January Sales and How to Capitalise on Them

Many brands are using January as a time to slash prices and offer big discounts on seasonal stock both in store and online making for a busy retail period. In the wake of the Christmas rush, how can you keep traffic & profits high online? Here are a few things you can do to your website to keep bringing customers to your site and adding items to their baskets…

You might feel as though you don’t have a second to spare this month but if your SEO isn’t up to scratch, you may not be appearing in relevant searches. Make sure all relevant pages have up-to-date SEO data related to the searches you want to show up for.

Tip: With the increase in potential traffic during this sales period, why not take advantage by creating even more visits to your site by advertising your sale/products with a Google AdWords campaign?

You will be used to your sitemap and user journey but new visitors may not find it so straight forward.  Make it easy for them to find your items and it’s likely that you will be rewarded with conversions.

Tip: Add a promotional banner to the top of your site, linking to key pages so you can direct and guide your visitors.  At the same time, why not change your website homepage around to include a sales related content? Visitors will look for confirmation that you are offering discounts and will be likely to stay on your site for longer if they land on a sales related page.

By adding related products to a product page you are keeping your visitors engaged and more likely to explore your site. This is the perfect opportunity to further ‘guide’ the traffic on your site and promote up-sells and cross-sells for complimentary products.

 Tip: If a visitor is looking at one brand of clothing, why not show them similar products in the same category? A sample of the most closely matched items will show that you understand what the visitor is looking for.

Schedule tweets, send out mailers before the sale starts and continue to promote once the sale is live. Posting the latest items to the sale on social will publicise and create a buzz, helping drive traffic to the site so you can make the most from your sales period.

Tip: Focus on a selection of ‘Last Chance’ items in a mailer and support this with Instagram/Facebook posts of the items linking through to product pages. Include key content like the item title, the original price and the discounted price. Use every channel that you have access to get your site the attention it deserves.

These are all features that work so well all year round, not just during this period!  If you haven’t got these tips in place for now, why not consider them for your general marketing plans? Take the time to think about these key periods as well as the smaller things too, such as your regular newsletter or blog posts. Think about rewarding your most loyal customer base, perhaps with additional discounts or private showcases.  Not only will they feel more likely to purchase additional goods because they have access to something that other consumers don’t, but their perception of your brand will improve, which is priceless. In summary, create engaging content and you will see your website views go up and up.

Tip: When sending newsletters, remember to include links through to your site and an engaging subject line to really make the most out of your precious time. A customer is much more likely to open an email titled ‘A little treat just for you’ with a 10% discount code inside than an email titled ‘discounts available now’.

Now you’re all set to promote your sale, make sure your product pages are optimised