and a half of unprecedented challenges and economic uncertainty. Among all the other new normals we’ve adopted this year is the love of online shopping, and the trend is only expected to grow. If the vast number of online shoppers (63% of all consumers to be exact) is any indication of the upcoming holiday shopping season, it’s going to be a record-breaking year for e-commerce and online sales. In fact, forecasts expect retail e-commerce holiday sales to increase 11% over last year to a staggering $206.8 billion.

That means it’s more important than ever to ensure your website is primed for an influx of eager buyers.

In addition to the many website features that keep customers coming back for more – an immersive shopping experience, site speed, user-friendly navigation, and a seamless checkout process – there are several other practical ways to get your website holiday-ready before customers come dashing through the snow.

5 Tips to Get your Website Holiday-Ready

1. Conduct a site performance audit. Can your site handle an influx of increased traffic? A site performance audit can collect critical insights about your website and the end user’s experience. The better your website performs, the longer visitors will stick around to view your content and see what you have to offer. Site performance audits can capture information such as performance, speed, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), accessibility to users, and more.
2. Implement an engaging retention strategy. 77% of consumers said customer loyalty programs compel them to stay with certain brands. Additionally, acquiring a new customer is anywhere from five to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one. Not only can a successful retention strategy help you gain valuable insight and data about your customers, it can also increase sales, customer referrals, and ensure onward success. One of the easiest and most engaging programs is the Points and Rewards program. It’s simple: the more you shop, the more you earn. In a nutshell, loyal customers are more profitable and a cornerstone for long-term growth.
3. Engage with your customer base early and consistently. Campaigns that get opens and clicks, such as a letter from the President or an exclusive promo code via SMS, will ensure your brand is fresh in your customers’ minds when Black Friday and Cyber Monday arrive.
4. Fortify information security on your website. With even e-commerce titans falling victim to breaches, data protection and web security is more critical than ever. Without a proactive security strategy, you can risk anything from hackers accessing sensitive information to malware and other attacks on your site. Keep customers coming back by safeguarding their data this holiday season.
5. Implement and reward customer feedback. With 84% of people reading customer reviews, consumers are more likely to purchase something if their peers give it a thumbs-up. Customer feedback provides a unique opportunity for your company to dial into ways you can improve your products and services as well as the customer experience. Feedback allows you to learn exactly what your customers want so you can better personalize their experience with your company.

Get Ready for the Holiday Shopping Season Now

It’s never too early to plan ahead for a streamlined customer experience during the holiday season. With PixelPeople, you can enlist the help of an experienced, dependable team of experts to perform a site audit and security check and help you develop an engaging marketing and retention strategy for your holiday marketing. Contact us today to learn how we can help you get your website holiday-ready.

Want more tips to improve your customers’ experience on your site during the holidays? Review last year’s tips for still-relevant and easily-applicable suggestions.

Tags: ecommerce, ecommerce web development