7-Step Guide to Prepare Your Online Marketplace for the Christmas Season 2024

The holidays are a time of celebration for many – lots of parties, good food, family and friends, and gift-giving.

‍

But it’s not always rainbows and butterflies for retailers, for whom the holiday season is one of the most demanding periods in the year.

‍

In this article, you’ll read all about this year’s Christmas trends and what you can do to prepare for the holiday season.

‍

Let’s jump right in!

‍

‍

Key Trends in Fashion E-commerce for Christmas 20224

‍

‍

As a fashion eCommerce marketplace, you must be on top of the latest trends, as you’re functioning in a fast-changing business environment.

‍

Despite the pandemic, total holiday retail sales in 2020 reached $789.4 billion.

‍

Even though the world is still going through changes, customers and businesses are looking forward to the holiday season this year more than ever.

‍

The retail category that has the highest share of total holiday spending is accessories and clothing (21%).

‍

This brings massive opportunities to online fashion marketplaces to grow their business and make profits during Christmas.

‍

‍

Overcoming the Key Retail Challenges During the Christmas Season

‍

‍

One of the first things you need to do to be prepared for the Christmas rush is to anticipate any obstacles you might need to address. 

‍

• Dealing with increased volumes of traffic – Your online marketplace is likely to see a big increase in traffic during the holidays. You want to make sure your new visitors have a good time browsing your website. Some ways to do that include optimizing your page speed, using attractive calls to action, using high-quality images and well-written headlines, and keeping your website pages responsive and mobile-friendly. 
  ‍
  ‍
• Managing product promotions – Creating effective promotions takes a lot of creativity and effort. Make sure all team members collaborate to give customers what they need since the success of the holiday season depends on them. 
  ‍
  ‍
• Decreasing return rates – The average eCommerce return rates are around 20-30%. If your customers have a negative return experience, they often won’t come back to purchase from you. On the other hand, if they have a positive experience, this can result in increased customer loyalty. You need to handle your product returns properly, otherwise; it can have a huge impact on your business.

‍

‍

7 Steps to Prepare Your Online Fashion Marketplace for the 2024 Christmas Season

‍

‍

A heavy portion of businesses’ annual revenue comes from the holiday season.

‍

Below are some steps you need to address to make this one of your greatest holiday seasons yet. 

‍

‍

1. Simplify Product Discovery

‍

‍

Help your shoppers easily find the items they’re looking for and provide them with a unique experience.

‍

This can be done by using AI to understand customers’ buying behavior.

‍

Basing product recommendations on customer data – such as demographic or geo-location – leads to a decrease in cart abandonment and an increase in conversion rates.

‍

As an online fashion marketplace, you can also use previous browsing history insights to show customers relevant content.

‍

‍

‍

‍Suggested read: The What, Why, and How of Product Recommendation Engines

‍

‍

2. Test Site Speed

‍

‍

According to statistics, about 70% of consumers admitted that page speed impacts their willingness to buy from an online retailer.

‍

Site speed is essential to eCommerce success since it directly influences search engine rankings, repeat business, and conversion rates. 

‍

Have your team test page load times for each element on your site, and then optimize it by deleting unnecessary plugins, reducing image size, compressing data, and so on.  

‍

‍

3. Offer Free Shipping

‍

‍

Approximately 47% of consumers say free shipping would influence where they buy gifts.

‍

Free shipping continues to be a big incentive that drives more purchasing. 

‍

You can use National Free Shipping Day to allow your customers to do their holiday shopping without being hit with shipping fees left and right.

‍

This is a one-day event that takes place mid-December each year, and this year it lands on the 14^th of December. However, you will need to guarantee the items will be delivered before Christmas. 

‍

Suggested read: Top 5 Online Marketplace Features to Boost Customer Experience

‍

‍

4. Multichannel Listing of Products

‍

‍

Christmas is all about going big, so you should consider showcasing your products to as many people as you can.

‍

We would suggest listing your offering across multiple channels, also known as multichannel selling.

‍

With multichannel selling, not only will you reach a wider audience, but you will also improve the customer experience by giving your shoppers the choice to engage in the channel they prefer. 

‍

Connect to online major marketplaces and update your product catalog to sell your items on Instagram and Facebook. 

‍

‍

5. Offer Several Payment Options

‍

‍

Once a customer has decided to make a purchase, the last thing they want to see is that their preferred payment method isn’t available. 

‍

Offering several secure payment options for your customers makes the shopping process a lot more convenient for them.

‍

For instance, if you’re targeting the US market, consider including PayPal, Square, Stripe, SecurePay, and Worldpay.

‍

‍

6. Enable Guest Checkout 

‍

‍

First-time customers are especially keen on anonymous checkouts.

‍

A lot of customers don’t feel like they can trust the merchant with their contact information during their initial visit to the marketplace. 

‍

Other times, customers just want a quick checkout process, and checking out as a guest is a lot faster than creating an account.

‍

‍

7. Use Paid Advertising

‍

‍

In an overly saturated market, one great way to boost your brand is by leveraging paid advertising.  

‍

Supplement your marketing efforts with paid advertising to increase click-through rate, site traffic, and conversions.

‍

Platforms like Pinterest and Instagram have the highest buyer intent, and that’s where brands go to advertise their products. 

‍

‍

Final Words

‍

‍

Creating a smooth shopping experience for your shoppers gives them a strong reason to choose you over your competitors.

‍

By following the steps we described and properly preparing yourself, you’ll be ready to welcome your customers in no time. 

‍

At Pixyle, we provide image recognition solutions that will help you boost your sales during the holiday season.

‍

‍Book a demo with us to see what we can do for you!

‍

‍