Cyber Monday 2017: Plan now for the web’s biggest sales day
Got your sights set on Cyber Monday 2017? Good call. According to Fortune, last year was the biggest Cyber Monday ever, with online sales of about $3.45 billion. A survey by RetailMeNot predicts consumers will spend an average of $743 per person between Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year.
Looks like consumer confidence is up. Way up.
We at GoCentral are super excited for you and your store … because you’re about to get a piece of that action. We’ve compiled this handy-dandy list of things you can do to get ready now.
5 ways to increase Cyber Monday 2017 sales
Succeeding at online sales isn’t rocket science, but it does take some effort. Here are five things you can do now to increase your sales on Cyber Monday 2017 and throughout the year.
- Create an abandoned cart email.
- Showcase your top sellers.
- Start a buzz before the big day.
- Woo shoppers with free shipping.
- Spread the word on social.
Take these tips to heart, and you’ll be on your way to more sales.
Check out our list of pro tips — from nudging distracted shoppers to sealing the deal with free shipping. GoDaddy GoCentral Online Store makes it all easy.
1. Create an abandoned cart email
Ever put things into an online shopping cart then wandered away? According to Barilliance, the average cart abandonment rate for the four days following Thanksgiving 2016 was 68 percent (78 percent on mobile devices). Ouch.
Get these shoppers back on track with a reminder email.
It’s not only helpful, it’s just plain smart. When a customer adds a product to their cart but leaves — to answer the door, maybe, or turn off the oven — send an email beckoning them back. It works.
Abandoned carts are the low-hanging fruit of sales strategies — the shopper’s already very interested. They just need reminding.
To set up an email reminder in GoCentral Online Store, select Open next to the Manage Store widget on the right. That opens your sales dashboard. Then click Enable Cart Recovery. Once set up, the email will be automatically sent to shoppers who leave before completing their purchases.
2. Showcase your top sellers
Put select products front and center with GoCentral’s Featured Categories widget. Choose from Most Popular, Best Value and New Products or change category names to fit your inventory (adding up to three more categories).
To add this feature to your GoCentral Online Store, select Sell Online from your widget section list, and then Featured Categories.
3. Start a buzz before the big day
Now’s the time to convert a bunch of one-time shoppers into loyal customers. Emailing current customers before Cyber Monday 2017 can help build excitement and drive traffic to your site.
Email marketing is incredibly cost-effective — for every dollar you spend, you could see a return of $38 in sales.
The first step is to write a traffic-stopping headline for the Subscriber section of your store, inviting visitors to submit their emails in exchange for something (e.g. coupons, secret sales, giveaways). Then use the email marketing tool included with GoCentral to design and send business-boosting emails to your list. All emails will be beautifully branded to match the look of your online store. Pre-schedule them to go out at regular intervals between now and Cyber Monday.
4. Woo shoppers with free shipping
Since 2015, free shipping has been the quintessential no-brainer for attracting online shoppers. If you’re able to offer it, clearly communicate what your shipping parameters are (certain products? certain purchase amounts?) and if/when the free shipping offer expires.
GoCentral Online Store defaults to free shipping. Add more options with a few clicks.
If you intend to offer a discount on a specific product, make sure you have plenty of it. It’s also a good idea to have a Plan B if you happen to run out (GoCentral has a backorder option). You can configure shipping in the Online Store Setup section on your sales dashboard. Learn more about the ins and outs of discounts in this post.
5. Spread the word on social
Photo: Rodion Kutsaev on Unsplash
The best way to get the word out about your store is to promote your products on social media, starting with Twitter and Facebook. Be sure to:
- Follow the 80/20 rule, with four out of every five posts not promoting your business but solving common shopper problems (e.g. gift ideas for hard-to-buy-for people, creative wrapping tips, avoiding holiday burnout).
- When you do post about specific products or promotions, include links to your product pages so readers who love the item don’t have to dig to buy it.
