Black Friday is fast approaching in the U.S.—the day after Thanksgiving, when retailers truly can give thanks. Preparations and online marketing programs should have been launched weeks ago in time for online shoppers. Many eCommerce professionals get started in late October with their holiday email campaigns and dressing up their online shopping experience.

By most accounts, 2008 is a good season for online retail. Some of the stats depend on the type of products sold. Video game sales are up dramatically, while clothing and toys are down. But on average, online sales is expected to grow some 10 percent over last year in the U.S., this according to eMarketer, who provides stats on such things.

Here’s a graph they published on iab.net:

Another 2008 holiday sales study by Forrester Research projects a 12 percent spike online, compared to just two percent for bricks and mortar spaces. This all sounds lovely for our eCommerce efforts. But financial industry stats are one thing.

You know better than anyone whether the 2008 season is silly or sad when it comes to your online sales. To help out, just in time for the holidays, here are seven ways to maximize your online sales potential this season. If your sales are lagging, implementing these techniques can help you join this trend of better than 10 percent growth over 2007.

1. Make the shopping experience hassle free

Increased traffic with the holiday season is a perfect time to update your Web site. You want to ensure that your shoppers experience a site that is easy to navigate and user-friendly. Some ideas to make things a bit friendlier: large, clear images to showcase products; improved search functions, with options like best-selling, and featured items; video tutorials explaining how to use and why to buy those big ticket items; detailed FAQs; product reviews.

If you use Interspire Shopping Cart, be sure to take advantage of all elements that the software has to offer. There are some powerful options that will positively affect sales, available with the tick of box. For instance discount coupon codes and the flexible banner promotions system, as well as free shipping (which you can limit to selected cities/states/countries).

Using these simple options with help your visitors find the products they want most and encourage them to buy. So too, set up categories and provide the option to easily view popular brands or to shop based on a price range.

Security can also play a role in the hassle-free experience. This may no longer be a priority consideration for online shoppers visiting brand name retailers, but it’s always a buying concern at smaller online stores. Be sure to beef up security on all customer checkout pages. How? Grab yourself an SSL certificate from Verisign.

Basically, hassle-free is a promise that’s not always so hassle-free to keep. When investigating your site for potential issues, be sure to double check things like how error messages appear, or the experience of the final checkout. If a visitor needs to register or sign in, how does this affect the current sale? Inspect every link and consider it from your shoppers’ perspective.

2. Consider the design, look and feel of the shopping experience

Design is paramount. Packaging sells, and it’s tightly woven into the hassle-free experience mentioned above. Your site may boast phenomenal backend functionality, but without the nice site design, you’re going to lose sales.

This can be due to buyer frustration with an outdated, clunky system, or their concerns about credibility. Just as important, the store design affects the perceived value of your products. As retailers, it’s the constant consideration, to amp the perceived value.

All other things being equal, shoppers will buy the product that’s wrapped with service as well as ambiance. Online, this is all about the design and how it connects to the usability of the site.

Design is a special consideration during the holiday season when more people are searching online for gift ideas. If you’re losing traffic or if you have a high bounce-rate, you might consider a design face lift. Update your product pictures and be sure they showcase and amplify the perceived value.

Showing images of people using the products is also proven effective to increase sales. So too, visitors want to see pictures of people or a design that they can relate to, based on the demographics for the product.

If your site design is already topnotch and user feedback has been as positive as the sales results, you might consider temporary holiday artwork. Dressing up the site with seasonal bling and marginalia can also improve your sales odds.

3. Increase the frequency of your email campaigns

With email being inexpensive and extremely effective, it’s okay to increase the number of emails you send out during the holiday season. This will meet customer expectations, and while you can’t avoid some folks on your list viewing your emails as annoying, many of your customers will appreciate an email that includes a coupon code or promo offer.

Obviously the best-case scenario for these emails is to segment your list based on customers shopping experience and history. You can send out personalized emails with special offers depending on the customers’ demographics or loyalty or status as repeat customer.

