Last Updated on Oct 24, 2019 by Numinix Developer
The influx of shoppers around the holiday season has the power to do wonders for the everyday e-commerce business owner. Not only does your website have the potential to receive a rush of new traffic, but the chances are that many customers are in such a state of panic to get their holiday shopping completed, that the probability of them carrying out purchases is much higher than any other point throughout the year. While this is good news in terms of conversion rates, that doesn’t mean that this annual boost of sales is here to stay. In fact, you might not want to get used to the upsurge of holiday profits unless you’re prepared to put the work in. Below are a few strategies that you could use to turn your seasonal shoppers into customers that make year-round purchases.
The power of emails
Email marketing is probably the fastest and easiest way to retarget seasonal shoppers. It’s innovative and relatively simple as long as you’re timely with carrying out your scheduled campaigns. The best part is that if you don’t possess a current subscription list to an email marketing program like Mailchimp, there’s a plugin that you can install that can store all of your past customer’s emails based on their purchases while also adding them to a subscription list automatically. This means that even after they’ve received their order, you’re able to keep in touch with them to let me know about relevant business news — this could include upcoming promotions, industry developments and even new inventory. The best part is that email marketing is a more subtle way of reaching out to past customers, giving them the choice to open and read their email at their own convenience, while also reasserting your position as an industry leader. Plus, it’s a really invigorating way to keep past customers interested in your brand!
Invest in your website’s design
The most important features of your online website are visual design. After all, customers won’t be enticed to scroll through or click onto anything if the graphics and headings lead them to believe that your business is unprofessional. That’s why it’s important to take extra time to invest in your web design during your companies off-months. Whether it’s a full, constructive revamp of the entire homepage or a simple modernization to the current logo, revising the look of your business has the power to attract potential buyers through a refreshing use of colour formations.
Retarget past customers
Sometimes the first step to turn seasonal shoppers into year-round shoppers is to retarget the people who have already made a successful purchase. It’s quite possible that in the months since Christmas they’ve forgotten about the unique items that they purchased to gift out to their loved ones. It’s also very common for shoppers to stumble across an advertisement on their social accounts, make a purchase and never carry out another acquisition with that company again. The important thing is to separate yourself from your competition. Customers obviously made purchases because they are interested in the products, so, taking the time to reach out in a subtle way may encourage them to check out some of your latest stock. Even if the items that they purchased weren’t specifically for them, there’s always upcoming birthdays, bridals showers and other milestone events throughout the year that they may need to find gifts for.
Invest in your website’s development
There are many ways that you can upgrade your e-commerce platform to better meet the needs of your shoppers. For starters, get yourself a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). This development reassures customers that their web browser is secured through encryption and that their private information is secure. Never underestimate the power of trust when the time comes to turning seasonal shoppers into year-round shoppers. Next, it’s time to do a little re-working with your content. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) allows you to utilize industry-relevant key terms within your web content in order to organically appear higher on various search engine rankings. Chances are that if a customer managed to find your website before, it’s because they were drawn to some key terms and upon searching, clicked through to your site. So, why not utilize this strategy to retarget them? Lastly, there are many plugins that you can install that offer enticing advantages to shoppers. For example, something as simple as an automatic recover cart plugin gives you the chance to follow up with a customer about something that is still sitting in their online shopping cart. After all, it’s possible that they just forgot and are still interested in this item.
How do you entice seasonal shoppers to become regular shoppers? Tell us in the comments section below.
Alex Wilks is the Social Media & Content Creator for Trek Marketing. Her work has been featured on Global News, Black Press Media, andthe Kwantlen Chronicle