Prepare your online store for a high traffic during sales time
The end of November and the beginning of December is a time of increased sales in online stores and marketplaces. It is caused by events, such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday or Christmas. Especially time-limited sales attract a large number of users visiting our online store at once. Because of this it is good to check if your online store is ready for bigger traffic and sale.
Below we have described what you should look at to avoid delay or failure in performance of our online store that may cause the loss of customers in such a significant time.
1. Check the efficiency of your online store
The efficiency of your online store is one of the most crucial factors in time of increased sales. If your products will load for a long time, you can lose the interest of your customers. If you see any problems with fluent performance of your online store, you should contact your programmer or hosting provider. It is a good idea to increase the capacity of your server or run REDIS, which optimises data storage, thanks to which we can slightly accelerate our e-commerce.
2. Inform about your special offers
To encourage customers to buy something from your offer, you should inform them about planned discounts, new products or gift packages. Create banners that will visually match your website and which will simplify the navigation though the products on sale. Send a newsletter to your customers and add relevant information on your social media a few days before. If you want to reach a wider audience, think about advertising campaigns in Google Ads, Facebook or Instagram.
3. Organise efficient order processing
Large number of orders means more work for you and your team. Make sure that you have appropriate stock and human resources to face this challenge. It is good to check if you have a sufficient number of products, especially those on sale. It is also important if you can provide proper customer service and fast delivery. If you want to improve the process of delivery, think about integration with a logistics company - this solution will help you to save a lot of time. You should also provide easy access to terms and conditions, privacy policy and return/complaint forms.
4. Check if there are no errors in your online store
It is a last call to check the technical condition of your project. Test sending emails, payments or all unusual features of your e-commerce. Remember that it is not recommended to do any updates of the system or modules by yourself, especially at the time of increased sales. The updates often don’t go according to the plan and they need technical support. If you cannot verify if your online stores have any issues by yourself, ask for a technical audit of the online store.