One good way is to load up plenty of emails to launch over the next month with the help of an autoresponder. It’s easy to share coupon codes with prospects and customers via email too.

4. Up sell, cross sell, and suggest some more

The largest online retailer in the world, Amazon.com, has proven the power of online suggestive selling. “People who purchased this item also purchased…” It’s extraordinarily powerful and can improve sales figures immediately. Including the suggestive selling features again at the end of the sales process, after your shopper has committed to the larger sale, is truly simple and ingenious. As a shopper, I already have my credit card in hand, I’ve already committed to the sale. Now: “Would you like fries with that?”

5. Offer incentives such as free shipping

Sometimes it’s helpful to be reminded of the macro business view; in this case, to keep in mind why so many people are shopping online. What are the driving factors? Simplicity and savings are high on the list. Online browsing is the ideal scenario for frugal shoppers, to perform quick price-comparisons.

According to the 2008 eHoliday Study, conducted by Shopzilla, 80 percent of online retailers are offering free shipping this holiday season, usually connected to some sort of disclaimer. This might be a minimum purchase order or a sale deadline.

Whether or not you provide free shipping, be sure your fulfillment and shipping information is clear, concise, and user-friendly. Provide price comparisons for different delivery options and provide tracking numbers.

6. Showcase community connections

There are a handful of social shopping sites like Etsy  and Kaboodle that have proven the trend. People like to reach for their wallets, especially when encouraged to do so by like-minded individuals or online friends. It just feels better when you know someone else took the plunge and they are using the product.

A quote from Time Magazine online: “In fact, brands are noticing that online communities have more buying persuasion power than store sales clerks. And they're forming more partnerships with social sites now that traffic numbers are at an all-time high. In October 2007, Kaboodle had nearly 3 million unique monthly visitors. By October 2008, it tripled that number to 10.8 million and also logged its highest numbers for revenue, traffic and registered users.”

Keeping this in mind, it can be extraordinarily effective to inject some of that Web 2.0 community flavor into the shopping experience of your site. Some ideas: include customer reviews; allow commenting and rating of products; showcase a customer service pro as a personal connection in case of shopping questions or concerns; create a members’ only section with special discounts or other valuable offers.

7. Increase ad promos and the presence of gift giving, gift cards, and good deals

As mentioned above, regarding the macro-view: why are people turning to the Internet in droves for shopping? It begins with hunting for gift ideas and ends with finding bargains. While everyone wants to save money on gas this year in particle in the U.S., we all want to avoid the long shopping lines, the stress of frantic shoppers, the parking problems, the crowded stores, and so on.

With the increase of Web traffic and folks on search engines, this is a good time to consider increasing your online ad budget. It’s always a challenge for marketing decisions, to find the right mix and balance.

Many online retailers are feeling the crunch, cutting inventories and staff to reduce costs. Nonetheless, attracting folks to your store and then retaining them with gift cards and great offers is a surefire method for ROI.

Final thoughts

Of course it’s easy to throw out numerous suggestions with a simple looking holiday wish list. It’s quite another thing to implement all these changes quickly and efficiently in time for your holiday shoppers. If you own and use SkyCart! Shopping Cart and Quebert, Our Email Marketer, many of these suggestions are quick and simple to initiate. I hope they work for you.

Happy Holidays!

Jeff,

Thank you for all of your great work on our website design and website launch! I really appreciate your patience and expertise in helping me translate what I had in mind into reality. I also appreciate the quick follow-up and support when I have questions or problems. Thanks to our new website, we've been able to better market our martial arts school much more effectively.

Sincerely,
Craig Johnson
Karate USA

I know you’re busy with the day to day, so please save this for when you have just a little bit of time.  This is very important information.

 

First let me say that my intent with this note is not to tell you who to vote for…that’s your choice and I respect that.  My intent here is to share some information that may help you understand BO’s position on a very important issue that the mainstream news media isn’t really talking about; Life.

