| Here comes Santa Claus...here comes Santa | | | | |
| Clause... Yep, it's almost that time again. | | | | 4. Will you be offering any specials or |
| As we head into September, every e-commerce | | | | discounts? |
| site should be formulating a plan for the | | | | |
| holiday season. Even the sites selling the, | | | | 5. If so, on what products? |
| "I hate the holidays" t-shirts. | | | | |
| | | | 6. Is your site updated with all products? |
| Prepare or Be Doomed | | | | |
| | | | 7. If you've moved up in the search engine |
| You may be thinking, "It is only September. | | | | rankings, is your site ready to receive more |
| I've got four months to get ready for the | | | | traffic or will it bog down? |
| holidays in December." Well, you're wrong. | | | | |
| Let's consider a scenario. | | | | 8. Have you compiled a list of email |
| | | | addresses for people that bought from you |
| First, the mad dash for purchasing holiday | | | | last year? |
| gifts starts early to mid-November depending | | | | |
| on the popularity of the products on your | | | | 9. Do you have your email material ready to |
| site. The online holiday season is not in | | | | send to them? |
| mid-December! If you agree with this | | | | |
| position, your preparation time is already | | | | 10. Did you make the changes to the site you |
| down to two months. | | | | wrote down from the last holiday shopping |
| | | | season? You know. The ones you swore would be |
| You're probably thinking, "Two months? | | | | done so the site would really hum next |
| Shorter than I thought, but I still have | | | | season? I'll wait while you go dig through |
| plenty of time." Sure you do. | | | | the notes crammed in your desk. |
| | | | |
| If you think two months is plenty of time, | | | | Obviously, there are many other questions |
| ask yourself the following questions. | | | | that can be asked. The point of this article |
| | | | is you should be asking them NOW! You may |
| 1. Is your product line currently updated? | | | | find two months isn't looking like nearly |
| | | | enough time. |
| 2. Do you have sufficient inventory? | | | | |
| | | | Remember, prepare for the holidays and you |
| 3. What's your holiday sales slogan? | | | | will clean up. |