The holidays are coming up fast, which means now is your last chance to capitalize on holiday shoppers. With time working against you, it’s important to note you can’t do everything to boost sales. So focus on the strategies that will matter most.
Identify Your Key Products First
With limited time to work, you’ll want to start by identifying which items in your inventory you’ll want to prioritize. This is likely going to be some combination of:
- Your best-selling items (what do you sell the most of?)
- Items with the fastest sell-through rate (what is flying off the shelves fastest?)
- Items that earn you the most per unit (accounting for things like net profit, margin and commission paid)
- Items with adequate inventory (replenishing stock in time to meet Holiday shipping deadlines is no longer an option, so focus your efforts on what you have)
- Item categories that are selling well in the world at large (what types of products are making holiday gift lists, and what can you offer in that category? Do you offer alternatives to this year’s hottest products?)
You don’t need to do this work in the dark, of course. Reporting in your Seller Portal offers insights, including traffic, sales, and returns. Also consider looking closely at sales activity around the holidays (assuming you chose to promote then), as it is often an early indicator of Holiday shopping trends.
Lastly, we recommend you prioritize Shipped by Newegg products in your inventory, as we ship our orders within 24 hours 96.6% of the time – a turnaround that would make even Santa and his elves envious.
Now, with a better picture of which items are at the top of your hit list, you can take steps to promote them. It may seem like peak shopping time has passed, but there will always be last-minute shoppers, which means a narrow but concerted last-minute focus can still boost sales. Here are 5 strategies to implement right away:
- Optimize Your Product Listings
Now is the time to ensure that your product listings are optimized for maximum visibility. Review your product titles, descriptions, and keywords. Use relevant, high-traffic keywords to enhance your search ranking. Look for opportunities to include holiday-related keywords or phrases that might attract seasonal shoppers when relevant. Phrases such as “great stocking stuffer” and “for that hard-to-shop-for person on your list” can be particularly impactful when paired with the right products.
As always (not just for the holidays) it’s good practice to highlight key selling points and features. Additionally, include high-quality product images that showcase items from various angles, as well as functionality, size specs, etc.
- Upgrade Your Listings Even Further with A+ Content
Take your product listing optimization up a level with Newegg A+ content. Whether you’re using existing A+ content or creating your own with our A+ content portal, this dynamic option helps shoppers make a much more informed purchase decision with interactive, informative, and illustrative content. Our A+ Content pages generate 657% more page views than non-optimized listings, so for increased engagement and conversions, look no further than A+ Content!
- Keep an Eye on Price
Holiday shoppers typically look for three things: availability, timely delivery…and low price. Monitoring and adjusting prices (while protecting your margins of course) is a way to capture last-minute shoppers. Because many shoppers begin on Black Friday, they shop with lowest-price targets in the back of their minds, even in the final days leading up to the Holidays. Assuming you are able to satisfy availability and timely delivery, offering the lowest price may be what tips shoppers in your direction. That, and…
- Provide Exceptional Customer Service
As with many of the tips on this list, customer service isn’t only for the holidays. Great products, attentive support, and easy returns are good practice all year round. But paying attention to what you can do right now can still impact sales. Pay attention to buyer Q&As, both on your products and on similar products from other sellers. Answering the most common questions–clearly in your listings preferably–gives buyers the peace of mind they need before adding to cart.
- Promote (yes, there’s still time!)
Of the promotions available on Newegg, Shell Shocker is the only one for which you may qualify in the handful of days left before our holiday shipping deadlines. But that’s not your only avenue of promotion. Utilizing your owned channels such as email and social media, you can promote the discounted pricing and fast shipping available on your Newegg listed products. Again, as the clock ticks closer to the Holidays remember: availability, timely delivery and price are often the biggest motivators for late shoppers.
In conclusion, the strategies above can lead to a last-minute uptick in sales this Holiday. More importantly, however, they represent e-commerce best practices you should be employing as you move into the year ahead. A strategic focus on your inventory and an ongoing dedication to your customer – from product listings through customer service and even returns – is the key to increasing your visibility, seller performance rating, and ultimately your sales on Newegg Marketplace all year ‘round.
p.s. – New promotion campaign opportunities and recommendations are coming to the Seller Portal to help you boost sales even more! Stay tuned here for more information.
