How to prepare your store for the sales season

Summer time is often a slow time for sales, but it’s not an excuse to put your feet up, the summer sales slump is a great time to prepare your ecommerce business for the sales season ahead. It’s certainly not too early to be thinking about Christmas, Boxing Day sales or even Black Friday and Cyber Monday. If you put the leg work in now you’ll be in the right place to reap the rewards later.

 

Plan now be rewarded later.

 

You will save a lot of stress and take the guesswork out of your strategy, if you make the time now to plan. The last thing you want is to feel overwhelmed when the sales start if you haven’t put a plan of action into place. 

 

Most shoppers will start thinking about gift shopping around August and September so take the time now to curate your products, update your stock, refresh product descriptions and finalise your inventory.

 

Find out what you should be doing to get your ecommerce store ready for the impending sales:

 

By Liam Brennan

 

What are the peak season sales?

 

Black Friday… what started across the pond as a post-thanksgiving sales day is now a global bargain-hunt phenomenon that’s been extended to Cyber Monday; the digital sales equivalent. We’ve all seen footage of shoppers pushing and shoving their way into high street stores looking for the next hot deal, but online traffic is actually much higher during this period, only with fewer injuries…

These events also act as a useful tool for predicting which products and strategies you should adopt for the subsequent busy Christmas and Boxing Day Sales periods.

 

Planning ahead for the sales.

 

Digital sales are now the first choice for buyers. Extensive consideration should be applied to every step of a business’s eCommerce operation. Such planning goes far beyond simply making stores visually appealing and ensuring they’re functioning correctly.

Getting ready for the sales cycle process means ensuring a number of key factors are considered well ahead of product listings. This ranges from confirming stock sources and your suppliers, to choosing and arranging a suitable courier, and selecting the sales channels most appropriate for your specific products.

Without extensive internal and external marketplace investigations, many business may struggle to meet demand, especially during peak seasons.

 

 

The user experience.

 

Take some time to consider your customer’s complete buying journey. Shifting a few bargains may seem like simple transactions, but most established retailer know that peak season is awash with businesses looking to sell their stock quickly. Without a clear and focused customer experience, prospective buyers will likely gravitate towards those marketplaces that not only support, but enhance the purchasing process.

 

Consider costs.

 

A buyer’s primary goal might simply be to purchase cheaply… but if delivery costs are not fair, you’ll find customers shopping elsewhere. Sending your products with free delivery can help business appeal to new customers, as well as helping to retain their loyalty longer term.

A lot of the orders you receive are likely to be spontaneous purchases; meaning buyers generally don’t need these items immediately. As a result, you can save money with a slightly longer delivery time to compensate for costs you are likely accrue from offering free delivery.

 

 

Update your customers.

 

To make the customer experience complete, you’ll need visible details of where a product is despatched from, and the time it’ll take to arrive. Tracking an item from ‘buyer purchase’ through to picking, packing and delivery, and then communicating this to your customer, provides peace of mind and gives your customers reassurance. It also allows buyers to ensure they’ll be at home on the scheduled delivery date to receive their item.

 

This is achievable when you work with a logistics provider that has extensive dashboard tracking and real-time updates, enabling businesses to have complete transparency on orders and their whereabouts. Our in-house technology and innovative dashboard means that our customers have these key insights, no matter the time of day.

 

Outsourcing your order fulfilment.

 

So, you’ve got your marketing plan in place and your products ready to sell, but what about the fulfilment process itself?

 

This is often the most important aspect of the peak season sales cycle, so it’s critical to get it right. What good is having your bargains ready for sale if they don’t reach your customers via a carefully arranged system?

If you’re preparing to manage your own deliveries, be prepared for long waiting times, with thousands of other businesses utilising postal services during such a competitive time. Outsourcing your fulfilment may seem like you’re letting go of an important aspect of your peak season transactions, but a 3PL provider with proven reliability in its service will save you time and money, and alleviate the headaches that comes with arranging your own fulfilment. Moreover, fulfilment providers have access to an extensive network of carriers, meaning they can offer the market’s most competitive rates, often via the most efficient route.

Fulfilment centres also ensure your products are cared for throughout the process. Pristine condition delivery of your sales is guaranteed along with shipping within the agreed timeframe for delivery.

 

 

Storage.

 

Having a third-party look after your fulfilment also means not having to worry about storage, which can not only amass costs but is also a lot of hassle to maintain, especially if your supplying time-specific, perishable items. A 3PL like Huboo knows how to carefully manage stock for all eCommerce industries.

 

When a 3PL looks after al your fulfilment needs, you can instead focus on managing your business, and be able to relax during the holiday period without the constant worry of having to despatch orders on time and be dependent on a courier.

 

Stock & fulfilment control.

 

When searching for the right fulfilment partner for your business, scalability and flexibility are two key things to look out for.

Huboo has an extensive network of fulfilment centres across Europe that can despatch to anywhere in the world to agreed times and prices. Furthermore, changes can be made to stock locations at short notice at little or no additional cost or planning, thereby helping you serve key sales locations quicker and easier.

 

You’ll also find that a quality fulfilment service will arrange for courier rates of much greater value compared to those you arrange independently.

 

You’ll also find that some providers give priority to their bigger customers, especially during crucial sales periods. Huboo gives equal weight to all clients and provides a designated account manager to look after your store. They will be your direct contact, conversant with your brand and available whenever you need.

 

A worthy 3PL provider is aligned with a range of partners, from VAT tax support professionals to payment solution providers. These all help to create an environment to streamline sales strategies across a business.

 

Good luck!

 

The peak sales period is not just a chance to rid your inventory of old stock to gain a quick sale, but it can also lead to great exposure for your business that results in repeat customers that stay with your brand for years to come.

 

Get in touch with Huboo today to work with a industry-leading 3PL that will not only prioritise your personal sales goals during peak season, but also work with you for the long-term should you require.

It’s not too late to take advantage of our fast, effective onboarding process to get ready for the peak season. Get in touch today to receive a quote for your business.