 

Secondly, I’d like to say that it’s common for many of us to quietly vote and keep our views to ourselves, go about the day, and hope for the best….not rock the boat or think that we are so far from Washington, “How can I possible have an impact”… they don’t really care what “I” think.  Due to the amount of mis-information that is out in the mainstream news media, I feel lead to send a note around and hope it gets forwarded out to others that you know. I’m hopeful that this will not just get deleted and tossed aside.

 

I could have simply deleted this link when it was sent my way and gone about my day.  Here’s why I didn’t: I was reminded the other day of a local bank President that took time off of work, with the support of his board, to help women make informed decisions about their choice to have an abortion this past year at a 40 day event outside a local abortion clinic.  I don’t know him personally, but do know that his leadership example inspired me to be just a little bit more involved with the people I know and help get as much information out to people, so they too, can make a more informed decision. 

 

Many of you have told me, personally, that BO will take the state of WI, so there’s no reason for me to vote…. “He’s already won.”  They say. I respect your feelings, but would like to encourage you to reconsider because it is the most important way for your voice to be heard. 

Don’t give up this right.  Please take the time to vote on Tuesday.

 

I would also like to support my position by asking you to listen to this audio:

 http://www.citizenlink.org/dailybroadcast/A000008329.cfm

 

It’s very interesting and may open your eyes to some issues, comments you didn’t know about.

Even if you support for BHO, I think it’s important for you to understand his position on life.

 

There has been a lot of talk about the economy and BO’s associations, but there is also something very important that will happen if he is elected.  He will, without a doubt, make it impossible for health professionals to choose life;  He’ll make it “wrong” to protect an unborn life.  What will happen to nurses and doctors that believe in ‘life’ if they are asked to perform abortions or lose their jobs?

 

I would hope that you and I can both agree that having the ability to choose ‘life’ is a right that we should not let go of. I completely understand everyone’s need for change as BO puts it, but we need to all understand the larger picture…   

Go into this voting season with your eyes open.

Respectfully,

- Jeff, Michelle, Alex, and Oliver!

What does it mean for you to be committed to something?  Does it mean that you will have a higher level of attention to detail? 

What I'd like to discuss in this posting is the difference between an average commitment and a serious commitment and how they relate to the level of attention you may have for a particular project. 

To fully understand what I mean by "serious commitment", let's examine some examples.  If you were filling up your car with gas, are you paying attention and committed or just on auto pilot?  Chances are, you've done this so many times, you're on auto pilot, right?  Well, think back to when you first learned how to drive and you paid attention to every little movement in front of you, the car, the passengers, the mirrors, etc... You were hyper sensitive and although you were paying attention, you were also blocking out everything else. 

So, we have both ends of the spectrum; auto pilot and hyper.  Both have their place and in most cases are steps in the process to becoming good at something, so you can put it on auto pilot or developing the skills to know when you need to pull it off auto pilot and engage. Are you following me so far?

Okay, so the point I'm going to make here is that when you work with someone in business or even in life, you'd like them to have a natural level of commitment and the maturity to provide you with the right level of attention.  Becuase, when they don't it's obvious, right?  Say you buy some furniture and the salesperson isn't paying attention, gets the color wrong, the delivery is late, and they bang up your doorway bringing the item in.  The whole process is tainted and ruined becuase you were not given the level of attention you should have gotten. 

So the question is... why do people lose commitment and let their level of attention sink to a point where it causes a poor outcome?  Ask yourself, when you do something at home, at work, with a friend, or for a relative... are you fully committed or just enough to get it done?  Are you just on auto pilot and not engaged for some reason? 

What would it take to bring your attention for this particular event to a higher level and provide you with a mature level of commitment, so the whole process is better? 

I'm interested in your comments on this so please write in.

At N.E.W. Results, LLC we focus on you, engage, and make sure our level of commitment is high and our level of attention is mature enough to show you results from start to finish.  Talk this over with your staff and write in.  I'd like your input and success stories.  How did you turn it around and make it happen for your company? 

