Get Ready For Christmas

By Managed Web
Posted Monday, October 4, 2004

Make sure your online shop takes part in the Christmas rush! Managed Web's Christmas Tips will help you ensure your website is the place to shop this Christmas!

Getting your website ready for Christmas

1) Decide which stock you want to promote specifically for Christmas, and make sure you have enough of it. If this is your first year of trading, base your sales on your trading figures so far and increase it accordingly. This can be tricky as you don't want to have too little stock, or have surplus stock after the Christmas period!

2) Re-evaluate your delivery service. Postage can take slightly longer over Christmas, so allow for it. When will be the last day that you will accept orders to arrive by Christmas Day? What backup service is there that you can use if you need to get lastminute deliveries out?

3) Test your customer service. Will there be someone on hand to answer calls and emails at all times? If not, you will lose sales. If the phone rings, answer it! If you get an email, get a reply out asap - don't leave it until later, it will probably be too late. Consider setting up an online chat service so your customers can ask you questions while they're on your site.

4) Make sure your website is up to date and attractive to potential customers. Get an independent review of your site, not family or friends, and act on their suggestions.

5) Make sure your site is listed in the major shopping directories. These are often the first places customers will go to to look for gifts.

6) Make sure your site abides by all the legal requirements. If you don't have a Privacy Policy, Returns Policy, detailed Terms & Conditions, and the correct operating practices, you could find yourself in a sticky situation, not only with your customers, but with the law. Even if you do have these in place, getting them checked by a qualified solictor is the only way to know if you're doing it right.

7) Do regular test purchases if you have an online shop to make sure everything is working properly.

8) Speak to your technical support contacts at your hosting company and any other 3rd parties to see if there are going to be any periods of absence or extended hours so you can plan for this.

9) Don’t forget that it doesn’t end at Christmas! After the festive season there are the inevitable returns (unwanted gifts) and possible customer care requirements if the recipients have been away.

10) Plan ahead for the New Year sales! No reason why the High Streets should have all the fun! You may be sitting with surplus stock that you can’t return, or need a clearout for new stock. Plan this before Christmas so it’s ready to run immediately afterwards.

About Managed Web
Managed Web provides website maintenance, marketing and management services, including one-off or regular updates, website support, search engine marketing and website management. Subscribe to our free monthly newsletter at (http://www.managedweb.com/newsletter.shtml) for advice and information on running your website, or contact us via (www.managedweb.com) for more information.