Promotions to Boost Holiday Sales</h1> <article> <h1>Promotions to Boost Holiday Sales</h1> <p>MySolutionSpot Editor — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 19:56:52 GMT</p> <p><strong>Promotions to Boost Holiday Sales</strong><br /> <br /> It is never too early for online retailers to begin thinking about the promotions they will want to offer their customers throughout the upcoming holiday shopping season. You must be ready to launch your promotions by Black Friday, the Friday after Thanksgiving or Cyber Monday, which means that detailing your plan in August and September is ideal.<br /> <br /> <strong>First Steps: Analysis and Planning</strong><br /> <br /> The first phase of incorporating holiday promotions to boost your online sales this holiday season is to carefully analyze your customer base—existing and potential. What has prompted increased sales in the past? How did you fare in the 2008 holiday season? Answering these questions can give you an idea of which promotions will find the most success this year.<br /> <br /> Perhaps you determine that you have some tried and true methods that get shoppers to buy from your site. Maybe you want to try something new. Constructing a plan based on the information from the past year’s sales can help you chart a successful course through the host of promotional options to implement on your site this year.<br /> <br /> <strong>Next Steps: Decision-making</strong><br /> <br /> Some of the promotional ideas outlined here are not necessarily innovative, but they have been shown to work well to see an increase in online sales during the holiday season. Consider some of these options and evaluate which ones are most likely to help increase your holiday sales:<br /> <br /> <strong>Free Shipping</strong><br /> <br /> Offering free shipping, either during a certain time period during the holiday season or for a certain purchase amount, is a tried and true promotion that is certain to increase your sales. This promotion is executed so often, in fact, that it is almost a necessity to compete with other online retailers. For example:<br /> <br /> “All orders placed by December 15 get free shipping.” This may prompt people to buy with the imposed deadline in mind.<br /> <br /> “Free shipping on all orders over $250.” If a visitor to your site finds the items they need for less than $250, they may be inclined to get a few additional items to take advantage of the free shipping.<br /> <br /> “Shipping on all orders, just $5.” This may prompt people to purchase more on your site than they may have intended to squeeze as much as they can out of their cheap shipping cost.<br /> <br /> Closely look at your margins and determine when it is most profitable to offer the free shipping promotion and be sure to include some form of free or reduced shipping at some point during the holidays.<br /> <br /> <strong>Save By Spending</strong><br /> <br /> Offering a discount for spending a certain dollar amount is another strong motivator to get customers to make more and bigger purchases on your site over your competition. For example:<br /> <br /> “Get 20% off all orders over $100.00. Discounts taken at checkout”<br /> <br /> Simply setting the stage to encourage shoppers to buy more and get a discount can increase your sales dramatically over the six weeks between Cyber Monday and January 1st. <br /> <br /> While you’ll want to reserve this offer for launch during the peak holiday season, you’ll want to evaluate how to most cost-effectively design it right now.<br /> <br /> <strong>Contests and Joint Promotions</strong><br /> <br /> In 2008, Kmart® and Disney® worked jointly to offer the “Wish and You Could Win” promotional holiday event. The promotion was available in the retail stores and online and functioned very simply: purchasing certain items at Kmart rendered the buyer eligible for Disney prizes. Both companies realized increased profits during the holiday season by offering this promotion.<br /> <br /> While your shop may not be as far reaching as Kmart or Disney, you can still construct a promotion with other retailers, especially local ones if you are both an ecommerce store and a stick and brick shop, to maximize benefits for you both. Or you can offer a promotion similar in construct, but without the second party.<br /> <br /> For example, “Customers purchasing more than $100.00 are entered into a contest for a $100 gift card (to our shop, another shop, etc).”<br /> <br /> When you sweeten the deal with the prospect of a free gift chance, customers are more likely to purchase from you over your competition. Begin now by evaluating your budget and determining how to most benefit from a promotion like this. And begin exploring opportunities with other organizations or retailers to construct a joint promotion.<br /> <br /> <strong>Other Promotions to Boost Holiday Sales</strong><br /> <br /> There are a host of other simple promotions you may want to highlight during the holiday season, some promotions you offer year round may need to be more heavily advertised and others may expire after the holiday season ends.<br /> <br /> Gift Finder tools: This is the tool that shows other items that the buyer may be interested in purchasing<br /> <br /> Gift Cards: Gifts cards are now one of the hottest selling items purchased for the holidays. Make sure visitors to your site know that you offer one and how to purchase one.<br /> <br /> Free Gift Wrapping: This is a nice feature that many people will use.<br /> <strong><br /> Conclusion</strong><br /> <br /> Right now, in the late summer and early fall, it is time to start outlining your battle plan and mobilizing your efforts to get the most from the 2009 holiday season. Determining which promotions fit your company and your budget best is a critical first step. <br /> <br /> Your next step will be working with your web developer to implement the necessary features into your site to offer the promotions you choose. The developers at Network Solutions® help customers boost their holiday sales every year by “decorating” their sites, inputting promotional details, and much more. When you determine the promotions you want to offer and the other onsite preparations you want to make for the 2009 season, be sure to contact us to get started.