Back to school season has proven to be an important time for online sellers. With so many students going back to school, sixth form and even starting university in September, it indicates the end of the slow summer season and the run up to events such as Halloween, Black Friday and the Christmas season.
Back to school sales can apply to a number of ecommerce stores, from standard stationary and clothing stores to electronics, accessories and even homeware stores. Here are a few great ways you can prepare your ecommerce store and tap into the important back to school market and make the back to school craze.
Create a back to school category
Within your store why not create a special back to school section for the month of September? Putting all related items together and keeping all deals, promotions and items all in one place making it more convenient for shoppers to find whatever they may be looking for.
If your website includes a slider in the top of the page, then including an image which features your back to school products, a snappy header message and a link to your back to school items is a great way to encourage customers to view your range as soon as they visit your website, helping increase your sales.
Optimise your email marketing
Your email marketing campaigns are a great way to show your customers what your business has going on over the next few weeks or months, by sending out a back to school themed email campaign it means you can give customers plenty of notice that your sale is starting as well as reminding them that they will soon have to start back to school shopping, ultimately encouraging them to come to your website to do so.
By creating an inspirational email campaigns which shows your customers what they could own and what their lives might look like if they owned the products, it’s a great way to inspire customers to click your website, view your products and make a purchase.
Create a unique landing page
As well as featuring graphics and related images on your website, you could also create a specific landing page which ties into your back to school sale. If you’re running email and PPC campaigns which are related to your back to school products then you might want to send your customers to a relevant page consistent to the content they have clicked.
A simple landing page allows your customers to view content, products and special offers, with limited navigation on a landing page it makes purchasing your products easier for customers and can drive your sales.
Offer special back to school deals
Back to school shopping is often offer driven, with most shoppers looking for the cheapest deal or best offer to sway their buying decisions. With this in mind it’s a good idea to offer customers deals or even provide coupon codes in emails which can encourage your customers to go to your store for the best deal over your competition.
Even better than a general promotion for all customers is a personal, tailored promotion based on the customers shopping data and buying patterns, not only will this encourage your customers to buy from your back to school rage but can be a great way to make your customers feel appreciated.
The back to school season is an exciting one for students and parents alike and it can be an exciting time for retailers too. With a winning strategy that focusses on creating great deals and building a customer relationship, you’ll be on the road to successful back to school sales in no time.
