As a digital extension of your physical store, your website can help reinforce your brand and deliver an exceptional online holiday experience. You can achieve this by curating online content and implementing e-commerce settings that align with your store's aesthetic and in-store displays.
Content & Design
Visuals & Branding
- Refresh your website with seasonal imagery and holiday banner designs.
- ABA’s annual holiday campaign assets offer a convenient resource to bring festive cheer to your online presence.
- Design a temporary holiday layout to give your site a unique seasonal feel.
Homepage & Merchandising
- Streamline your homepage layout to focus on a primary objective—such as a gift guide, gift cards, e-gift cards, and key shipping cutoffs—and minimize unnecessary clutter.
- Develop a Holiday Gift Guide featuring 3 to 5 curated categories that connect directly to product detail pages.
- Highlight the ABC Best Book for Young Readers Catalog (/catalog/abc).
- Highlight store merchandise and gift ideas directly across your site.
Promotions & Customer Features
- Share your plan for Small Business Saturday (Nov 28) and introduce exclusive promotions for both online and in-store shoppers.
- Promote your site’s Wishlist feature so customers can easily share gift preferences with friends and family.
- Offer gift cards to increase seasonal sales options:
Store Information & Logistics
- Keep regular and special holiday operating hours up to date on your website.
- Inform shoppers of shipping cutoffs using Site Alerts and Announcements.
E-Commerce Operations
- Ensure your store policies regarding shipping and returns remain up to date.
- Publish your shipping policy alongside an estimated delivery timeline.
- Plan, configure, and thoroughly test promotional codes and discount offers prior to launch.
- Prominently feature buy-online-pickup-in-store options for added customer convenience.
- Highlight deadline offerings between Dec 15 and Dec 20, including physical gift cards, e-gift cards, and local pickup choices.
- Establish a free delivery minimum or spend-threshold messaging if profit margins permit.
- Activate gift wrapping capabilities at checkout if your store provides this service.
- Enable gift receipt options during the checkout.
- Customize order confirmation emails as necessary.
- Set up order processing shortcuts to enhance operational efficiency.
- Review fraud red flags with staff to refresh team awareness. Contact staff@bookweb.org to report any fraudulent online transactions.
- Perform comprehensive end-to-end checkout testing across mobile and desktop devices.
General
- Schedule three email blasts: a seasonal gift catalog in early November, promotions during Small Business Saturday week, and a final shipping cutoff notification in mid-December.
- Ensure each employee has an individual admin account on the website with appropriate permissions assigned.
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Display the IndieCommerce support details—including telephone and email contact info—internally for employee access only.