Amazon.com has announced plans to hire more than 50,000 seasonal employees to meet the growing demand for holiday product shipments and fulfill online orders.
Dave Clark, vice president of Global Customer Fulfillment, says Amazon “expects thousands of temporary associates will stay on in full-time positions.”
Amazon was the clear winner for Holiday 2011 growing at nearly twice the E-commerce industry average. This year’s industry-wide projections are for a 20% surge with two extra shopping days in the season, a huge mobile channel gaining traction, and a raft of hot-to-own new products.
Amazon Third Party Partners are also growing their businesses at twice the rate of E-commerce as a whole.
Here’s how to prepare for holiday sales success of your own E-commerce efforts for the Cyber Five: Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Saturday, Cyber Sunday (Leftovers Weekend), and Cyber (Green) Monday.
1. Optimize all CSE’s (Comparison Shopping Engines)
TheFind.com is still free. Add additional engines to increase traffic. Shopzilla, Nextag, Shopping.com, PriceGrabber, Ciao and Kelkoo, for starters.
2. Expand to More Marketplaces. Newegg starts promotions Nov. 1, mailed coupons last year. Buy.com offers early bird incentives such as no restocking fee, a 45-day return policy and free shipping. Sears has lowered free shipping minimums to compete. Provide UPCs for product matching.
3. Ride the Amazon Wave. Holiday Same Store Sales were up 60% last November, 51% in December. Consider Fulfillment by Amazon if only for top products. There are approximately 19 million Amazon Prime members who want it now and Prime members spend 130% more than regular Amazon shoppers.
4. Perfect Paid Search. Review your paused keywords for any seasonal products or gifts. Disable ad scheduling to cater to late-night shoppers and at-work shoppers. Pre-load ad creative changes, and minimize ad copy edits. Stay on top of changing inventory.
5. Get Strategic With Social. Claim your name on Social Sites. Pinterest is huge this year. Could it be the virtual replacement for Google Product Search? Add holiday keywords in Pinterest pictures you post, and Tag prices.
6. Face Up to Facebook Facebook “Want” and “Purchased” buttons are rumored to be live this holiday. Surface products to Facebook Fans with daily deals, special promotions and flash sales. Sweepstakes and charities can help with initial engagement. Ask Fans to retweet and suggest sharing.
7. Make use of Mobile. Last year, “Couch Commerce” made headlines. Tablets convert at a rate comparable to standard browsers, mobile phones at 1/3rd the rate.
Tablets skew toward higher-income demographic. Average-order-value 15% higher on tablets, 23% for luxury statement. Tablet users are 50% more likely to buy in the evenings.
8. Optimize Your Feeds. Affiliate marketing and retargeting offers additional sources of income. Retargeting conversion rates are similar at 60 days out as 1-2 days.
9. Get Your Website Ready. Make last shipping deadlines prominent. Add “themed” categories for “Kids” or “Holiday Sales.” Up-sell with stocking stuffers or complementary products. The more product detail the better: FAQ’s, video product reviews, customer product reviews. Launch quick sales on social channels to drive traffic. Optimize your title, it’s the first thing buyers see.
Seattle’s SearchWrite Search Marketing is offering three Holiday Tune-Up packages encompassing items 1-9 above for E-Merchants of all sizes. Call (206) 842-5420 for more information. [24×7]
