9 Tips For Increasing Your E-commerce Sales When It's Hotter Than Hades Outside
Summer is a great time to get people excited about your e-commerce business. As we’re into the season, consider these nine tips for maximizing your summer sales.
Play the "offsite" card
Understand your customer, and be where they are. It's essential to have a clear understanding of who your customers are. The first step is to create an accurate picture or "story," as I call it.
Once you have that story down pat, you can use it as the basis for targeting your audience through tactics like retargeting and social media. Once again: Understand your customer, and be where they are!
Make sure your site is prepared for the high traffic influx
Keep your site optimized for mobile: If a user searches their smartphone, the first link should work best and look good on their device.
Optimize for search engines: While it may seem obvious, many businesses neglect this small but essential detail:. So, make sure Google and other search engines can find your site through different keywords and tags (like 'e-commerce' or 'online store'). Consider using services such as Shopify's Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tool, which helps you find relevant keywords related to your business so you can optimize them accordingly.
Optimize for conversion: This means having clear call-to-actions throughout your site.
Have a plan for your social media accounts
Know who your audience is and what they want. You should also know how often you post and what kind of content they want from you.
Think about when your customers are online most often. In addition, keep in mind the type of content that would appeal to them, and make sure to stick with it.
Create an irresistible offer
Summer is the perfect time to offer something exclusive to your store, unavailable anywhere else, and an incredible value. Try creating an irresistible offer by offering a unique experience (like a special access pass or backstage pass) for a limited time. For instance: "This Weekend only! Get 30% off all orders over $100."
Capitalize on the "staycation" trend
The term refers to people who opt out of an expensive vacation in favor of more affordable activities near home. With inflation and gas prices soaring, expect more people to opt for staycations.
Launch a summer flash sale
The summer is the perfect time to try out a flash sale. Flash sales are an excellent way to attract customers, especially since they're often advertised on social media and news sites. If you want to bring in new customers and get people excited about your brand, announce your flash sale early in the week so that people have time to spread the word through word-of-mouth marketing campaigns.
Further, attract potential customers while on their summer vacation by offering them a special promotion or discount just in time for Labor Day weekend! This is an excellent way for them (and their friends!) to get excited about buying from your store before returning to work from vacation.
A few more quick tips:
Set a goal for your flash sale: Are you trying to increase sales? Do you want to get rid of excess inventory, or both?
Choose a product that aligns with your target audience’s wants: What types of products can you put on sale that will still encourage your target audience to buy? This isn’t about putting random items on sale–be thoughtful in what you choose to offer at a discount.
Keep it short: Don’t host a “flash” sale for more than 48 hours. It’s called “flash” for a reason. :)
Use logistics to ensure you have enough inventory available: The last thing you want is to frustrate your customers by running out of inventory before the sale is over.
Help customers by providing relevant content
The first step is figuring out your audience, what they care about, and what they want from you. Once you know this, it's time to create a plan based on those things and execute it.
The key here is consistency: Create a schedule for yourself where you can stick with producing content regularly (at least once per week). This builds trust with your readership and makes them feel like they're part of something bigger than themselves. It also helps establish authority in their minds—position your brand as an expert by producing high-quality content consistently over time.
Here are just some of the benefits of publishing relevant content:
People are more likely to share content than ads or product descriptions because they trust it more.
Content drives traffic back to your website and provides a better user experience than traditional ads do.
People tend to make purchases after consuming high-quality content (like blogs and podcasts) because they know more about what they're buying.
Focus on summer themes
People also love talking about family, so talk about your happy memories with your loved ones. And don't forget about outdoor activities: Barbecues, picnics, and beaches are all hot summer topics!
Excite your customers this summer with unique, interesting ideas they won't find anywhere else
One of the best ways to excite your customers this summer is by offering them something they can't find anywhere else. Be creative, be bold and be different!
How? Here are some ideas:
Offer a reward program where customers earn points toward free products.
Send out digital postcards to past customers with a special offer on your site or an invitation to sign up for your newsletter (this will also help you improve customer retention).
In summary
Summer is the time for fun and relaxation, but also one of the most critical times for e-commerce businesses. I hope you've found this list of tips useful for your summer e-commerce promotions. Don't forget to keep an eye on what's trending and consider how you can use those themes in your own business. You'll be surprised how many people will be interested in something as simple as a great sale offer or a themed giveaway.