Get your eCommerce website geared up for some important dates
Monday, August 22, 2016Lindsay Hampson
Is it just us or is this year flying by? September is just around the corner and back to school shopping is already in full swing. And before we know it, Black Friday and Cyber Monday will have come and gone as well, and the holiday season will be upon us.
All of these dates are HUGE for online retailers which is why it’s important to start preparing early in order to make sure your eCommerce website is ready for the busy season. Here’s our tips for getting your store prepared:
Ramp up security
Cybercrooks love to strike on busy shopping days and they know that many small to midsize businesses don’t pay enough attention to securing their websites. In order to outsmart the cyber thieves, there are some steps you should take to ensure customer data is safe and secure during the frenzy of busy online shopping dates:
- Choose a secure eCommerce platform
- Use a secure connection for online checkout
- Make sure your website is PCI compliant
- Don’t store sensitive data
- Employ an address and card verification system
- Require strong passwords
- Set up system alerts for suspicious activity
- Provide security training to employees
- Use tracking numbers for all orders
For more information on securing your website, check out our
top 10 practices for protecting your eCommerce business from fraud.
Mobile Responsiveness
Not set up for mobile shopping? Your customers will go elsewhere. More and more people are shopping on mobile devices these days, so make sure your eCommerce website is compatible.
For tips on simplifying your mobile device checkout process, click
here.
Website Speed
We also suggest ensuring that your website will operate quickly and efficiently with the increase in traffic you will be guaranteed to see during the busy days ahead. It’s been proven that websites that take more than three seconds to load could end up costing you up to 40% of your buyers.
Curious how to boost your website speed?
We’ve got the answers.
Content Calendar
We recommend you start planning your blogs, videos, and social media updates as soon as possible. Draft a content calendar ahead of time so that during the rush, all you have to do is execute the strategy you’ve already developed. You can even schedule some of your social media posts ahead of time so that they will automatically post at the time and date you assign.
Strengthen your return policy
With a higher purchase rate during the busy season, you should also be prepared for a higher rate of returns. We recommend that you develop a return policy that will keep your customers happy and ensure that your policy is clearly stated on your website. We also recommend integration between your website and your accounting package so that you are ready and able to accept products that are returned and process the refunded or exchanged transactions back into your system.
Visit our website at
www.ebridgeconnections.com for more information on eCommerce and accounting integrations.
How are you preparing your eCommerce store for the busy days ahead? We’d love to hear. Live chat with us now.