Via SitePoint: If this is the first time you’ve thought seriously about holiday sales, you’re already late to the game. Bricks-and-mortar stores, the traditional leaders of retail sales, put months of planning into their campaigns, all to capture just a few more customers and start the holiday sales season just a few days earlier. This effort takes place online as well: Amazon.com, Buy.com and all the other major dot coms have extensive holiday promotions, run large marketing campagins, and have made serious inroads to the gift buying market.
So, how can you sell more online? There are a number of important tips and tricks that can win you a bigger piece of the holiday shopping action. The first factors to consider in any successful holiday promotion are theme, presentation and mood.
Ultimately, all your sales, marketing, discount and other offers are simply part of an overall effort to get visitors into the gift-buying mood. This is especially important early in the holiday season; while many consumers start to think about gifts in late October, they may not consider making these purchases for months.
By putting subtle cues in place, you can actually speed up the sales cycle by showing contemplators that now is the time for them to start buying. The better your site communicates this idea, the better are the odds that browsers will decide to buy at your store now.
