It’s that time of the year again! The season of giving. Here are 10 tips to get your cash registers ringing.

1. Offer free shipping

Offer free shipping for small items without any bracket of purchase. Last year almost 81% of online retail orders during Christmas included free shipping, according to a Comscore survey. The same survey highlighted that 38% of shopping cart abandonments were due to unexpected shipping costs at the time of checkout.

2. Everybody loves a holiday discount

Holiday discounts are quite appealing and equally hard to resist! People are on a buying spree during Christmas, offer them a Holiday discount to make their buying experience pleasant. Do not reveal the deals too early. Some customers wait for the final price cuts, market your product well and announce upcoming deals for the holiday season.

3. Cross-sell and upsell

“The probability of selling to a new prospect is 5-20%. The probability of selling to an existing customer is 60-70%.”

Got customers to buy your products? Great. Use this opportunity to sell more. The authors of Marketing Metrics say, “The probability of selling to a new prospect is 5-20%. The probability of selling to an existing customer is 60-70%.”

Two popular ways of boosting sales are to cross-sell and up-sell. Cross-selling is a tactic where the seller tries to sell something along with another product like selling french-fries with a burger. Cross-sell other products by featuring them together with the product your customer intends to buy, for example, a power cord or wire extension with a computer or printer.

Up-sell, as the name suggests, is a technique where sellers prompt items to their customers which are more expensive than the one they are buying. That item can be bigger, better, faster or a newer version or model.

4. Bundle products at a reduced price

Bundle products together and offer a discount on the combined price.  Combine products like printer, toner, and cartridges as a deal if bought together. Or create bundles of 5 or 10 of the same product at a discounted rate.

Your customer will easily compare the cost of these items if bought separately versus together. Price reduction offers on such combinations always win!

Use the benefits of product bundling to push your products which are slow. Emphasize on savings and your customers will love the package for its special price.

5. Provide gift suggestions

Christmas is the time to exchange gifts among friends and families. Does your product fill that need? You can project the products you are selling as gifts for Christmas.

People are now looking beyond traditional gift items. A laptop can be a gift too! Put your Santa hat on and start making a list of such items. Place it as gift suggestions on your website and Social Media profiles.

6. Promote on social media

Make your social media marketing campaign ready for Christmas. You can design an eye-catching ‘Merry Christmas’ offer to attract more customers. Engage your followers with hashtag campaigns, social media stories, blogs, etc. Ask your followers to tag people and do a giveaway.

7. Add holiday cheer to your website

So its holiday time and you are geared up to boost your sales during this period. Combine your customers’ holiday with your business. Show them that as a brand you are in tune with the holidays. Connect with your customers with a kind of content and marketing that brings that holiday theme in their minds. Use red, white and green to add a Christmas flair.

8. Don’t run out of stock!

Pay attention to your stock and keep your inventory ready for Christmas. Low stock and increased demand can spoil all your marketing efforts.  An “out of stock” label should be a big NO for your store during Christmas. Nothing can be more disappointing than to have a customer ready to buy your product but had to move away as the item was not available with you.

9. After-sales service matters

Good sales numbers speak about the success of the marketing efforts and the quality of your product. Don’t forget the importance of after-sales service at this point as it brings good reviews and customer loyalty. Social media plays a big role in making or breaking sales based on customer reviews. Helpscout says that a customer shares one negative experience at least 15 times with others. Don’t let this happen to you. Gear up for a good and courteous after-sales service.

10. Offer gift vouchers

Christmas season is idle to influence your customers’ purchase decisions with deals, offers, and discounts. Spoil them to come back to you again. If you want to sell more this Christmas, think out of the box and go that extra mile.

Try the above-mentioned tips and enjoy an increase in your sales.
Merry Christmas and merry selling!

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