‘Tis the season to spend; as we all know, the holiday rush means all our family members and friends are trying to find that perfect present. Preferably – online.
However, the holiday season is one of the rare times during the year when in-person shopping carries that special something, so more people are willing to leave the comfort of their homes to find what they want.
To mimic that holiday look and feel, give your website a quick revamp, leverage clever design and experience ideas to attract more people to your online store, and watch your online sales soar to new heights!
9 Best Website Design Ideas to Boost Holiday Sales Online
1. Optimize for smooth sailing
While optimization should be a continuous effort rather than a seasonal one, it pays to invest a little extra time and creativity into getting your pages squeaky clean as the year comes to a close. It is, therefore, key to focus on on-page and off-page SEO and update your copy to provide the kind of unforgettable experience that will drive sales.
You cannot replace most of the senses people feel when shopping in person, including sounds, smells, flavors, and the feel of certain products in their hands. So, your copy should provide an almost tangible experience.
- See if your current CTAs need refreshing to be more festive and inviting.
- Conduct a performance analysis to see if your UX matches your customers’ expectations and what search engines deem worthy of proper ranking.
- Make sure your holiday specials get enough attention; perhaps it’s time to move them to your homepage banners.
- Check how quickly your site loads and works across all your customers’ devices – if convenience is one of the main reasons they’ll shop online, ensure you meet that expectation.
A whole host of website optimization strategies can improve the look and feel of your website, its performance, and the experience you can provide to your customers.
2. Build QR coupons
QR coupons have been around for quite some time now, which means that most of your competitors in the e-commerce realm are using them. QR codes are a relatively easy way to simplify your customers’ journey and entice them to take that next step instead of leaving the site.
During the holidays, you can use QR codes to increase customer engagement and create unique user coupons for your return buyers and first-time shoppers to elevate retention and acquisition.
The great thing about QR codes is that they won’t disrupt your site’s visual appeal and are easy to deliver directly to your customers. If anything, QR coupons are a fantastic way to make holiday purchases memorable and seamless.
3. Learn from the best
No matter how well-established you are as a brand and how many customers you can win over at any given moment, there’s always someone better at the e-commerce game.
The beauty of this simple fact is that you can always track what your competitors are doing well in design and see which ideas might boost your look.
Look for retailers with brilliant design solutions that you can try out. You don’t necessarily need to change up your entire website, but taking cues from other retailers regarding the type of photos, visuals, animations, layout, and navigation is an excellent way to up your design game.
If you’re in the B2B sphere, you can also look for solid design examples and try to incorporate some new best practices on your end. Perhaps your site could use a bit of decluttering in terms of copy, or maybe you could try creating landing pages with a more concise value prop with a festive twist.
- Add new images that contain holiday-themed visuals for a more appealing atmosphere.
- Try incorporating fast-loading videos (high quality) to depict your products and give your customers a better sense of the value you promise.
- Freshen up your home page, look at what other exceptional brands are doing, and how you can apply the same principles in a brand-specific way to ensure consistency.
4. Nothing beats promotions, giveaways, and donations
People feel generous, thankful, and mindful during the holidays, which means they appreciate brands that know how to epitomize these human traits and values. Showing your appreciation with promotions and giveaways during this time of year means you’ll build your relationship with them for the long haul, not just for the time being.
Is it clear on your site what kind of specials you’re running this year? They don’t necessarily have to be overly flashy but giving them the spotlight on your homepage and dedicated landing pages does help.
In addition to being generous to your customers, do you have a holiday initiative to help those less fortunate or support a charity that appeals to your customers?
This type of initiative might not be something you constantly promote, as it may not be part of your brand identity. Still, the holiday season is the perfect moment to remind your customers, old and new, that you’re making a difference.
Clarifying how and to whom you will donate is a great way to improve your charitable efforts' impact and boost your conversion rates for the future. The more people learn about your mission, the greater your chances to help and attract more people who share your values.
5. Give your site a holiday spruce
Brands with hundreds of different products and dozens of categories need to take a different approach to website design compared to those with a capsule collection.
Smaller e-commerce companies can build out entire visual identities for each product. At the same time, more prominent brands can elevate their overall approach to layout and navigation to make sure customers will find what they need quickly based on the visual cues provided. With that in mind, leverage the advantages of the group you belong to, be it the former or the latter.
6. Make sure your site can handle the surge
Online holiday traffic is nothing like your regular Tuesday – or at least it shouldn’t be. To enable more visitors and keep the experience smooth and seamless, you must ensure that your hosting can take the surge.
Many e-commerce brands leverage drupal hosting options to ensure their stores won’t crash under the sudden (albeit expected) traffic influx. What’s crucial is that you don’t wait until the very last minute to test if your hosting can manage your expected traffic boost. The sooner you switch or optimize your store, the easier it will be to prevent your site from crashing.
7. Make your visuals more engaging
Long gone are the days of dull images representing your products from every imaginable angle. Today, online sellers go the extra mile to build a more relatable, engaging experience using a 3D model maker to create more appealing, exciting visuals.
3D models can replace your typical range of images so that you have just one, with which your buyers can interact by turning it to experience the product from different angles. Not to mention that your site will perform better when you have fewer images to load!
8. Enhance your infographics
Put your products in the proper context: show people how they can benefit from them and how they fit into their lives. The most engaging, visually appealing way to do that is to create infographics that bring your products to life and allow them to imagine how they can surprise their loved ones with what you offer.
- You can leverage simple, clean templates that allow your product visuals to “pop.”
- No need to spend vast amounts of time on the design; the available templates are engaging and easy to modify so that you can produce on-brand content for the holiday season.
- Make sure your infographics aren’t cumbersome to load or download so that your buyers will not deter from checking out each one you have in store for them.
9. Is your checkout in check?
Test your checkout process to discover any flaws or unnecessary steps affecting your conversion. Make sure your checkout is mobile-friendly, fast, and secure. Eliminate unnecessary distractions or extra CTAs that might delay the buy.
With a simple and quick checkout, you’ll boost sales and improve overall engagement and the chances that your customers will return for more once the holiday spree is over.
Time to get creative
The holidays are already in full swing, so now’s the time to take action and see which ideas might be helpful for your brand and your store.
Remember that implementing some or all of these improvements won’t just help with your holiday sales. It will also positively affect how well you position your brand in this oversaturated market beyond the holidays.
