Online Trading: Maximize Sales According To The Season

Online trading sales can be increased by taking seasonal events into account. Easter is just around the corner – and therefore one of the most important phases of the year for online trading. There are several reasons for this: On the one hand, numerous people celebrate the holiday and give each other small gifts. On the other hand, Easter marks the beginning of spring. The first rays of sunshine, birdsong and warmer temperatures automatically make people want to make changes. The home is decorated for spring, the wardrobe is changed and the first chocolate eggs go into the shopping cart.

With online trading retailers should therefore prepare thoroughly for this season. Because spring is when the wheat is separated from the chaff. Only providers who are well prepared for the season will be able to win over customers and start the new year on a positive note. Just in time for the start of the season, online retailers should therefore consider the following five tips from e-commerce expert Torben Baumdick to help them increase their sales in the second quarter.

1. Take up springtime events in marketing

There are a lot of events coming up in spring, such as Easter, but also the start of the gardening season and Mother’s Day. For many people, however, these occasions are not only a symbol of new beginnings and joy, but they also put consumers in a buying mood almost by themselves. In order for online trading to benefit from this, however, they need to entice customers with attractive deals during this seasonal phase.

The best way for retailers in online trading to do this is to organize a corresponding discount campaign for each event. For example, around Easter, online retailers could offer items that match the start of spring or special garden products at reduced prices to attract new customers and motivate old ones to buy. However, it is important not to be too generous with the time periods and available quantities – if an item is only available for a limited time, the pressure to buy increases for the customer.

2. Always decorate the online trading store appropriately when trading online

The online store page should also be adapted to suit the respective event in order to draw customers’ attention to deals. The easiest way to do this is to replace the banner at the top of the page for each promotion with one that matches the respective event.

The banner should always refer to the promotion that currently offers the best deals. If a longer spring sale is running in the store at the same time, the banner should be replaced for a short time for each event with one that matches the occasion. This costs the online retailer next to nothing – but they can increase their sales by skillfully marketing their promotions.

3. Inform newsletter subscribers about discount promotions

If an online store already has a mailing list of newsletter subscribers and existing customers, it also makes sense to use this as a marketing tool. After all, the email addresses are already available – so it is neither expensive nor time-consuming to create a newsletter for every event and send it out by email.

This form of marketing in online trading works best when customers are reminded of an event three times – the day before, at the start of the offer and a few hours before it ends. The first email acts as a teaser to get customers in the mood for the event and to announce the offers, while the two reminders create additional pressure to make a purchase in the store as quickly as possible before the promotion ends.

4. Place paid ads for every event sale

Customers should also be made aware of seasonal promotions on social media. This can be achieved by using retargeting – a technology that displays paid ads specifically to those users on Facebook, Instagram, etc. who have already browsed or made a purchase in the store.

It is important to adapt the campaign as precisely as possible to the respective action. On the one hand, suitable ads should of course be created, but these should only be placed as long as the promotion itself is running. This guarantees that the financial outlay is kept within limits despite the high impact.

5. Building trust in online retail through customer testimonials

Although seasonal promotions and marketing are factors with enormous pulling power in themselves, more needs to be done to get the most out of seasonal business. Online retailers need to convince new customers in particular that they can be relied upon. This only works if other customers report on their positive experiences with the store and its products in reviews and testimonials.

It is important to aim for two milestones at which the conversion rate increases dramatically. The first of these is around 50 reviews and should represent the minimum number of reviews that must be achieved. However, the best possible conversion rate can only be achieved if the store has been rated with an average of 4.8 stars or more in over 100 reviews. It is therefore advisable to proactively approach customers and motivate them to leave a review. If a discount voucher is also offered as a reward for reviews, it is still possible to collect enough positive reviews before Easter to encourage new customers to store in the store.