E-Commerce Blueprint for the Holiday Season

40% of annual sales — that is how much you can earn during the holiday season. And that’s amazing.

But has anybody counted the level of stress you get while preparing all those offers?

We want to help you make the most of this booming time, so we’ve collected the articles from our blog that can be useful to holiday sellers. Enjoy.

Planning Your Promotion

Grab your calendar and sit down to think about the holidays you are going to take part in. It’s not a must to be active on each and every major sale; instead, focus on 1-2 projects that are relevant to your niche.

• Holiday E-Commerce Trends 2016
• The Essential Guide to Holiday Season Promotions for E-Commerce Stores
• How to Plan Long- and Short-Term Ad Budgets for a Small Business
• Getting Ready for Labor Day: Ideas for Online Businesses
• Infographic: Halloween by the Numbers
• 4 Ways to Bring In More Millennial Shoppers This Holiday Season

Tip: By the end of October, more than half of holiday shoppers already begin buying gifts. So start preparing your promotion as early as possible.

Getting Your Online Store Ready

On the holiday season, customers are bargain-oriented. If you decided to participate, communicate your offers to visitors effectively so that they can’t miss or ignore them. There’s a number of tools in Ecwid to do it.

• The 8 Things You Need to Do to Get Your Site Ready for the Holidays
• Ecwid Promo Toolkit to Power Your Black Friday Sale
• 6 Settings That Turn Your Store Into a Magnet for Holiday Shoppers (Without Discounting)

Apps and tools

• Getting Your Online Store Prepared for Holiday Success (Part 1 of 3)
• Getting Your Online Store Prepared for Holiday Success (Part 2 of 3)
• Getting Your Online Store Prepared for Holiday Success (Part 3 of 3)
• Grow Your Business This Holiday Season With In-Store Pickup, Facebook Ads, and New Apps!

Still doubt what to sell online? Check out our list of 30 trending products that are popular with holiday shoppers in 2017.

Holiday Marketing Tips

As soon as you set up your online store, it’s time to fine-tune your marketing channels! Just like with the holidays, it’s important to stay focused on the most profitable marketing efforts. If you are not sure which of them work for you, use Ecwid analytics to discover your conversion rate by channel and more.

• The Step-by-Step Guide to E-Commerce Advertising for the Holidays
• 8 E-Commerce Mistakes to Avoid During Holiday Sales
• 10 Quick Tips for Effective Mobile Ads

Coupons and discounts

Both customers and merchants in Ecwid love discount coupons for the ease of use and flexibility. Why don’t you try it too? Set this up in Control Panel → Promotions → Discount Coupons. You can also manage your coupons on the go with Ecwid Mobile.

• How to Maximize Sales Using Promotions and Special Offers
• Procrastinators: 6 Black Friday and Cyber Monday Ideas You Can Still Use

Paid ads

• How to Build Killer Keyword Lists for AdWords
• 5 Google AdWord Tips Every Small Business Owner Can Use
• How to Make the Most of Google Shopping
• The Facebook Pixel for Ecwid Stores: How to Run More Effective Facebook Ads Easily
• Checklist: Is Your E-Commerce Store Ready for Paid Ads?

Email marketing and social media

• The Essential Guide to Holiday Email Marketing for E-Commerce Stores
• 4 Proven Tactics to Promote Your E-Commerce Store This Holiday Season
• 25 Proven Contest Ideas to Promote Your Online Business

Going offline

• What You Need to Open a Pop-Up Shop This Holiday Season
• 4 Tips to Maximize the Impact of Handwritten Notes
• 6 Free Shipping Strategies and Their Alternatives
• How to Promote Your Brand Outside of Social Media

The holiday season is a busy time for online merchants, so you might lack free hands to complete the job. Use Staff Accounts to invite employees, freelancers and agencies to manage your online store.

Inspiration

• Christmas Gift Ideas: Products From Ecwid Stores
• 5 Packaging Ideas That Will Make Your Business Stand Out
• 100+ Christmas Wrapping Ideas to Excite Your Customers

Let It Last Long

• How to Continue Momentum Throughout the Holiday Season and Beyond

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We wish all merchants happy selling this holiday season! If you found this collection helpful, subscribe to the Ecwid blog updates to keep track of our new articles.

And if you haven’t got an online store yet, now is the perfect time to create one for free!