On Tuesday, June 21, the summer season will officially be underway! This is an exciting time for the majority of Canadians. Most of us long for warm and sunny days knowing the season will just fly by. E-retailers should also be excited for summer. Even though the end-of-year holiday season is traditionally known as the busiest time of year, there’s no reason to think that online shopping dies down during summertime.
What can you do to heat up your sales this summer? Here are three hot e-commerce marketing strategies for strong summer sales:
1. Update your online store with seasonal imagery.
It’s important to immediately communicate to all of your site’s visitors that they’ve visited the right place for summer shopping. Adorn your homepage with summer imagery such as beach balls, palm trees, sunglasses and sunshine. Just as importantly, incorporate text that acknowledges the season, pointing to the various specials you have made available. As Aloize.com reports, 93% of consumers consider visual appearance to be the most important factor in making a purchase decision.
“As with a physical store, it is especially important that the look and feel of your website and marketing campaigns align with the mood of your customers,” says the website, “If you walk into a clothing store in the middle of summer and find only dark colors and coats, you will be totally confused. The same goes for your e-commerce and marketing campaigns. The design and products featured should match the theme you are focusing on.”
2. Ensure upon the mobile-friendliness of your site.
As you’re well aware, most people love to enjoy the great outdoors during the summertime. That means they’ll be spending a lot less time in front of their computers. Their smartphones, on the other hand, will be with them wherever they happen to travel. It’s imperative that your e-commerce site is mobile-friendly. After all, most online shopping takes place on mobile devices. To increase sales, be sure that your online store is easy to use on smartphone and tablets.
“If your site is not optimized for mobile, prioritize doing so immediately,” insists Alexandra on Tapfiliate.com, “The majority of shoppers now utilize mobile devices for online shopping, and a non-optimized ecommerce site will lead to a loss of customers and poor search results. For SEO, focus on loading speed and effortless navigation, and avoid heavy elements and pop-ups on mobile.”
3. Step up your social media activity.
It should go without saying that your company’s Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter accounts should all be active. Utilize each one of them to inform friends and followers about the incredible products available in your online store. Offer discount codes and direct links to the store to make it next-to-impossible for people not to click and visit your site.
According to Aloize.com, the average time spent by people on social networks increases by about 20% during the summer season. “So take a social approach when designing your summer communication campaigns,” the site recommends, “Instagram, for example, is a great channel to use during the summer, as the trend is to share your travel, beach or sunset photos via your smartphone.”
At Canadian POS, we offer a secure e-commerce solution that enables you to easily and securely accept and process all credit cards from your website. For more information, please don’t hesitate to call us at 1-877-748-2884 or send us a message on our Contact Us page!