If you're challenged with this now and need some help to improve the commitment your staff has to the customer, contact me and I'll give you a few tips and pointers.  I'm very interested in finding ways to improve your competitive edge by increasing the level of attention you provide with each service or product engagement. 

- Jeff Blackman.

 

Back in 2002 Jeff Blackman came into our Showroom looking for a Central Vacuum System for his new home, as we talked I had found out that he had his own business of designing websites.  We continued to talk and Jeff decided to go with our Central Vac System and became a customer.   

About six months or so went by and we were looking to start our own website and I remembered that Jeff, designs websites.  I remember that he told me if we ever wanted a web site designed that he would do his best and treat us good. 

Well, six years have gone by and Jeff is still our (Web Guy).  He is always looking for new and better products to keep his customers up to date and gives you a fare price for the work he does.  I would recommend N.E.W. Results, LLC to anyone looking to join the Internet World.

Dori Kolkowski
Office Manager
Malcore Central Vac's, Inc.

I’m a consumer like you.  I can research, shop, buy, and browse with the best of them.  What I’ve noticed the past few years is the decline in business care and service quality.  Maybe you’ve seen it too.  Next time you’re out to eat look at the cleanliness of the menu or the seat or watch how the wait staff respond to your requests.  When you go to a retail store, take note of how much time they spend listening to your needs; if you can get someone to even notice you.  The decline in quality customer service and craftsmanship is everywhere.  I believe that people are getting fed up and realize there is more to the whole experience than price.  They realize that working with someone that takes and interest really does matter.  Paying a little bit more to have a business partner rather than just a vendor or an order taker makes a real difference.  It makes a difference in how fast the work gets done, if there is rework, and how satisfied you are at the end of the process.  Wouldn’t you agree?

Well, I’m writing this to simply say… N.E.W. Results, LLC is not just a company, it’s also an idea.  Ya see, we believe in providing each of our clients with access to our attention.  Then, we return solutions that make sense.  When you fully understand the world of technology and how it impacts each small business industry, it’s an over-whelming feeling to put it nicely.  To be completely honest you can’t fully understand technology.  What we say is the more we learn, the more we realize we don’t know it all.  We’ve been blessed to have worked with so many industries, so our experience has helped tremendously.  What I mean, is simply that small business owners all see what they do and how they do it from within their own industry.  Very few of them understand the world of technology and how it can help them; translating it for them means that we have to have a context or frame of reference to start with.  Each customer that we work with can be assured that we’ll spend the time to understand their industry, situation, and base knowledge, so our solution for them is sensible, customized, and complete.

We do not just offer a one-size-fits-all solution so we can sell our services to the most people.  We know that we’re pointed in the right direction and have a steady, strong pace towards a solid vision and mission.  For us, it’s about the journey, not the destination.  Thank you for taking the time to learn more about us.  We hope you come to understand that working with a company on more than just price is worth the investment.  Don’t forget also, that you can make an impact by improving the customer service and product quality little by little.  Don’t wait for systems to fail or customers to leave before you examine how you can prevent and improve.  To assist and support you we’re now offering a free 30 minute analysis of your business as it relates to technology.  Tell us what you’re doing and what questions you have and we’ll do our very best to give you some feedback; no strings attached or obligation. 

  Jeff Blackman, PMP
Owner

My name is Bronson Smith, I own Superior Sound Entertainment located in Green Bay, WI. I was introduced to Jeff Blackman about 4 years ago in 2004 through a mutual friend. After Jeff consulted with me in regards to various ways of designing and creating a website, I gave him the go ahead.  I believe Jeff has created a spectacular website; I get complimented on it all the time.  N.E.W. Results, LLC host's my website and makes changes when ever I need them done; quickly and accurately.  I would be happy to tell anyone I know that is looking for a web designer to go with  Jeff at N.E.W. Results! Great work Jeff! 

 

Sincerely,
Bronson Smith
Superior Sound Entertainment
" Wisconsin's premier wedding & event specialist. "

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