Preparing Your Website for the Online Holiday Season: Merchant Tips From Shopping.com
14 Settembre 2005 - 6:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
BRISBANE, Calif., Sept. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- "See your site
as your customers see it." That's the in-a-nutshell advice for
online merchants this holiday season from Iggy Fanlo, president,
worldwide field operations for Shopping.com, a leading online
comparative shopping service with more than 50 million unique
visitors per month. Fanlo says that preparing for the holidays is a
two-fold strategy. "You want a fresh view of how your site looks
and feels, and you want to step back to see whether you can be
'seen' from beyond your borders: are you visible in the places
where shoppers begin their searches?" Fanlo says that for online
merchants, "the holidays are both a test and an opportunity. The
higher volumes and less experienced customers means that your site
must be running as smoothly as possible -- with a clear path from
your online catalog to checkout completion. The good news is that
the improvements you make today will serve you well for the coming
year." To begin with, start early. "Like it or not, the holiday
season for some shoppers starts well before Thanksgiving, so think
about posting product information and promotions even before you
have an item in stock," Fanlo says. "Allowing customers to reserve
gifts in their shopping cart gives you insightful information for
managing inventory strategically." Another must-do for the holidays
is to re-check your shopping cart. "That's where you close the sale
-- so make sure it is working flawlessly," he says. "Shopping cart
abandonment is the single most preventable cause of lost sales."
Easy navigation is also essential. "Historic data on website usage
is crucial to preparing for the holiday shopping season. So if you
haven't tracked sales and traffic activity in the past, make your
start this year." Fanlo says that online merchants sometimes get
lost in the crowd because their catalog isn't much different than
their competitors. "A good strategy for strengthening your identity
is to carry some one-of-a-kind items that customers can only
purchase from you. The possibilities are endless. A pottery store
might commission an artist to do a line of vases, while a clothing
store might do something similar with a local knitting guild.
During holiday times, especially, those select items can help
distinguish you from the crowd." Gift certificates are another
useful item for your catalog. "They are often overlooked by online
merchants." Fanlo says. "Historically, gift certificates are
purchased in December and redeemed mostly in January. This extends
the holiday season beyond December and can increase your holiday
sales, so feature them early -- and prominently -- on your site."
Attracting customers No matter how well your website is designed,
attracting customers to visit in the first place is at least half
the battle. "Holiday shoppers predominantly use key word searches
for finding gifts online," says Fanlo. "So be sure you're listed on
the sites they're searching -- Shopping.com, among them. In
general, online advertising outlets should generate the high
conversion to sale rate and deliver a balance of quality and volume
in leads. And when responding to key word searches, be sure to
allow for incomplete and misspelled queries. Your search tool
should be smart enough to snag those potential sales, too." Fanlo
says that "keyword targeted advertising should earn its keep. The
holiday season is a good time to invest in those terms that drive
most sales -- and divest yourself of the rest. Also, be sure your
product listings on external sites are updated to include tax and
shipping configurations where appropriate, which can help consumers
understand bottom line costs associated with the items they are
interested in." Another way to get the most from your advertising
dollars is to look for sites that offer ROI trackers such as
Shopping.com, which can help identify the online advertising
outlets that are most profitable for you. A Pre-Holiday Checklist
for Online Merchants -- Tune your datafeed management platform to
sell the right products, at the right time, and in the right place.
-- Improve the quality of the leads by providing tax and shipping
charges to shoppers. -- Provide high quality images for every
product. -- Trust matters. Having a solid merchant rating will
increase conversion to sale. -- Enhance product names and product
descriptions to be clear and descriptive. -- Use ROI trackers to
track sales, cost of sales, and conversion to sale data. About
Shopping.com Shopping.com, an eBay company, pioneered online
comparison shopping and today is one of the fastest growing
shopping destinations on the Internet. With millions of products,
thousands of merchants and millions of reviews from the Epinions
community, Shopping.com empowers consumers to make informed choices
and, as a result, drives much higher conversion to sale and value
for merchants. DATASOURCE: Shopping.com Ltd. CONTACT: Lindsay
Scalisi, +1-415-844-6217, or , or Jillian Harkrader,
+1-415-844-6234, or , both of Access Communications for
Shopping.com Web site: http://www.shopping.com/
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