- Don’t forget the pictures, as they increase the likelihood that people will read your posts!
- Be sure to respond to all comments and direct messages on Cyber Monday itself. Social media is all about engagement. And you don’t want to miss a sale.
Don’t have an eStore yet? Build one in under an hour
GoDaddy’s GoCentral Online Store is a fast, easy way to start selling on the web. It has all you need to list, promote, sell and deliver products globally.
GoCentral Online Store:
- Looks and works great on mobile, tablet and laptop
- Integrates with social media for easy promotion
- Accepts all major credit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay and Square
- Comes with an SSL certificate to protect your customers’ private data from theft
- Can be built and managed right from your mobile device
Best of all, you can get your web store up in less than an hour. If this is your first go at selling online, read this great post before you start. Then just follow these steps.
Start your free 30-day trial
Start your free trial, then answer two questions about your business. GoCentral will get you started with fresh photos related to your industry.
Select Themes in the upper right and try out colors and styles until you find a combination you love.
Pick an awesome name
Since your domain name will become your web address, it should be memorable and easy to say. If done well, your fans will be saying it all the time … to friends and family asking them where they got that gift.
Amazon.com is a domain name. So is ToysRUs.com. You need one of your own.
Your domain will play a huge part in your business, so do your homework, come up with a list and ask your friends! They’ll love to help. You can also check out this post for tips on choosing a domain name you’ll be proud to own.
In addition to the classic .com be sure to consider .shop, .store and .gifts for your new web store.
Craft a memorable header
It’s important to make an impact with the top part of your website. After all, that’s the first thing everyone will see. GoCentral Online Store comes with several different options all ready to go. To see them, select Sections, and then Header.
Next, scroll down to Cover Photo. Upload your own photo (My Images) or look through the dozens of images in Stock Images to find one you love. To see how that photo looks in different layouts, select Change Layout in your thumbnail Header image to make sure your image and text look great together.
Add section content
GoCentral comes with several sections built in — About Us, Subscribe and Contact Us.
- Simply click on any of them to add your own photos, text and details.
- Change the headline and description by typing into the boxes on the right.
- Click on any photo you’d like to replace with one of your own or a different one of ours.
Your changes will be automatically saved. Next, add a store by clicking Sections in the right sidebar then the green Add Section button at the top. Scroll down to Sell Online and click it.
Things are really cranking now! Add up to 1,500 products along with awesome product photos, by clicking Open next to Manage Store on the right at the top of the screen. Want some pointers on taking photos that sell? Read this great how-to.
Use your GoCentral dashboard to guide you through the building process — setting up your shop, choosing payment options and picking your shipping methods.
Finally, fill in your contact information (add a map if you have a physical store) and links to your social media pages — a few seconds is all it takes.
Preview and publish
Now use the green Preview button in the upper right to see how it looks. Not quite there? Click Edit in the upper right to continue noodling until your new store has what it takes to be a great eCommerce website.
And when it’s time, click Publish. Congrats! You can now call yourself a website designer … because you just built your first online store!
Submit your site to Google
The secret to bringing customers to your web store is to make sure search engines like Google know about it. Google indexes everything on the web and would eventually find your site if left to its own devices.
To speed up the process, submit the URL for your website (the entire string that shows in the browser bar when you’re on your site) to Google’s Search Console. Then click “I’m not a robot” and Submit Request.
This will prompt America’s biggest search engine to catalog your web store sooner, rather than later. You’ve now enlisted Google in the effort to bring Cyber Monday 2017 shoppers to your online store. Ready for more? Read about submitting your sitemap to search engines here.
Crush Cyber Monday 2017
GoCentral makes it possible for literally anyone to open a global store — complete with all the promotional, security and sales tools to make it a success. So create the store of your dreams with GoCentral. You’ll be sure to rake it in this holiday season … and beyond.
Feature image by: Les Anderson on Unsplash
Originally published at Garage.