<br /> </p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>No Love for Valentine's Day?</h1> <p>MySolutionSpot Editor — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 15:04:33 GMT</p> <p><b>Emphasizing the 'E' in Eros.</b></p> <p>There may be love in the air this Valentine's Day season, but apparently most small businesses owners in the US do not expect to find it in their cash registers. </p> <p>According to the "2nd Annual Small Business Valentine's Day Outlook" survey from <a target="_blank" href="http://www.constantcontact.com/">Constant Contact</a>, while 55% of small business owners in America anticipated a strong Valentine's Day sales season in 2006, only 37% of them feel the same this year. </p> <p>"This year's survey shows more conservative predictions among U.S. small business owners for Valentine's Day sales," said Gail Goodman, CEO of Constant Contact. "The good news is that US small business owners anticipate more online sales this Valentine's Day." </p> <p>Despite a decline in optimism for 2007 Valentine's Day sales overall, 64% of small businesses expect stronger online sales this Valentine's Day. </p> <p align="left"></p> <p>In addition, the majority, 53%, plans to run special sales and marketing promotions, with online marketing methods largely favored over traditional print and advertising. </p> <p align="left"></p> <p>E-mail marketing ranked as the most popular promotional tactic method, cited by 66% of respondents, followed by other online methods, including paid search and banner ads. </p> <p align="left"></p> <p>As usual, flowers are expected to be the most popular gift item for the Valentine's season. </p> <p></p> <p>For more information on online retailing up north, read eMarketer's <a target="_blank" href="http://totalaccess.emarketer.com/Reports/All/Em_ecom_canada_b2c_jan07.aspx">Canada B2C E-Commerce</a> report.</p> <p><b>Article Source</b>: <a target="_blank" href="http://www.emarketer.com">www.emarketer.com</a></p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Health and Beauty Online: More than Just a Pretty Face</h1> <p>MySolutionSpot Editor — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 21:50:05 GMT</p> <p><b>A site for sore eyes?</b></p> <p>"The adage 'age before beauty' has taken on new meaning for health and beauty marketers. Every year for the next 10 years, more than four million Americans will turn 21, and even more will turn 50. As boomers chase the Fountain of Youth, the oldest Gen Ys, now 26, are starting careers and families," says Lisa Phillips, eMarketer senior analyst and the author of the new report, <a target="_blank" href="http://totalaccess.emarketer.com/Report.aspx?em_health_oct06">Health and Beauty Marketing: Meet Your Online Customers</a>. "More than 85% of each group is online, and health and beauty marketers are taking notice." </p> <p>In addition, eMarketer estimates that 51% of all Internet users in the US are women (five million more than men), and according to a recent <a target="_blank" href="http://www.euromonitor.com/">Euromonitor</a> report, personal care items are firmly in the top 10 product categories they purchase. </p> <p> </p> <p>"Personal care marketers have not been big Web advertising spenders," says Ms. Phillips, "but like their counterparts in the rest of the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry, they are learning to use the Internet to reach their target audiences in new ways — with microsites and accompanying viral campaigns, sponsoring podcasts and online games, and posting online videos, to name a few." </p> <p>Most health and beauty category sales are made through offline grocery and drug stores, mass merchandisers and supercenters, according to <a target="_blank" href="http://us.infores.com/">Information Resources, Inc.</a> (IRI), and that is not going to change dramatically in the near future. But IRI data show that shopping trips have dropped steadily over the past five years, so that consumers are in stores one time less often per month — down 12 visits per year. As gas prices climbed in 2006 and further impacted consumers' shopping habits, there are fewer opportunities to influence in-store purchases. </p> <p>"In fact, Drugstore.com, a pure-play online retailer of pharmacy, vision, health and beauty products, saw its sales grow 6% in the second quarter of 2006, to $102.4 million," says Ms. Phillips. </p> <table width="100%" align="top" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td valign="top">"<a target="_blank" href="http://www.internetretailer.com/">Internet Retailer</a> reported that orders hit 1.3 million, the highest second-quarter volume in the company's history. Repeat customers represented a record 82% of net sales, and the number of active customers grew 13% to 2.1 million, and their average annual spend was $188." <br /><br /><a target="_blank" href="http://www.forresterresearch.com/">Forrester Research </a>estimates that 5.6% of all health and beauty sales were made online in 2005, and predicts the Internet channel will grow to 13.8% in 2010. <br /><br />Online sales of health and beauty products showed growth early in the year, according to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.comscore.com/">comScore Networks</a>. Sales on Valentine's Day gift-related Web sites increased 22%, to $907 million, in the month leading up to the February holiday. Online health and beauty sales in that period hit $270 million, up 24% over the year before. <br /><br /> "It won't happen overnight, but the makeup of the advertising and marketing for the health and beauty category will change," says Ms. Phillips. "The online portion of promotional budgets will grow — because online is, as in so many other categories, where the customers are." </td> <td valign="top"> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p>For more on information on how this category will evolve, read eMarketer's new <a target="_blank" href="http://totalaccess.emarketer.com/Report.aspx?em_health_oct06">Health and Beauty Marketing: Meet Your Online Customers </a>report today.