Holiday Season and Big Billion Days : Time to Optimize eCommerce

Forget revenue and profits, the largest eCommerce firms seem to believe the height of Burj Khalifa is a fair metric to measure their performance during the holiday season. Yes, that’s true!

And these largest eCommerce firms are none other than, Flipkart and Amazon. At the end of their annual flagship festive season sales, these retailers, eager for their window-dressing metrics including gross merchandise value and net promoter scores, measured their success in buildings and mountains.

For instance, here’s what Amazon said about its five-day festive sale:
If all the Lego Bricks bought from Amazon India during Great Indian Festival were stacked, the tower so formed would be taller than Burj Khalifa.

Meanwhile, the tallest building in the world, Burj Khalifa, was used as a benchmark by Flipkart for its Big Billion Days sale:

Length of mobile cables sold (was) 100x the height of Burj Khalifa.

This wasn’t all.

Mount Everest, aircraft, and elephants – they used them all:

AMAZON	FLIPKART
Sold enough Diwali lights to light up Mt Everest top to bottom.	Sold enough washing machines equal to 15x height of Mt Everest.
Sold Fire TV sticks equal to the length of 150 AirBus A380s.	Sold mattresses (stack) equal 5X the height of the Empire State Building.
The number of Echo devices sold (once stacked) would be 10 times taller than the Eiffel Tower.	All fashion products sold weigh more than all Indian elephants combined.
Enough tea and coffee to serve 15 million cups of the same.	Enough LED bulbs to light up India’s 27 international cricket stadiums.
Pet food weighing more than a fully-occupied Boeing 777 plane	Phone recharges worth a talk-time of 200 years.

Having stated the facts and figures, the immediate question that you might be struggling with is:
How do Amazon, Flipkart or for that matter any other eCommerce player manage such huge sales?

Well, the answer lies in store optimization.

As soon as the holiday season approaches, it’s time for online stores to optimize their stores. The season is a great opportunity for merchants to grow and interact with their customers. While customers look for their favorite products and gifts for their loved ones, it is the responsibility of the merchants/store owners to make way for a seamless and smooth shopping experience.

The good news is, this time of the year is almost here. It’s time for you to maximise your holiday sales by implementing a set of proven strategies.

First things first,

What Areas Should I Focus On?

While the entire customer journey needs to be flawless, certain areas demand extra attention, including:

• Shipping
• Returns
• Exchanges
• Security
• mCommerce
• Checkout

The terms say it all. Each field needs to be optimized effectively for maximum output. To know the ‘how’, have a look at the strategies for maximizing 2019 holiday sales

Note: If you are a Magento store owner, we have got a specific set of store optimization tips for the holiday season.

Next comes,

Why Should I Optimize For The Holiday Season?

Huge Market Share
Well, this goes without saying but eCommerce has taken the retail market by storm. It is no longer a luxury but a necessity for businesses who seek to grow. According to Statista, retail eCommerce sales worldwide amount to 3.53 trillion US dollars and will reach 6.54 trillion US dollars by 2022.

With such a vast share, it’s is important for you to expand your business online and adopt strategies that increase your customer base, enhance your brand image, boost sales and profits.

Time-Friendly
Everyone is busy these days. Customers, usually, are short of time either due to their office timings, business meetings or simply household chores. With such busy schedules, 24*7 shopping is what tempts them the most. Your online store can provide them with the relief of shopping anytime, only if you optimize your store well. This would, in turn, give them a better experience and you a great customer base.

Customer Retention Is the Key
An online store with dissatisfied customers is the worst nightmare. Your store and eCommerce business stands nowhere without customer retention. Here the holiday season comes into the picture. At this time of the year, you can offer your customers whatever they are looking for themselves and their loved ones. Further, providing them with easy navigation, quick checkout or secure payments serves as the cherry on the cake. Once they are happy with your brand, they will return for another purchase.

Besides, brand identity, business reputation or market needs also form a part of the whys. It entirely depends on how you perceive each benefit and work towards it. Not to forget the sky-rocketing sales!

So, it’s your time to work big and make big.

The holiday season is around the corner, don’t let store glitches hamper your holiday joy!