The retail industry is so competitive that you need to come up with unique ideas and encourage sales if you want to attract new customers. Valentine’s Day is the perfect opportunity for businesses and entrepreneurs who offer online and offline products and services. This holiday, your customers want to feel special! Don’t let them go away feeling disappointed. Use these tips to improve your offers and boost your sales:
Leverage Your Email List to Increase Sales
You have probably spent years building up your email list of current and former customers and curious potential buyers who stopped in to check out your store. Well, now it is time to actually put this email list to use and stop letting it just collect dust! You should immediately send out a mass email breaking down your latest holiday-focused promotions. If you are an online retailer, you could broadcast your Valentine’s 15% off discount codes.
Another way you can leverage your email list to increase sales and revenue during the holidays is to send out cart abandonment emails. Whenever a customer selects an item to buy but then doesn’t complete the purchase, you can send them an email asking them what went wrong and send them a link to complete the order instantly. These simple emails can increase sales by up to 10%!
Thanks to your email list, you are most likely sitting on a goldmine of potential sales. All you need to do is send out mass emails and re-engage with your customers and then sit back and watch the holiday sales come pouring in!
Provide a Range of Flexible Payment Methods
To increase sales during holidays, you need to make it as easy as possible for customers to pay. This includes providing as many payment methods as possible, including e-wallets from American Express, credit and debit cards, and even crypto! You also need to provide flexible payment methods which help customers make purchases even if they don’t have an entire lump sum right now. The most effective flexible payment options include:
- Interest-free installments are a great way to increase sales
- Allowing the customer to choose the time frame they pay
- 30% deposit, pay the rest later
By having a buy now, pay later system on your site, you can substantially increase sales. On average, sites with a BNPL option saw a conversion rate of 6% compared with 4% for those that did not. Give your customers the flexibility they deserve and increase sales now!
Bonuses and Promo Codes Can Increase Sales
One of the best ways to perk up your customers’ interests and make orders is to offer bonuses such as free gifts or promo codes. Discounts and promos are used by a range of different companies and should form the basis of any effective increase sales action plan!
Before the holiday season, you should plan what discounts you are willing to offer and on which specific products. You also need to decide when you are going to start promoting these deals. To develop the best promo codes, you should study the market, your competitors and understand customer value. After doing your analysis, you can then decide whether you need to offer a 10% or 20% discount to entice enough customers while still keeping your margins healthy!
Create Exclusivity
Customers want to feel special and receive VIP treatment. A great way to foster this bond with your clients is to provide them with a unique experience. Betting sites are masters at doing this by providing limited edition bonus offers and inviting VIP players to exclusive events, and getting them tickets to sporting matches.
Here are some ideas you can try to ensure your customers feel valued and keep coming back, resulting in an increase in sales:
- Provide an email list of subscribers with private discounts
- Offer a private shopping experience
- Send personalized emails to your top customers – a highly effective way to increase sales!
- Create a private Facebook group where you engage with your customers
You don’t just have to focus on online events to increase sales. There are lots of ways to create unforgettable real-life events which will create long-lasting positive memories for your customers, such as:
- Put on a private industry event with guest speakers
- Hold a private sales show
- Organize a lunch or dinner event
While creating events and offering personalized deals is hard work and can be costly, it is at the same time one of the most effective ways to increase sales from existing customers!
Optimize Your Website
Are you looking for simple increase sales examples? Well, it may be staring you in the face, your website. You would be surprised at how many businesses have outdated websites that are slow, prone to crashes, or have long complicated buying processes.
If you want to increase sales in eCommerce, it is time to fix up your website by paying close attention to these aspects:
- Increase your site speed – You could be causing customers to abandon your page because it takes too long to load.
- Update your landing page to increase sales – Create a Valentine’s-themed landing page to get customers in the spirit and make sure you showcase your discounts
- Simplify your checkout process to increase sales – If you notice, most eCommerce stores now have one- or even two-step checkout process, which significantly increases conversion rates.
- Make your site mobile-optimized to increase sales – With so many shoppers using their phones, you need to ensure they can easily browse your products and make orders directly from their devices.
Create a Comprehensive Marketing Plan
To increase sales with advertising, you need to develop a well-structured and multi-varied marketing plan. All of your marketing strategies need to complement each other and be working together.
Combine these elements to increase sales with an incredible marketing plan:
- Social media ads
- Email blast outs (increase sales discounts with a targeted mass email to current and former customers)
- Newsletters (increase sales by providing insider industry knowledge)
- Optimize your website SEO (increase sales by making your website faster and easier to use)
- Promotional and discount strategies
- Private events for your VIP customers (you will increase sales if you make customers feel special)
If you create a well-functioning marketing plan, increasing sales during the holidays should be super simple!
Conclusion
Don’t be stressed during this holiday period! If you follow our six effective tips, you will be able to increase sales and get to enjoy the holidays with some extra revenue in your account! We would love to hear about your experience managing the holiday buying frenzy. Please, comment below on the tips and tricks you use to increase sales during the holidays.
Author
Marcus has spent the last 15 years working in online sales and has extensive experience designing eCommerce strategies. Currently, he is an independent consultant and advises small to medium businesses on their online sales strategy. When Marcus is not helping companies increase sales, you can find him at the beach playing volleyball!