The Ultimate Guide to Preparing Your E-commerce Store for Diwali
5 min read
As the festive season approaches, Radhika, a small eCommerce business owner in Delhi, is gearing up for what she hopes will be the best Diwali season for her. Last year, she underestimated the surge that Diwali brings in sales volume. Therefore, she was scrambling to keep up with the orders and manage the inventory. This year, however, she is determined to be prepared.
Like Radhika, this is the right time for e-commerce businesses to capitalise and make more revenue by offering Diwali shopping offers. However, the increased spending means more customers will visit your website, and it has to be ready for this surge. So here is a checklist to prepare your e-commerce store for success.
Optimise Website Performance
Before planning for Diwali marketing campaigns, you must prepare your website for the traffic boost you will likely see during the festival. If your website and the server running it are not prepared, visitors may experience slower load times, which can increase the bounce rate.
According to data, a 1-second delay in page load can lead to a 7% increase in bounce rate. It can also reduce the conversion rate by 7%. Therefore, the first step should be to improve the page load speed.
Another essential thing to consider is mobile optimisation, as the number of people shopping on their smartphones is growing. Global projections suggest that mobile commerce income will approach two trillion dollars by 2024, almost tripling over the next four years to account for 63% of all retail e-commerce.
You can conduct load testing to ensure the site can handle traffic spikes. Many free tools are available online to test your website’s speed and optimise it on the website and mobile. For instance, Google’s Page Speed Insights is a free tool that you can use to test your store’s loading speed.
Ensure Smooth Navigation and User Experience
If navigating the online store is complex, no holiday marketing campaigns or Diwali shopping offers will help increase your store’s revenue. In today’s digital world, no customer wants to visit a website that doesn’t offer an optimal experience. You can work on some customer engagement strategies like gamifying websites, offering Diwali shopping offers, etc., to improve user experience.
There is a need for prominent and clear call-to-action buttons for conversions. The web design of your store becomes critical here. Every product on your website should be easily accessible, with enough white space to not look cluttered.
You need to also streamline the checkout process to minimise cart abandonment. One way to do this is by simplifying the payment process with the help of a robust E-commerce payment gateway.
Robust inventory planning is needed to avoid stockouts of best-selling products during the festive season. Inventory management software can set up automatic inventory alerts to restock fast-moving items.
This software solution can notify you when a product is low or high in the inventory. Some software also allows for generating reports on inventory levels on different days and times. You can use this to get insights and make informed decisions to manage the inventory more appropriately.
That’s why the demand for inventory management software is on the rise. The global inventory management software market is estimated to grow twofold from $2.31 billion in 2024 to $4.84 billion by 2032.
All your Diwali digital campaigns should be themed around the festival. You can leverage platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, etc., to market your e-commerce store. An easy way to make your marketing campaigns relevant to Diwali is to use bright lighting and colours in your social media posts.
Showing people wearing traditional clothes and using keywords specific to the festival are good Diwali promotion ideas. You can craft personalised email campaigns with Diwali shopping offers or simply wish your customers for the festival.
Focus on Customer Service and Support
Since the festive season is time-specific, your customers will appreciate an instant response to their queries. Thus, you should offer round-the-clock customer support with the help of technologies like AI chatbots. These chatbots can use natural language processing (NLP) to accurately understand and respond to human language.
Creating a knowledge base should also be part of your to-do checklist to prepare your e-commerce store. This will allow your audience to learn more about products and services independently.
Secure Payment Options
Cyberattackers may use the festive season to scam online shoppers. You can keep them at bay by integrating a 3D secure payment gateway. This will help build trust among your customers, who can shop without worrying about the scams.
Your services should not be limited only to the customers who purchase. Delivering products to their doorsteps promptly is a very important part of your job. Since it is festival time, managing in-house staff and asking them to deliver might be challenging. An ideal solution is partnering with a reliable logistics services provider.
You can make the process smoother by allowing customers to track their shipments online. This will give them a sense of reliability, knowing where their delivery has reached and when they will receive it.
Preparing early and thoroughly to maximise success during the Diwali shopping season is paramount. With Diwali approaching, it is time for you to start the preparations based on the tips mentioned above.
