How to Prepare Your Ecommerce Store for Peak Sales Seasons

The world of retail ecommerce has changed significantly in recent years. What used to be limited to single-day sales events like Black Friday or Boxing Day has now expanded into weeks-long shopping events. This shift means customers can enjoy more opportunities to shop, and businesses have more chances to boost their sales. But with this change, both customers and businesses have had to adapt.

Online shopping continues to gain traction during these busy periods. Compared to brick-and-mortar stores, ecommerce platforms offer more flexibility with pricing, promotions, and overall profit margins due to lower overhead costs. The growth of online shopping has also gone global, making it easier for businesses to reach customers around the world.

However, this increased opportunity comes with more competition. Customers now have access to more choices than ever, which means your online store needs to stand out. Here’s how you can prepare your ecommerce store for peak sales periods.

Tips for Optimizing Your Ecommerce Store

To make the most of busy sales seasons, focus on two main areas: simplifying the checkout process and improving the overall shopping experience.

1. Simplify the Checkout Process

Offer Multiple Payment Options: Include popular payment methods like Shop Pay, PayPal, credit cards, and buy now, pay later (BNPL) options to cater to different preferences.
Reduce Steps to Purchase: The fewer clicks it takes to complete a purchase, the better. Simplifying this process helps lower cart abandonment rates.
Allow Guest Checkout: Let new customers complete their purchase without creating an account to make first-time shopping quicker and easier.
Use Digital Wallets and Autofill: Integrate tools like Apple Pay that allow customers to autofill their information, speeding up the checkout process.

2. Improve the Shopping Experience

Speed Up Your Website: Slow-loading pages can drive potential buyers away. Ensure your site is fast to keep customers engaged.
Make It Mobile-Friendly: Most shoppers use their phones, so make sure your website looks and works great on all devices.
Provide Clear Product Details: Include well-written descriptions, high-quality images, and customer reviews so shoppers feel confident about their purchase.
Add Live Chat Support: Help customers instantly by answering questions and resolving issues as they shop.

Taking steps to streamline your global checkout process and enhance the overall shopping experience can greatly reduce the chances of cart abandonment and missed sales.

Review and Improve After the Sale

Once a major sales period ends, take the time to review your store’s performance. While it’s easy to see which products sold the most, digging deeper into other key metrics is what helps drive improvements. Look at these important areas:

Conversion rates
Average order value
Cart abandonment rate
Popular payment methods used
Geographic sales trends
Site load times
Customer feedback and reviews

Analyzing these metrics will help you spot trends and identify areas for improvement. For example, if you see a high cart abandonment rate, you might want to investigate whether it’s due to sticker shock or a lack of preferred payment options. By addressing issues like these, you can make changes that help turn abandoned carts into completed sales.

Stay Competitive by Adapting

As ecommerce continues to evolve, staying flexible and continuously optimizing your strategy is key. Improving your checkout process and creating a seamless shopping experience will help your business not just survive, but thrive during peak sales seasons and beyond.

Learn how our Merchant of Record model can enhance your global checkout and help you convert during peak sales periods here.

Dive into more tips on how to navigate major sales periods in our Business Over Borders podcast episode with Reach’s Head of Sales, Cayleigh Palen, where she shares top tips for making the most of BFCM and holiday shopping.