Ecommerce holiday planning for 2021 is something you must do to increase revenue throughout the year. Many companies see 40% of their sales during the holiday season. Since COVID-19, the ecommerce sector has grown exponentially and continues to grow – and you definitely do not want to be left behind. People who never shopped online prior to COVID-19 have now gotten used to the online shopping experience as well as other forms of ecommerce. The convenience of having something delivered straight to your doorstep outweighs the delivery wait for many. Since COVID-19, ecommerce sales have increased by nearly 20% from 2019 to 2020 and are expected to increase another 8.7% from 2020 to 2021, according to Statista.
Ordoro can help you easily manage your ecommerce business with our all-in-one software. We provide solutions for: shipping, inventory management, dropshipping, barcode management, automation, shipping insurance, analytics, returns, and more. We also work hard to ensure Ordoro is a resource to our customers throughout the hectic holiday season — you can count on us to have your back.
Holiday Season Shopping Predictions
During the pandemic, people got used to buying online and picking up their goods at the store – usually with curbside pickup. The 2021 holiday shopping predictions show that people will continue shopping online, whether because they are still wary of COVID-19 or because they got used to the convenience of shopping online. Predictions include:
Holiday shopping will start sooner.
Consumers will start looking earlier for the gifts they want to ensure they can get them on time for the holiday season. People can easily look for more deals, compare prices, and compare the quality of different brands. Once they find a product they like at a good price, they’ll order the item so as not to lose it.
Many shoppers will continue using the buy-online-pickup-in-store feature.
It is more convenient to have someone else do the physical work. And, many find it safer than going into the store instead of risking potential COVID-19 exposure.
Many companies will push free shipping options.
Who doesn’t like free? What better incentive to have someone buy your product than offering free shipping?
Providing free and easy returns will be popular this season.
Making the return process straightforward will help attract customers. Painful returns keep many people away from online shopping.
Holiday Checklist 2021
Getting ready for the holiday season is easier if you create an ecommerce holiday checklist. Our ecommerce holiday checklist will help you have a successful and stress-free year this holiday season.
Get your calendar organized.
- Know what is in your inventory and what you’ll need.
- Determine how long it will take to stock your warehouse.
- Know how often you’ll need to order more stock – you can look at last year’s sales to get you closer to a ‘guesstimate.’
- Educate yourself, employees, and customers of this year’s shipping deadlines.
- You should also know how long it’s going to take a product to get from your warehouse to your consumer.
- Don’t forget to account for shipping delays.
Take note of ecommerce holiday trends for this year.
Starting in mid-October, begin analyzing which products are popular as well as which products were a hit last season. By doing data research, you’ll ensure your business is prepared for the holiday rush.
Gear up to increase the number of orders you can get out the door.
Consumers might like to shop online, but they’re not going to be very happy with you if you take weeks to get their order out of your warehouse. To reduce the amount of time processing and fulfilling orders:
- Order shipping and packaging supplies ahead of time.
- Set up automation features in Ordoro. Automating invoice generation and shipping labels can save you a ton of time – and money.
- Consider hiring temporary workers for the holiday season.
Ensure your ecommerce inventory management software is writing-back the correct amount of stock to your sales channels.
There is nothing more maddening for a customer than ordering a product, only to receive an email – sometimes weeks later – saying the item is out of stock.
Check your hosting plan.
Don’t get caught with your pants around your ankles because your site cannot handle the increased traffic. Upgrade now. You can always downgrade after the holidays if you need.
Take an audit of your site experience.
Make sure navigation works – and is easy. The quickest way to have a customer drop off the face of the earth and never visit your site again is to make their online shopping experience a train wreck.
Optimize your site for mobile devices and add multiple forms of payment.
Set your customer service team up for success.
With increased sales comes increased questions and possible errors.
- Guarantee your customers are treated with the best customers survive by integrating third-party tools with your internal customer service operations.
- Make sure your customer service reps know all of your products and the sales you are offering.
People want their questions answered and their problems solved – this is one of the better ways to garner repeat customers.
Start marketing your product earlier this year.
Especially since predictions show that people will be shopping earlier. At the very least, you need to be ready before Black Friday and Cyber Monday – preferably during the first or second week in November.
Use all of your marketing channels available.
Including email marketing, social media, affiliate networking, paid advertisements, partnerships and content marketing.
Finally, don’t lose sight of the season! While getting your ecommerce business ready for the holidays can be stressful, take it a step at a time with out ecommerce holiday checklist. Drink some eggnog – spiked or not – every now and then. Enlist someone to help you through the checklist. Lastly, be sure to lean on Ordoro this season to help you stay organized, streamline your workflow, ensure you have plenty of inventory, and automate some of your tasks to save on time and costs.
