Refreshing your site for the holiday, is that easy?

 

Pre-holiday periods are always associated with sales, discounts, firelights, decorations, mobs of people and massive hype. To match the atmosphere and spirit, brick and mortar stores use different decorative methods to attract customers. And they definitely work. It might be distinctly from the number of window-shoppers strolling. The fact your marketplace has attracted a view – costs a lot.

Naturally you won’t face such an entourage in the internet, but you would probably notice, that the same idea of holiday transformation obviously works in the web as well. The question is, what would act as the fairy light of your web resource? First of all, it is not that difficult. You won’t need to mess with plastic, electricity, cardboard and so on. And that is why, your design decisions can be much more creative and free.

Better not to tarry:

Sales statistics over the holiday periods show, that during November of 2016 in UK Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales reached 34.2 billion. Christmas period over the six weeks before Christmas itself finished with 25 billion spent in the online shops. Important to notice, over 60% of all Christmas orders were made with the help of e-commerce sites via mobile devices. 51% during Black Friday, which is considered to be the biggest online shopping day.

Don’t forget, it is easier for consumers, to go shopping laying on their sofa. Bring the festive spirit to their homes through the internet then.

So, statistics make it clear, holiday period is a right time to refresh your marketplace’s look. If you don’t want to miss the moment, then, it is time to plan your actions.

Think in advance:

Changing the look of your site and placing some holiday material on it, is a thing, that you have to plan beforehand. Not every celebration worth big promotion company. But, be sure, attempts in participating the general atmosphere of the day would be appropriate. What is more important, is concentrating on the major holidays. Big amount of retailers make from 30% to 40% of their yearly sales in the last quarter. It demonstrates the power of a holiday spirit. So, if you got lost in the dates, here is a useful resource to direct you.

USA e-commerce sites start preparations long before the winter holidays. It would not be odd one to mention, that if you have tried to follow festive tendencies before, then you may probably use previous year experience, to make planning more reasonable. Refreshing your store look for holidays is always a profitable factor for your conversion rate. 

Here are just a couple ideas mentioned, what can be done with your site, to refresh its look for exact event.

Short plan will be helpful in coordinating your actions:

  1. According to your shop’s thematic, choose important holidays for shop’s specification. Make your own calendar plan of what days you should concentrate on. Select priority events and work on them.
  2. Prepare technically: choose plugins, themes, widgets, or order the implementation of the customization functions in your admin. panel in advance.
  3. Mailing: plan and run marketing company, including different kinds of mailing. Notify your customers about discounts and sales you will have.
  4. Change the view of your site due to the season or event. Make it sheer, that you are celebrating as everybody do.
  5. Get the profit!

Here are just a couple of ideas, what you can do with your site:

Background:

The background is an extremely important element, that is sometimes better to be left sheer clean, or pitch black, completing the style of the page. That space can be used as a decorative element filled with some live details, like snowfall, lighted candles, or dancing people. Whatever it may be, it can help to “enliven” your page, not striking the eye of a customer.

You can add banners, videos or images, which would function as a link. Or it can be some interactive canvas element, which would react to the user’s actions. Everything works well when it has a direct purpose.

Header:

One of the basic solutions, nevertheless, not the least noticeable. A header is the first thing a visitor meets on the page. Due to the last years’ tendencies, headers incline to be simple and strict. But, it is never a bad idea, to add any special marker, figure or decoration. Look at the header, as it is an arch, where you can install any kind of digital fretwork.

Pop-up messages:

Messages, letters, notes…but it seems, that it is too much text. Anyway, surprising elements on the page were always notable means of entertainment, if they are used properly. Such kind of interactive models, hidden on the page are called Easter eggs. Of course, there is always a reasonable limit, because those “unexpected” elements become way too annoying and distract from the process of searching or buying.

Conversion rate growth as a profit:

Let’s face it, to be on the same page with people, is a good tone. And the representative of your company in the internet, is the way your site looks. Once have visited your site, customer manages to explore everything. Refresh the general look to the season time, or an upcoming celebration makes sense. It helps to avoid monotonous “habit” and attract more attention, which may result in improving conversion rate.

Tons of plugins may worsen the work of your site, so consider the fact, that it is possible to inbuilt the part of decorative functionality to the administration panel, or add it to the existing site. Mind that for further stable work, it is always better to hire professional to implement functionality properly. Nobody likes bad-quality graphics over the header or animation slowing down the scrolling.

As a tradition, a bread for your thoughts: how do you think, does it have an appreciable impact, and from your experience, which of the examples of holiday customization do you consider successful?