How to Prepare Your Business for the Holiday Season with Online Ordering

Wouldn’t you like to capitalize on as much profit as possible this holiday season? One of the surest ways to do this is through online ordering.

The holiday season is typically the most profitable time of year for businesses. This year in particular, the holidays will be more important than ever for bringing in revenue, as businesses are looking to make up for losses that occurred as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

In addition, having an online ordering system will also be more crucial this year since most consumers will be avoiding going on site to shop and will be looking to order from the comfort and safety of their homes. To back this up, a recent survey by Dynata shows that 62% of the adult shoppers surveyed planned to do all their holiday shopping online.

Online ordering is necessary in order to best maximize your revenue this holiday season, and for the future, as experts predict that online shopping trends from 2020 will not go away, even if the pandemic comes to an end.

In this guide, we will outline how to best prepare for the holiday season with eHopper online ordering, so you can have revenue streaming in to your business.

 

1. Sign up for the eHopper OmniChannel Package

The first step to prepare for the influx of online orders you will receive this holiday season is to sign up for the eHopper OmniChannel package, which currently is on sale for only $39.99/mo (over 50% off).

When you sign up for OmniChannel, you will be able to take advantage of all of the features that come with eHopper, including a full POS, online site, and loyalty program. With this, you will be able to take orders and payments from both, your store premises and from an online shopping cart, both of which will fully synchronize with your POS account.

 

In addition, all inventory and order data will sync between the online shopping cart and the POS, so you will have all information about your store in one centralized location.

When orders are made online, customers can either pay directly online through credit card or place their order online and pay in store or upon delivery.

 

If paying in store or upon delivery, the customer can use a contactless payment option, such as Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, or Google Pay to minimize contact and reduce risk of spreading the virus.

You are also able to set up shipping options to have the customer’s online order shipped to their location.

 

2. Showcase your Holiday Products

If you’re selling any special products for the holidays or have any holiday deals, it is a good idea to showcase these products as a separate category on your online site.

For example, you can call the Category, “Holiday Products” or “Gifts.” This will bring attention to these items, allowing you to sell more of them, and will allow customers to easily identify what products to focus on when shopping for holiday gifts.

 

To set up in eHopper, simply log in to your Back Office and create the new category in the Inventory section. Next, add the products that you would like to be part of this category. Ensure that the Include in eCommerce checkbox is selected for each of these items so they will appear on your online site.

Next, go to the eCommerce Settings page and Sync your data, so that the new category and the items under it will be showcased and available to order on the site.

It would also be a good idea to temporarily change your site’s color theme for the holidays in order to grab their attention. Red is recommended since it is typically associated with the holiday season, in addition to a sense of urgency and call to action.

 

3. Begin Online Marketing Campaign Early

You will want to begin marketing your holiday products and specials well as much in advance of the holiday season as possible, in order to maximize awareness and word of mouth, and ultimately your sales conversions.

 

Advertise on Social Media

One way you can market your holiday specials is by advertising them on your social media accounts, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Simply share the URL of a product’s web page from your online ordering site on your social media profiles.

This will allow your customers to quickly discover your products and specials, as well as instantly access and place their orders for them online, increasing both your revenue and online traffic.

 

Promote With Email Campaign

Email campaigns are also a great way to get the word out to customers about your holiday specials. As mentioned, this should begin as early as possible for best results.

Similar to advertising your holiday products on social media, when promoting them over email, you also provide instantaneous access to your products and online shopping cart, for quick and easy sales.

With online ordering, you can have customers easily sign up for your mailing list directly from the online site, and then quickly send emails to those customers through a MailChimp account.

For best results, you should create targeted, personalized emails for your customers. It has been proven that consumers are more likely to purchase when they feel they are being spoken to and understood on an individual basis, as opposed to just a standard mass email that goes out to all.

eHopper allows you to create personalized profiles for each of your customers, as well as view their entire purchase history so you can easily customize your email campaign for specific customers.

 

 

4. Manage Inventory Levels and Ensure You Have Adequate Supply

With the influx of online and in-store orders you should expect to receive during the holiday season, it is vital that you ensure you are accurately tracking and preparing your inventory stock. The goal is to have enough stock available to meet the increased demand, but not too much that you are left with a high volume of unsold items.

With the eHopper OmniChannel Package, your inventory stock of items will be adjusted as soon as they are sold, from either your online shopping cart or on-site at your store, so you can ensure to have an accurate inventory count and easily keep tabs on your inventory stock levels at any time.

In addition, you can receive daily email notifications about all your inventory that has reached its pre-set minimum quantity, so you can know which items need to be restocked, in order to meet demand.

 

You can also use eHopper inventory and sales reports to look at historical data and better predict which items will be most popular this holiday season so they can be adequately stocked in advance of the holiday rush. These reports can also be used to better minimize the risk of having too much extra stock by the end of the holidays.

 

 

5. Prepare for an Influx of Customer Service Requests

Make sure to be prepared for a surge of customer outreach and assistance that will come with the increase in online sales during the holidays. Customers may reach out seeking additional information on the products you are selling or about their existing orders.

You will need to ensure that your customer service is sufficient and trained enough to meet this increase in requests to allow for the best possible customer experience.

If customers get a sour taste in their mouth at this time, they likely will not return for more business. On the flip side, a positive customer experience is more likely to keep them coming back and to promote your brand by recommending it to others.

Keep in mind that most consumers want prompt, immediate support when seeking assistance, especially during the rush and urgency of the holidays. Because of this, a large part of your success will depend on the speed and capabilities of your staff.

As a result, you may want to consider adjusting your staff resources or training protocols for the holiday season in order to meet the likely increased customer outreach.

 

Conclusion

By following this guide, you can be much more prepared to maximize your profits and to meet the challenge of increased sales traffic during the holiday season, through an online ordering website. With eHopper online ordering, you will be able to better prepare for the holiday season by:

•  Automating the ordering and sales process and making your products more accessible to the public.

•  Increasing organization with synchronization of  inventory and sales data from all channels (online and in-store) within one centralized location.

• More easily promoting your products and holiday specials, to optimize sales.

• Having the tools to better manage and predict your inventory stock levels during the holidays

 

To get started with eHopper online ordering, visit ehopper.com/pricing. It is currently on sale for only $39.99/mo! Don’t miss out on this limited time offer!