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Ecommerce Credibility Building</h1> <p>MySolutionSpot Editor — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 03:39:14 GMT</p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">The new focus for many ecommerce companies is how to attract buyers, and convince them that the ecommerce site is not a scam or phishing site. This can be tricky because SSL certificate logos can be copied, and websites can be duplicated. </span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">This leaves many ecommerce sites scrambling to build credibility.</span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">Narrow the Niche</span></strong></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">Once the niche is picked then narrow it. The site may sell to dog lovers, but building an internet business for dogs will not build credibility. The site needs to narrow the niche. While 'brick-and-mortar' stores want to cater to everyone, successful internet businesses cater to a narrow audience.</span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">Instead of dogs, think of a small niche like; small housedogs, hairless dogs, or terriers. The internet is so vast that websites will draw thousands readers to any niche, not matter how small it is. The trick is to learn how to keep visitors returning.</span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">How many websites have you visited once and never returned? Those websites failed their marketing goals. A good website will draw someone in and hook them for a long time. This is accomplished by building a niche community.</span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">The following are some ways to advertise socially, and free. However, the value of these is their ability to build a social network that will build credibility for the ecommerce site.</span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><strong><span style="font-family:Arial;">Methods of Online Advertising</span></strong></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">Once you have an idea of the niche you want, it is time to learn how to advertise. Each type of website is advertised differently. The big audience web sites like Ebay need to pay a lot of money to AdWords and other advertising so they can get massive exposure.</span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">Content Advertising - Smaller websites can advertise free. One of the #1 methods of advertising is writing free content for websites. You write an article, post it on a free content site like www.ezinearticle.com, www.get-free-content.com or www.amazines.com. There is a link to your website at the bottom. Each article works like a television commercial, broadcasting your web site on other sites.</span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">Video Advertising - Youtube.com has become a major advertising venue. The dating site may video people at the clubs. The small dog website may video different breeds of small dogs wearing the products for sale. </span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">Social Network Advertising - Myspace.com is a great place to publish your videos. As of Sept 2006, myspace.com drove more users to internet business websites than MSN search engine. Millions of people use myspace.com.</span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">Search Engine Advertising - The internet is full of PPC programs. The most popular are the ones owned by Google, Yahoo, and MSN. However, if you want more control, then the next best is www.adbrite.com</span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">Link</span><span style="font-family:Arial;"> Building</span><span style="font-family:Arial;"> - As far as Google is concerned; only backlinks, or inbound links, are important. However, it is almost impossible to get a 'real' backlink from Google. There are sites with thousands of backlinks from hundreds of websites with similar content - but Google doesn't count any of them as real. </span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">Thousands of successful online businesses only receive a few hits from Google.</span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">Link building is a great method of advertising. Exchanging links with similar websites will increase a website's exposure. One great way to build links is by writing free content. </span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">Viral Advertising - this type of advertising takes advantage of current social networks like www.myspace.com, www.squidoo.com, and hub. You can also take part in sites like www.helium.com, www.writingup.com (a community disguised as a blog), and yahoo forums.</span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">Joint Ventures - Ebay and Commission Junction are two great joint ventures. Avoid the online joint venture schemes that promise to link hundreds of portals and communities with people who have a product. After paying $50 - $500 to join, members only find a few thousand people trying to sell ebooks.</span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">Networking - Networking is a better way to build joint ventures. One company may manage the online store, someone else focuses on marketing, another may be a writer. Once the costs are paid, the profits are divided. This type of venture can launch an ecommerce business in one tenth of a time it normally takes, and at a fraction of the cost. </span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">About the Author</span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;">Mark Walters is a third generation entrepreneur and author. He offers free training and investing videos designed to speed you towards financial independence at <a href="http://www.cashflowinstitute1.com/Articles.htmlr">http://www.cashflowinstitute1.com/Articles.htmlr</a></span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><span style="font-family:Arial;"> </span></p> <p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal" style="><strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal;"><span style="font-family:Arial;"><a href="http://www.content4reprint.com/business/management/ecommerce-credibility-building.htm">http://www.content4reprint.com/business/management/ecommerce-credibility-building.htm</a></span></strong></p> </article> </main></body></html>