
In our last blog, we gave you a few ideas for how to prepare your brick and mortar store location for Valentine’s Day shoppers. As a Canadian merchant, it’s imperative you acknowledge the forthcoming occasion so that you can significantly boost sales. Doing so is equally important for e-commerce retailers. If you have an online store, the time is now to spruce it up in an effort to encourage Valentine’s Day gift hunters to visit it!
What can you do to boost Valentine’s Day shopping on your website?
Add a Valentine’s Day banner on the homepage.
In order to convert online window shoppers into paying customers, you’ll want to make clear that you have Valentine’s Day bargains available. To do that, there should be an immediately-apparent graphic on your website. With a banner on the homepage, no visitor will be able to mistake your online store for one that doesn’t cater to their Valentine’s Day shopping needs.
“If your homepage has a slider, make a Valentine banner and add it to the slider,” suggests Nick of Beeketing, “It is also a good position to promote any promotions, contest or giveaway for Valentine’s Day as well, because most of new visitors will first lay eyes on your banner to see if there’s anything trendy on the store.”
Create special gift sections.
To make clear that your online store is one where Valentine’s Day shoppers are welcome, create special gift sections that will help visitors more easily find the gifts they’re looking for. A “Gift For Her” section can contain a wide variety of goods including jewellery, lingerie, cosmetics, purses, shoes and perfume. A “Gift For Him” section can contain such items as tools, sporting equipment, clothing, hats and gaming equipment. You get the idea.
“Aim to make it easier for potential customers to find what they are looking for on your site, as this can ultimately increase your chances of making a sale,” advises Aimee Manning of Linnworks, “One of the best ways to do this is by segmenting all relevant inventory into categories and making them easily accessible from the homepage.”
Highlight your electronic gift card offerings.
Gift cards are high sellers all year-round. But during this time of year (the Valentine’s Day rush, if you will), they are especially popular. Nick points out that Valentine’s Day is an annual occasion that yields large amounts of gift-giving. He notes that shoppers usually browse through various websites to find the perfect gift for their loved ones, friends and families.
“Why not allow your shoppers to directly send the products to their loved-ones with an e-Gift card?” Nick asks, “By doing this, you make the shopping easier for the gift senders, so they are able to rapidly send the gift to their friends in a couple of clicks.”
If you’re not yet offering electronic gift cards as an option for your customers, contact Canadian POS to learn how you can begin doing so right away. As well, if you’re yet to take advantage of a safe and secure e-commerce solution in order to boost sales, be sure to ask us how we can change that too! Call us today at 1-877-748-2884 or email us at info@localhost.