The holiday shopping season is in full swing, and if you haven’t already, now is the perfect time to tweak your online store to maximize sales from the influx of holiday shoppers. Often shoppers procrastinate making a purchase even when they have full intention of buying, and just need a little extra incentive as motivation to buy right now.

These simple ideas for your online store can help you establish a sense of urgency and turn more interested shoppers into customers today:

Prominently Display Expiration Dates on Holiday Promotions

If you are offering a promotion that expires on a certain date, be sure to communicate the end date prominently on your site. Allowing interested shoppers to submit an e-mail address and receive a friendly reminder before the promotion ends can increase your response rate.

Communicate Accurate Delivery Time

Shoppers are wary of purchasing gifts over the internet without knowing if their order will arrive in time for the holidays. One technique for alleviating any doubt is displaying when an item must be ordered if it is to be delivered by a certain date. If you cannot be that specific, a simple timeframe such as “Usually arrives within 1-2 weeks” can be enough to overcome this concern. Displaying this information to shoppers is simple, just activate the EnableDisplayAvailability variable from the admin panel of your Volusion store. Learn how here.

Ease Inventory Concerns

Uncertainty regarding the availability of an item is another issue that can prevent holiday shoppers from becoming buyers. Noting “In Stock” on items you have in inventory can alleviate this concern and increase the chance that a shopper will place an order. Listing inventory levels such as “Only 7 left” for low stock items can instill a sense of urgency and motivate buyers to take action now. To get this functionality in your Volusion store, activate the EnableDisplayStockStatus or EnableLiveStockStatus variables. Learn how here.

Of course, even with excellent marketing copy and communication, many interested shoppers will still procrastinate purchasing or leave your site to shop around a bit more. Here are some ideas for guiding those shoppers back to your site when the time comes to purchase:

• Allow shoppers to keep a wish list or e-mail details about a product to a friend. This will allow them to easily return to products they liked as well as share them with others. In your Volusion store, this can be done by activating the EnableWishList and EnableEmailAFriend variables. Learn how here.

• Make it easy to return to any page with a “Bookmark this Page” button. Learn how here.

• Allow shoppers to subscribe to your e-mail or newsletter list to build relationships and present more opportunities to visit your site. Learn how here.

In addition to creating urgency, giving away freebies such as free shipping, bonus gift certificates or gift wrapping can be the incentive shoppers need to purchase from your store and give you a competitive edge this holiday season.

-Pam Westbrook, Ecommerce Marketing/Copywriting

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Volusion hosted its 2008 Halloween costume contest on Friday, with employees in both our Simi Valley, California and Austin, Texas locations competing for the $200 grand prize.
Costumes this year showed no shortage of creativity or humor, ranging from Picasso to McGruber from SNL to an iPod shadow dancer complete with a neon green background.

Props are in order for five members of our talented design team, who banded together for a group costume and came out on top with their rather convincing rendition of a championship dodgeball team:

The dodgeball team was complete with a coach, Volusion team uniforms (my favorite touch: sweat bands), a trophy and of course, a dodge ball. Their coordination and creativity paid off in the form of the cash prize as well as bragging rights valid through October 2009. Congratulations team!

-Pam Westbrook, Ecommerce Marketing/Copywriting

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Show your spirit with some Thanksgiving décor, created just for you by our design team. It will only take a moment to get your site and your customers in the spirit of giving!

To save a graphic for uploading, right click on the image and hit Save Image As.

Uploading your New Homepage Graphic
From the admin area of your site, click on the Settings Wizard button, located to the left of the Instant Help button. Then under the Design Wizard section, click on Your Content. Under the Home Page Article section, you can now upload your previously saved image so that it is displayed on the homepage of your site.

The History of Thanksgiving
After a long and arduous journey, the Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower reached their final destination at Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620. A year after their arrival, the first American Thanksgiving took place to celebrate a plentiful harvest after a long and bitter winter. The three-day feast included ninety one American Indians, whom many believe the Pilgrims would not have survived without. Several years later there were many discussions over the official day of Thanksgiving, including controversy over its formal date. From 1939 to 1941, Franklin D. Roosevelt, in an effort to lengthen Christmas shopping, proclaimed Thanksgiving as the third Thursday in November. Unfortunately for online sellers, the lengthened shopping season was quickly overturned. The official date was changed in 1941, when Thanksgiving was sanctioned by Congress as a legal holiday to take place on the fourth Thursday in November of every year.

These copyrighted graphics are intended for the sole use of Volusion clients only. Use of these graphics by other sites or competitors is strictly prohibited and can result in legal action against the offending parties.

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Keeping your site current lets your customers know that your site is up-to-date and that you are open and ready for business. Show your spirit with some Halloween décor, created just for you by our design team. It will only take a moment to get your site and your customers in the spooky spirit!

To save a graphic for uploading, right click on the image and hit Save Image As.

Uploading your New Homepage Graphic
From the admin area of your site, click on the Settings Wizard button, located to the left of the Instant Help button. Then under the Design Wizard section, click on Your Content. Under the Home Page Article section, you can now upload your previously saved image so that it is displayed on the homepage of your site.

The History of Halloween
Halloween dates back to Celtic rituals performed thousands of years ago. On the night of October 31^st, the Celts believed that the ghosts of the dead would revisit the earth. Many moons later, the first official Halloween celebration took place in the United States. That cold day in 1921 set the stage for many celebrations to come and Halloween quickly became a holiday donned with costumes, parties and an over indulgence in candy!

These copyrighted graphics are intended for the sole use of Volusion clients only. Use of these graphics by other sites or competitors is strictly prohibited and can result in legal action against the offending parties.

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Celebrate going back to school in style with new homepage graphics, created just for you by our design team. Show off your special sales for the new school year!

To save a graphic for uploading, right click on the image and hit Save Image As.

Uploading your Back to School Graphic
From the admin area of your site, click on the Settings Wizard button, located to the left of the Instant Help button. Then under the Design Wizard section, click on Your Content. Under the Home Page Article section, you can now upload your previously saved image so that it is displayed on the homepage of your site.

These copyrighted graphics are intended for the sole use of Volusion clients only. Use of these graphics by other sites or competitors is strictly prohibited and can result in legal action against the offending parties.

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