“How’s business?”  It’s a question you’re hearing more than ever.  It is a question which is even more important in these uncertain economic times.

Two months ago, I hosted a webinar where one of the topics was how to get your store ready for the holidays. Online sales were expected to increase 55% over last year and merchants were excited!  Then all hell broke loose on Wall Street and now everyone is asking “what do we do?”

Here’s what to do.  Keep doing what you do-but do it better than you have ever done it before. The holidays are still coming, shoppers will still be shopping and they will still buy more than ever online.  However, the pie will be smaller and you’ll have to be better to get a larger piece.

eMarketer.com estimates that online holiday sales will rise 10% over last year and top $32 billion.  More important, they predict shoppers “will turn to the Internet to get gift ideas, find bargains and locate retailers that stock desired products. Shoppers will shift a larger share of their purchases from stores to the Internet to save gas money and avail themselves of retailers’ free shipping offers.”

A recent eMarketer.com survey predicts that “49% of holiday gift spending among US Internet users will occur online, compared with 44% in stores-making this the first time the Web has surpassed the store as the preferred channel for Internet users to purchase holiday gifts.”  There are still lots of buyers and more than ever, they’re coming our way!

As you formulate your holiday plans, remember my “do it better” mantra and couple it with this advice:

Maintain customer service. Potential customers may have questions before placing an order on your site.  Give them that ability and respond quickly.  Provide immediate assistance.  Don’t let customers wait on hold forever, or wait days for an answer to an e-mail.  If you can’t do this on your own, or you need help with your customer service department, Solid Cactus can help.  We have a team of 100+ customer service representatives ready to work at rates you can afford.  Find out more.

Maintain your online advertising. I’m astonished when business owners tell me they are cutting their online advertising.  That’s like turning off the lights and locking the doors!  The last things you want to cut are your marketing efforts, but the first thing you need to do is fine tune them.  Reducing pay-per-click campaigns or not investing in solid SEO efforts is foolish.  Customers are shopping; you must direct them to your door.  Our Solid Cactus Internet Marketing experts can help you fine tune your accounts, increase your conversions and lower your spend.  Ask us how we can help with your online marketing efforts.   Find out more.

Increase your exposure. Niche marketing is the key to online success.  For 14 years I operated 38 successful niche stores.  The only additional cost was the monthly hosting fee!  See if you have a popular brand, product group or segment you can break off from your main site and put on its own storefront.  Then market, market, market and target your online advertising for those specific brands or products.  With our Rapid Start program we can take your existing items, descriptions and photos and move them over to a new site in as little as 24 hours.  Find out more.

Times are tough, but a good holiday season can save your year. Let us help you increase your holiday business with these simple and affordable offerings.  We want you to be successful this holiday and we can help you get there.  Call us today at 1.888.361.9814 or click the links in this post to learn more about the services we can provide to boost your bottom line and help you weather the storm.