Do you hear that? Thatâs the sound of a virtual stampede of holiday shoppers itching to get their hands on some sweet, sweet virtual deals! With the holidays just around the corner, itâs time to prepare your online store to get the most out of these action-packed days.
Due to the high level of competition in the eCommerce realm, itâs important your store is prepped and optimized to encourage customers to take action and follow-through with purchases. This is where plugins come in! Plugins are powerful tools that can add needed functionality and depth to your website. Here are 5 plugins your eCommerce store needs this holiday season:
1. Countdown Timer
Countdown timers are fantastic tools for creating a sense of urgency and motivating people to take action. Capitalizing on customers' FOMO (fear of missing out) is a great way to boost sales and ensure you reach your revenue goals this holiday season.
Here are a few countdown timer use-cases to try:
- Countdown to a specific date: set up your countdown timer to countdown to the start or end of a sales event. Many eCommerce retailers whoâve employed this tactic have seen up to a 50% increase in sales!
- Countdown for limited time discounts: create a countdown timer for time-sensitive offers. For instance, when a shopper first arrives on your page, you could offer them a special discount (letâs say 50% off), but only if they complete their purchase within the next 30 minutes. This can help eliminate time for second-guessing and help drive shoppers to complete purchases quickly.
- Countdown to an exclusive event: pique customersâ interest by counting down to an exclusive sales event they can only access if they sign up with their email by a certain date. This creates excitement around your sale and helps you expand your email list. Pretty nifty, right?
POWr Tip: POWr enables you to set your countdown timer to a fixed position on your site, so so it's always in user's sight even if they navigate away from the page.
2. Popups
Popups can be incredibly effective at capturing customersâ attention and helping you highlight products, sales, etc. They are also excellent email capture tools! Here are some examples of ways you can use popups on your site:
- When a customer first arrives to your website: many retailers have popups that activate when a customer arrives on their site for the first time. Typically they offer a first purchase discount in exchange for said customerâs email address. In this way, they encourage purchase behavior, while simultaneously building their email list.
- When a customer clicks a specific place on your page: for example, if youâve just launched a new holiday product/line, you can create a popup that deploys when a customer clicks on the âNew Productsâ category, and offer a limited discount (i.e. Today only! Take 15% off all new holiday inventory!).
- When a customer goes to leave your website: create an exit intent popup that activates when a shopper tries to leave your site. This is a great opportunity to present them with a special discount to encourage them to follow through with their purchase. For example, offering them 20% off their purchase could be just the motivation they need to complete checking out.
POWr Tips: You can utilize the Automated Welcome Email feature within Popup to create custom emails that automatically send to customers who signup to your email list! In addition you can optimize your popup to remain in a fixed position, even when a customer scrolls/navigates to a different page.
3. Form Builder
With so many holiday shoppers roaming the web, itâs a great opportunity to expand your contact list and gather valuable customer info. Form builders are excellent tools for helping you accomplish this. Below are a few ways you can use a form builder this holiday season:
- Contact Form: Contact forms make it easier for customers to reach out to you. For instance, you could create a contact form for customers to fill out regarding out-of-stock items, so you can email them when theyâre back in inventory. The form saves them from having to scour your site for contact information, and you can add product specific fields to ensure youâre receiving as much information as possible in order to respond appropriately. When you create your contact form through POWr, you can even utilize the Customer Confirmation Email feature to create custom emails that automatically send to customers whenever they complete your contact form.
- Order Form: Whether youâre selling products, tickets to an event, special services, etc., order forms are an excellent option. For instance, if you sell handmade pottery, you could create a form asking customers for the desired size, colour of glaze, shape, and custom details theyâd like. You can even add text fields for them to go into more detail. POWr Form Builder makes taking payments easy and enables you to offer customers payment options they trust (i.e. PayPal).
- Contest Forms: Contests are a proven method for attracting customers and boosting engagement. The holiday season is a great time to host a contest in order to attract shoppers and expand your contact list. For example, if I were to run a competition, I may offer a free cozy cashmere sweater to one lucky winner if they sign up to my mailing list by December 12th. Keep in mind the ideal length for a competition is between 25 and 60 days.
4. Social Feed
Social media can be invaluable to your success. Itâs excellent for providing social proof, helping you connect and build relationships with your target audience and aiding you in showcasing your products. Social feeds are perfect for connecting customers with your brand and keeping them updated as to new products, sales, events, etc. With the holiday season swiftly approaching, thereâs no time like the present to get your social feed up and running! Here are some fun ideas for your social feed this holiday season:
- Highlight your happy customers! Encourage your customers to share selfies with your product(s) on social media with a specified hashtag and a blurb on why they love it. This is a great way of illustrating social proof while building relationships with your customers!
- Showcase your upcoming inventory: the holidays are a great time to get customers excited about new products. Get customers buzzing about your soon-to-be-released items by releasing teasers of them on social media and displaying them in your social feed. This is another effective way to encourage engagement and boost your following.
- Keep customers informed about special discounts and deals: who doesnât love a good secret sale or limited-time offer? I know this girl does! Use your social feed to keep customers informed and engaged with special discounts and deals your offering throughout the holidays. For instance, I might post a new picture each day leading up to a special sale or offer that is then displayed in my social feed to get customers excited and talking about my products.
5. FAQ
Keep in mind how competitive the eCommerce space is, especially during the holidays. As a result, itâs important you eliminate as many barriers as possible between your customers and completing a purchase. This includes ensuring they can easily access pertinent information, and a FAQ is just the tool for the job. Here are a few ways you can use an FAQ during the holidays:
- Offering details regarding special offers, promotions, sales, etc. Eliminate guesswork for your customers by making all contest and promotional information readily available in a comprehensive FAQ. For example, if I were hosting a competition my FAQ would likely offer categories like: contest details, contest rules, what happens if they win, what will happen with the contact info they share, etc. I would want to make certain to offer as much insight into the contest as possible in order to alleviate doubts and encourage participation.
- Product info: Itâs almost crunch time, to help avoid a heap of customer product inquiries, make your product info readily available in FAQs on your product pages. For instance, If you sell artisanal hot chocolate, you could create an FAQ for each flavor detailing the ingredients, how itâs made, where itâs made, etc.
- Brand overview: Itâs likely with online holiday shopping trending higher and higher, youâll be seeing many new (virtual) faces gracing the pages of your online store. Because of this, youâll want to make sure details and answers to commonly asked questions about your brand are readily available. You can even add a holiday-specific section that includes info, like how far in advance they need to place an order for it to arrive by a specific date.
As you experiment with these five plugins, donât be afraid to get creative. Your business is unique, and your plugins should be a reflection of that. At POWr, we strive to provide small online businesses, like yours, with the tools you need to be grow and be successful. Nothing makes us happier than knowing weâre helping you achieve your small business dreams.
Happy customizing!