How to Prepare Your Ecommerce Website for the 2023 Holiday Season

The holiday season is a crucial time for ecommerce businesses, as it offers a great opportunity to increase sales, attract new customers, and build loyalty. However, it also poses many challenges, such as global supply chain issues, inflation, and changing consumer preferences. To succeed in this competitive and dynamic market, ecommerce businesses need to plan ahead, optimize their websites, and offer a compelling value proposition to their customers. In this blog post, we will discuss some of the key trends and forecasts for the 2023 holiday season, and provide some tips on how to prepare your ecommerce website for the peak selling period.

Trends and Forecasts for the 2023 Holiday Season

According to Deloitte, holiday retail sales are likely to increase between 3.5% and 4.6% in 2023 for the November-January timeframe, reaching $1.3 trillion¹. Ecommerce sales are expected to grow between 10.3% and 12.8% year-over-year, reaching between $278 billion and $284 billion¹. However, these growth rates are lower than the previous years, as the pandemic-induced surge in online shopping has slowed down and consumers are facing higher prices and lower incomes due to inflation¹².

Some of the factors that will influence consumer behavior and ecommerce performance in the 2023 holiday season are:

• Early shopping: Consumers are likely to start their holiday shopping earlier than usual, as they anticipate product shortages, delivery delays, and higher prices due to the global supply chain disruptions¹²³. According to a survey by PwC, 40% of global consumers plan to start their holiday shopping before November, and 25% plan to finish it by the end of November⁴.
• Mobile commerce: Mobile devices will continue to play a dominant role in online shopping, as consumers use them to browse, compare, and purchase products, as well as to access social media, reviews, and coupons¹²⁵. According to Salesforce, mobile devices will account for 76% of ecommerce traffic and 60% of ecommerce orders in the 2023 holiday season³.
• Social commerce: Social media platforms will become more influential in driving ecommerce sales, as they offer convenient and engaging ways for consumers to discover, share, and buy products¹²⁵. According to Salesforce, social referrals will generate an additional 30% of traffic to ecommerce sites in the 2023 holiday season, and social-driven revenue will grow by 34% year-over-year³.
• Personalization: Consumers will expect more personalized and relevant experiences from ecommerce businesses, as they seek products and services that match their needs, preferences, and values¹²⁵. According to a survey by Accenture, 91% of consumers are more likely to shop with brands that recognize, remember, and provide them with relevant offers and recommendations⁶.
• Augmented reality: Augmented reality (AR) will become more popular and accessible in ecommerce, as it offers a way for consumers to visualize and interact with products in a realistic and immersive way¹²⁵. According to a survey by Gartner, 100 million consumers will shop in AR online and in-store by 2023⁷.

Tips for Preparing Your Ecommerce Website for the 2023 Holiday Season

To take advantage of the opportunities and overcome the challenges of the 2023 holiday season, ecommerce businesses need to prepare their websites in advance and ensure they offer a fast, secure, and user-friendly experience to their customers. Here are some tips on how to do that:

• Diversify your payment options: Offer multiple and flexible payment options to your customers, such as credit cards, debit cards, digital wallets, buy now pay later, and cryptocurrencies¹²⁵. This will help you cater to different customer preferences, increase conversion rates, and reduce cart abandonment.
• Create promotions early: Plan and launch your promotions early, and communicate them clearly and consistently to your customers through various channels, such as email, social media, and push notifications¹²⁵. This will help you capture the attention of early shoppers, increase traffic and sales, and build customer loyalty.
• Optimize your site speed and security: Test and improve your site speed and security, and ensure your website can handle high volumes of traffic and transactions without compromising performance or customer data¹²⁵. This will help you reduce bounce rates, improve customer satisfaction, and avoid potential losses due to downtime or cyberattacks.
• Provide a great customer experience: Provide a great customer experience to your visitors, and ensure your website is easy to navigate, search, and browse, and offers relevant and accurate product information, reviews, and recommendations¹²⁵. Also, use AR and other interactive features to enhance product visualization and engagement¹²⁵. This will help you increase customer confidence, trust, and loyalty, and encourage repeat purchases and referrals.
• Offer free and fast shipping and returns: Offer free and fast shipping and returns to your customers, and provide them with clear and transparent information about the delivery and return policies, costs, and timelines¹²⁵. This will help you reduce customer hesitation, increase customer satisfaction, and differentiate yourself from the competition.

The 2023 holiday season will be a challenging but rewarding time for ecommerce businesses, as they face the impact of the global supply chain issues, inflation, and changing consumer preferences. To succeed in this market, ecommerce businesses need to plan ahead, optimize their websites, and offer a compelling value proposition to their customers. By following the tips and best practices outlined in this blog post, ecommerce businesses can prepare their websites for the 2023 holiday season and achieve their sales and growth goals.

Sources:

¹: Deloitte: Holiday ecommerce sales to grow this season

²: 2023 HOLIDAY SHOPPING TREND PREDICTIONS

³: 2021 Holiday Shopping Ecommerce Stats & Trends | ROI Revolution

⁴: Consumer Expectations This Holiday Season

⁵: How to Prepare Your Ecommerce Website for the 2023 Holiday Season

⁶: Accenture: Personalization Pulse Check

⁷: Gartner: 100 Million Consumers Will Shop in Augmented Reality Online and In-Store by 2023