It’s that time of year when retail kicks into over­drive and many busi­nesses will make or break their whole year based on what hap­pens in the next few weeks. If your web­site makes it easy for cus­tomers to quickly get the infor­ma­tion they need, it can be a com­pet­i­tive advan­tage and con­tribute to a busi­ness get­ting its share – and then some – of the season’s busi­ness. Make sure your company’s web­site is ready to do its part in con­tribut­ing to your retail mar­ket­ing suc­cess this hol­i­day season.

Here are some reminders about key fea­tures that cus­tomers will be look­ing for on your web site:

WHERE is your busi­ness located?

If your busi­ness has one or more brick-and-mortar loca­tions, make it easy to find an address. If your busi­ness is totally online, pro­vid­ing an address is essen­tial to build trust, espe­cially with peo­ple who have never bought from you before.

• Is your address easy to find, and does your web­site include direc­tions, a map, and/or land­mark references?
• Is it easy to park near your store? Is it easy to get there by pub­lic tran­sit? Don’t assume every­one knows the answer; let peo­ple know.
• Is it easy to find your phone num­ber, and can peo­ple click to call? Can you accept text mes­sages? Do you have a con­tact email address, and does your web site indi­cate how quickly some­one can expect a reply?
• Are you listed in Google Places (it’s free), and have you opti­mized your list­ing? Get our lat­est research on how to opti­mize Google Places list­ings by join­ing our mail­ing list.
• Google Shop­ping feed; are you serv­ing up the lat­est prod­uct prices and specs from your website?
• Are you adver­tis­ing where your cus­tomers are? (think in-store dig­i­tal sig­nage, social net­works, search engines, lifestyle web sites, etc..

WHAT is your com­pet­i­tive advantage?

Do you have any fea­tured sale items, new prod­ucts or gift sug­ges­tions to make shop­ping choices eas­ier? Which items are you fea­tur­ing on your home page? This can be very use­ful for gift shop­pers who aren’t sure what they’re look­ing for.

Can peo­ple browse your web­site for ideas by price, colour, size, or other cre­ative cat­e­gories (e.g. gifts for him, gifts for her)? What perks do you offer? (e.g. rewards, coupons, free stuff, pack­age deals, extended war­ranties, in-store repairs, financ­ing, etc.)

As a retailer…

• Are you tak­ing advan­tage of the group buy­ing trend?
• Are you using your email list for spe­cial sea­sonal promotions?
• Does your web site let shop­pers know if you offer any shop­ping con­ve­niences like child care, free cof­fee, gift wrap­ping, or tem­po­rary coat and pack­age check-in to let peo­ple shop in comfort?

WHO are you talk­ing to?

Are your cus­tomers old, young, mar­ried, or sin­gle? Do they shop alone, or with friends, fam­i­lies, or extended fam­i­lies? When look­ing for an effec­tive chan­nel for adver­tis­ing online, con­sider how their audi­ence aligns with yours, as well as con­sid­er­ing their traf­fic vol­ume and reach.

HOW easy is it to buy from your company?

Is your online order­ing process stream­lined, effi­cient and effec­tive? For brick-and-mortar oper­a­tions, how late are you open? Remem­ber to update this infor­ma­tion on your web site if you have spe­cial sea­sonal hours. This is really impor­tant for peo­ple who are try­ing to fit some shop­ping around their work or kids’ sched­ules, and might even be the first thing they are look­ing for on your website.

• Is your return pol­icy clear and easy to find on your web site?
• What are your cut-off dates for order­ing before Christ­mas to ensure delivery?
• Do you accept cheques, debit cards and all the major credit cards?
• Can cus­tomers check your stock online?
• If not, do you offer any infor­ma­tion about what’s in stock or how often you re-stock pop­u­lar items?
• Do you let peo­ple cre­ate wish lists on your web site?

WHY should any­one buy from you?

Your com­pany is the best because…? One of the fastest ways to make cus­tomers com­fort­able is to offer social proof: cus­tomer reviews, tes­ti­mo­ni­als and star rat­ings all push the right but­tons and tell us that oth­ers have made the deci­sion already and it worked for them. It pro­vides emo­tional sup­port to rein­force the deci­sion to make a pur­chase. Prod­uct specs and data can be impor­tant to help peo­ple make a pur­chase deci­sion, but com­bined with social proof it can be much more persuasive.

I think you get the idea; imag­ine some­one find­ing your busi­ness online either from a desk­top com­puter or a mobile device and ask your­self what kind of infor­ma­tion they will be hop­ing to find fast to make their gift shop­ping eas­ier. Happy Holidays!

P.S. Have you done any usabil­ity test­ing on your web­site? Con­tact us for a free con­sul­ta­tion on any aspect of your dig­i­tal mar­ket­ing.


Biography / Resume : Karl joined Mediative’s service delivery team in 2008. A year later, he moved to the company’s research department where he conducted online surveys, eye-tracking studies, one-on-one interviews and usability testing. Most recently, he transitioned to the marketing department. Before Mediative, Karl worked in sales and marketing. In 1997, he caught the digital bug and became the original “webmaster” for Roland Canada Music. Around the same time, he began teaching the relatively new topic of Internet marketing to college and university students. Karl’s insatiable curiosity and drive to get to the core and substance of every situation has served him well in his various roles at Mediative.