7 smart strategies to boost online sales this summer

There are exactly 6 months left until the Black Friday weekend and, believe it or not, some brands have already started to think about the offers they’re going to run. It makes sense, since it’s one of the dates that’s marked red in the shopping calendar.

However, it’s not the only date in the calendar that generates interest from retailers. Summer sales are almost here and, along with winter and Christmas sales, have traditionally been the most anticipated of all sales seasons. Both for shoppers, who want to snap up the best bargains, and for retailers, who need to get their shops ready for a significant increase in purchases and traffic.

We have the perfect strategy to get your shop ready for the summer sales. So check it out and get ready to increase your online sales this July and August.

How to Prepare Your Shop for the Summer Sales Season

Many consumers wait until products are cheaper to buy, for example, during the summer sales. Combine this with the fact that online shopping is becoming more and more popular - 80% of the UK population makes eCommerce purchases- and we don't need to repeat that now is the perfect time to start preparing your business for the upcoming sales season.

So, let's move on from saying to doing. These are the 7 strategies you can apply to your eCommerce plan to increase online sales this summer.

1. Start by analysing

First up is understanding your customers and the current state of your business, anticipating trends, and making better decisions. For this, you can check the figures of a given period (for example, the same dates of the previous year) and find out which are your most successful products, which days had the highest sales, which purchase channels were the most used...

You can also use the analytics of tools like Motive Commerce Search. Through analytics, you can find data such as popular searches, searches with no results or the searches with more clicks that will give you some ideas to improve your catalogue, ensure stock and meet the needs of buyers.

2. Review and update images and product cards

Once you have identified your star products and have a better understanding of what your customers want, it's time to fine-tune your catalogue. Starting with your product pages and product cards is always a good idea. Check the descriptions, images and all the information to make sure that everything is correct. Bear in mind that they trigger the buying decision, so the more useful information they contain, the better to boost online sales.

3. Ensure a responsive design

Your online shop needs simple, intuitive and smooth navigation on both desktop and mobile versions. Between 70-80% of consumers make their online purchases via mobile. That's why you need to offer an extraordinary experience to those who use these devices. Also, during the summer months, many people spend more time away from home, with their mobile phone always handy. So those percentages are likely to be even higher this time of year.

4. Create a category just for deals or special offers

Make sure shoppers can always find this season's sales by creating a new category for them. This way, when they search for the product they want, they will be able to filter by category and find all the products with the best discounts on the results page. They will also be able to access this special category from the Home menu.

5. Point out special promotions

Besides creating a specific category for sales, you can let shoppers know that your shop also has summer offers. But how? By creating banners. Use them to offer free shipping, to promote special prices or to sell those products that you really want to sell before the end of the season. You can also highlight the total discount on the price of the item, showing the previous and current price on the product page. Seeing how much they are saving motivates customers to buy. And increases your sales.

6. Suggest to buy other products

Sometimes we don't know what we want or what we need until it's right in front of us. Take advantage of this by recommending popular products to customers as they search, or even include cross-selling or upselling options during the checkout process.

7. Improve the internal search

One of the unwritten rules of the eCommerce industry is that consumers only buy what they can find. For this reason, one of the must-have elements in your online shop for the summer season is the internal search. You need a search tool like Motive Commerce Search that delivers relevant results for every shopper and offers meaningful alternatives in case they can't find exactly what they want.

Bonus: Engage with your customers

If shoppers don't know about them, it doesn't matter how big the discounts are in your online shop. Use all the channels you have to keep in touch with your customers (social networks, blog, newsletter, even posters in your physical shop!) to tell them about the latest news, launches or special prices that they can’t miss out on.

Business goal: summer sales - let's get to work!

So now that you know the basics, it's time to get down to work. Apply all these tips to your shop and get ready to boost online sales during the summer (or at any time of the year). Special periods like this are the perfect occasion not only to improve conversion, but also to increase future business opportunities.

And if you don't know Motive Commerce Search yet, this is your cue to try it for free for 30 days and apply all these strategies with the help of your new search.