#XmasEcom | ‘Tis the season to sell to the world

Maximise your international sales this Xmas with our daily tips from top e-commerce experts

Christmas is the e-commerce event of the year. From Black Friday – the last Friday in November after American Thanksgiving when retailers in the US (and increasingly in the UK, Continental Europe and the rest of the world) start rolling out promotional bargains – to the sales starting on Boxing Day, no other occasion attracts millions of online shoppers around the world over such a prolonged period of time.

For the next two months, we’re working with leading e-commerce experts from the likes of Web Retailer, Tamebay, Shopify and DHL to help you make sure you are set up to capitalise on the huge opportunities for international sales during the holiday season. Our practical, bite-sized tips will cover everything from getting the basics right to understanding key cultural differences and how to manage pricing and shipping..

How can you get involved?

Follow us on Twitter (@OpentoExport) we will be posting daily tips from our contributors.

Share your experiences with us. If you have implemented a tip on your e-commerce platform, let us know on twitter and we can showcase it as a best practice.

Ask our experts any questions you have on international e-commerce, post them on our Open to Export Forum and get answers from our weekly contributor but also from our export experts and the wider community of international sellers.

If you have missed any of our previous tips, you can catch up with out summary articles here;

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Teaser week:

We started off the week with five reasons why Christmas is an ideal time to sell internationally – especially when it comes to reaching global markets!

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Week 1 Webretailer – Get Ready to Sell Internationally at Christmas

Andy Geldman gave us five top tips for international selling, just for the holiday shopping season. He looked at whether you should get extra help just for Christmas to forecasting your sales and thinking like an international gift buyer.  Read Andy’s article here

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Week 2 Kwintessential 5 Tips to Ensure Your E-com Store Appeals to International Shoppers

kwintessential christmas tipNeil Payne from Kwintessential gave us his tips to help you understand and address the needs of different markets, for example make sure you are offering the right products to the right market. Adapt what you sell to accommodate countries like South Africa and Australia.  Read Neil’s article here

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Week 3 Tamebay 5 Tips to Ensure You Get the Most out of Online Marketplaces

Dan Wilson from Tamebay gave his tips for selling on online marketplaces for Christmas. Whether you sell via Amazon, Ebay or another marketplace, Dan’s gave us some great advice on fulfillment, marketplace tools and international listings. Read Dan’s article here

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Week 4 Grow Global  Optimising your website & digital marketing

Sarah Carroll from Grow Global gave us her insights into making your website more visible in search engines around the world. People start to search for Christmas terms in the summer so it is essential your business is prepared ahead of time! Read Sarah’s article here

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Week 5  DHL Express UK  Ensuring your products arrive safely & on time

XmasEcom DHLexpress tip DHL Express UK share their five top tips to help you make sure your products arrive in their destination safely and on time.  Read DHL Express’ tips here

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Week 6  OC&C Choosing the Best Market Approach for your Christmas shopping e-commerce

OC&C Strategy Consultants shared their five top tips to help you understand how to choose target markets.

Read OC&C’s tips here

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Week 7  Sarah Hurley 5 tips for getting your online store ready for Christmas

Successful online entrepreneur Sarah Hurley has shared her five top tips to help you get your online store ready for Christmas.

Read Sarah Hurley’s tips here

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Week 8  Shopify 5 tips for using offers to drive conversion

Shopify looks at five offers you can use to drive conversions in your online store.

Read Shopify’s tips here

 ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

This week we have Andy Geldman of Webretailer sharing his tips for looking beyond Christmas and into 2015, follow us on twitter, @OpentoExport to see his daily tips.

And don’t forget that Christmas isn’t the only key online shopping date. From global milestones like back to school season to more culture-specific events with a focus on gift-giving such as Chinese New Year and Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, every month offers unique e-commerce opportunities in different markets around the world.

If you have any questions about planning your Christmas 2014 e-commerce strategy, just post them in the forum – and to get involved, e-mail [email protected] or tweet us @OpentoExport.

Sectors: Online Retailing and Wholesale & Retail
Topics: Direct Selling, E-commerce, and Sales & Marketing
Export Action Plan