While most of us are trying to make the most of the last summer weeks, online retail businesses are having one of the busiest months with back to School sales.

If your online business hasn’t started back to school sale yet, don’t worry. Studies show that parents are postponing back to school shopping to the last minute on purpose, hoping to find the best bargains.

Why your business should most definitely run back to school sale

Back to school shopping is the second biggest spending season after Christmas. It is estimated that the average cost of sending a child back to school is over $1,392. And last year the estimation of spendings on this shopping season in the US reached overall $27 billion.

Moreover, recent studies show that parents spend 61% more online, as it allows finding the best bargain faster.   

Back to school spending categories

So what do school goers are looking for in back to school sales?

(Source)

School supplies

This doesn’t come as surprise. Students will need something notebooks, pens, and different art supplies on daily basis. Pencil cases, folders.

Clothing & accessories

Not all schools require students to wear uniforms. And that means students have to think about their daily school appropriate attires. If your store has everyday clothing to offer, back to school shoppers can definitely help you boost sales.

Certain accessories, such as watches, glasses, scarves or bags and backpacks can be in great demand too.

And don’t forget the gym wear!

Electronics

Students might need not only computers but the certain hardware to go along with it too (keyboards, external drives). And let’s not forget mobile phones and tablets, as well as their accessories.

Last but not least in this category of goods – home appliances. Microwaves, kettles, washing machines or vacuum cleaners, all of these items could potentially on the shopping list of college students.

Homeware

Yet another category of items that tend to be in demand before the school year is homeware.

Alongside the standard items such as desks and chairs, school goers might also need a notice-board or alarm clock. Not to mention other decorative or organizing pieces.

For college students, it can be anything that might be needed in dorms. That would include pillows, blankets, storage organizers, hangers, plates, cutlery or even plants.

How to set up last minute back to school sale?

September is around the corner and in order to join back to school sales bandwagon as a company you don’t have much time to develop an outstanding sales strategy. However, there still are a couple of things you should be able to put together. And so, without further ado, here are a few ideas on how to launch last minute sale to make the most out of the back to school craze.

1. Create a temporary back to school section on your website

Creating a separate page for back to school sale is a great idea as it helps shoppers to find the items they’re looking for. So go through your store and see what could potentially be seen as back to school items.

And be creative, match items that could be purchased together. But most importantly, don’t forget that they should be attractive not only to school goes but to parents too, as they are the ones who will be paying for it.  So keep the current trends in mind but make sure products you are offering are also practical.

Once the separate page with school goods sale is set, you have to start thinking how to get visitors to that particular page. A common practice is to display a banner on the landing page that takes users to the sale section.

Wholefoods do that to direct visitors to different pages that offer useful content about school lunchbox planning, easy recipes or nutrition facts.

Another way to direct incoming website visitors to back to school sale or content section is by using promo bars or exit intent overlays.

2. Notify users about ongoing sale

What’s the point of running a sale that nobody knows about? Even if you are short of time, you have to spread the news about your back to school sale if you want to make the most of this spending season.

Send a newsletter

This probably doesn’t come as a surprise. Send well put together email to your mailing list to announce back to school sale.

Direct your subscribers to sales section on your website, or simply present your best offers in the email with links to pages from which they can purchase the goods.

Send push notification

While some of the emails end up in the SPAM folder of your subscriber’s mailbox, push notifications appear right on their desktops.

A simple message like this can bring up to 30% of your subscribers back to your website. Of course, the success of back to school campaigns is highly dependent on targeting and segmentation. The more personalized the offers or announcements you make the better results you can expect.

And don’t forget to make sure that users who are about to receive a notification from you have time not only to read it but also take an action you are encouraging them to take. That is why choosing a right timing as important. To learn more about web push communication strategies download our free ebook.

Share the news on social media

As a brand, you most likely have accounts on several social media platforms to connect with your customers. Publishing back to school related message on these platforms is probably the fastest way to let your customers know about the ongoing sale or promotions.

Urban Outfitters post dorm inspiration type of pictures on their Instagram account every other day.

Take an example and consider creating your own hashtags or simply use existing ones to be discovered by new users too.

3. Use paid ads

Alongside the posts on social media, consider spending some of your marketing budget on paid ads. This is especially important if you are late to join back to school sales game.

Depending on your budget choose a channel that has the most potential

4. Create Pinterest board

Now, you might think how does Pinterest board can help you boost back to school sales? The answer is rather simple.

There are 150 million active Pinterest users every month, 81% of which are females. Moreover, majority of active pinners are below 40. Doesn’t ring a bell yet? It’s fair to say that an average Pinterest user can also be your target customer – a mother, who looks for ideas how to get her kids ready for school.

And one more thing. 93% of active pinners admitted they use Pinterest to plan their purchases. Moreover, 87% said they’ve purchased something because of Pinterest.

So go ahead, create a separate board with back to school items that can be found in your store. And don’t forget to add direct links to these items, making it easy for the pinners to purchase them immediately!

5. Target mobile shoppers

In July 2016, 60% of back-to-school searches happened on mobile devices. And that means online retail stores no longer have a luxury to ignore customers who prefer shopping on mobile.

First of all, make sure your website is mobile friendly. And that means your regular website should shrink down to be small enough to display on a mobile device.

Why is it so important?  As we already know, websites that are difficult to access and navigate tend to convert worse than the ones which are user-friendly. The same can be said about websites accessed through mobile devices.

If you are not sure whether your website is mobile friendly or not, take Google mobile friendly test to find out.

Second of all, if you are using different CRO tools, such as promo bars or exit intent popups, make sure you target mobile device users too.

Last but not least, don’t forget to optimize SEO for mobile.

6. Reach out to influencers

Influencer marketing is becoming more and more popular as it helps marketers reach target audiences in more effective, authentic, and affordable ways.

A quick brand mention in a video, tweet or blog post, or well put together Instagram or Facebook post can bring new traffic to your website and significantly boost sales. But to attain that, make sure you are reaching out to influencers whose followers are also your target audience.

For example, if you have online clothing store – connect with influencers who speak about fashion. And if you are selling art supplies, reach out to an artist with strong online presence.  

Don’t forget college students

Back to school spending is big, but back to college is even bigger! That’s why don’t forget to target college students too.

School supplies, clothing, and electronic devices are just a small part of items college goers are willing to spend on. Dorm furnishing and decorating are important no less. Not to mention various subscription services such as internet, TV or music.

Also, some college students might be in a need of different computer software.

Back to school is one the biggest spending seasons and your business simply cannot afford to miss on this opportunity to retain customers and boost sales.

Whichever approach to back to school sale you will decide to take, focus not only on great deals but also on creating a pleasant shopping experience for the customers. By the end of the day, you want customers to purchase from you all year round.

Related content:

• Upselling and Cross-Selling: Differences Explained

• 5 Tips for Writing E-commerce Product Description that Sell

• How Can You Build Customer Trust in Your Business [5 Tips To Sell More]

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