Aplus.net Blog

A new article over at CNET showcases some great tips on how to get your e-Commerce selling strategy ready for the upcoming holiday season.

Remember, online sales during the holiday season increase each year, and this year, with the rough economy driving consumers online to hunt for better bargains, will certainly be no exception.

As with most factors in business, the simplest ideas usually work the best. So it may be little surprise that the article recommends offering basic sales strategies such as coupons and free shipping as the best ways to catch the attention of online shoppers.

The article states that visits to coupon-oriented websites during the third quarter of ‘08 increased by 25 percent for online shoppers in the $50,000 - $99,999 income bracket — and a whopping 37 percent by those making more than $100,00 a year!

The message? Shoppers today are reluctant to make purchases without getting some kind of discount. Yes, it might hurt a bit in the short term to offer price reductions, but the increase in sales could make up for it. And it’s better than the alternative — consumers flocking to websites that do offer sales. (The sites of your competitors, in other words.)

The article also notes that “if an e-commerce site eliminated free shipping, 72 percent [of online shoppers] would use another e-commerce site that did offer free shipping.” Those numbers are pretty hard to argue with. If you sell a product that needs to be shipped, it’s time to weigh the costs and benefits of offering that service for free.

The article is based on a survey conducted by comScore, a leading Internet and online marketing analysis website that’s loaded with useful info. (Just browsing their press release page can yield a wealth of insight into the current state of eCommerce.) Click here to read the original article on CNET.