If you’re not exactly the kind of person who suffers from procrastination, or you’re simply in the habit of always finishing your Christmas gift-buying by the 1st of December, you might find it hard to get your head around how so many other shoppers leave it so late to make their purchases.
Nonetheless, the most important thing to recognise is that these shoppers definitely exist, which means they’re there to be captured by ecommerce stores like yours.
But with the last Saturday before Christmas falling on the 21st this year, you’ll have to act fast to optimise your site if it’s not completely geared to the preferences and needs of these late shoppers. So, here are just a few simple steps you can take to lure such procrastinators.
Offer express delivery
This might seem like some of the most obvious advice we could give. However, you may be surprised by how many online stores prioritise affordability with their delivery offering, to such an extent that the speed and reliability of this service suffers.
Sure, price won’t completely cease to be a priority for most late shoppers – but above all else, they’ll want to know that their order will get to them in time. So, a lot of them won’t mind heightened shipping costs, as long as they aren’t ridiculously inflated compared to those of rival stores.
Highlight gift guides and bestselling items
One reason why a given late shopper may have procrastinated in the first place, is a simple difficulty with choosing a gift. It might therefore only require a well-written guide to gift shopping, and a few highlights of ideal presents for certain categories of customer – dads, mums, brothers and so on – to give them that vital inspiration to go ahead and make a spontaneous purchase.
Including some obvious unfussy ‘stocking fillers’ in these guides – modest, lightweight items that can be delivered quickly and cheaply – and allowing for easy filtering by price will likely further convince those dithering potential customers of yours to just buy already.
Be razor-sharp with your replies to customers
Whether they get in touch with you via phone, email, social media or even by commenting on your YouTube videos, when these anxious late shoppers ask you a question, they probably won’t be able to afford you only getting back in touch with them in 12 or 24 hours’ time. Always responding within 20 minutes is much more the kind of timeframe you should be aiming for.
Streamline the checkout process
As Christmas Day nears, you’ve got more reason than ever to review your site’s checkout process afresh. This is the ideal time to turn off every single strictly unnecessary element, so that your already-rushed shoppers won’t be left feeling even more stressed by a frivolous pop-up or your store demanding that they register an account with you.
Yes, dealing with procrastinators can be frustrating. But it also represents a key business opportunity for your online store – not just for the festive season, but potentially for months and years’ worth of future purchases – if you make all of the right moves to convenience them.
As for the longer-term ambitions you have for the design of your ecommerce website, why not get in touch with the Piranha Designs team to discuss them in more detail? That way, we, too, could be looking forward to a fruitful long-term relationship that extends through many Christmases to come.
