Ten Sure Fire Ways to Sell Like Crazy for Mother’s Day!
Did you know that analysts are projecting that over $18.5 billion will be spent on Mother’s Day this year? Next question – how are you going to get your piece of that pie? We’ve compiled a list of effective tactics for you.
1. Offer free or discounted shipping – Research has shown again and again that one of the most enticing promotions for an online retailer is discounted or free shipping. In a recent PriceGrabber survey, 53% of shoppers said that free shipping was the promotion that would most likely get them to take action. 
2. Offer specials with quick expirations – In the PriceGrabber study noted above, only 25% of shoppers said they planned to buy gifts three or more weeks prior to Mother’s Day. Entice shoppers to take early action with YOU by promoting alluring offers that expire. If action isn’t taken soon, the deal is gone! If you’re a Nexternal customer, this is a great time to utilize your coupon start and end date and time feature.
3. Dress the part – Give your online store a special “outfit”, such as a Mother’s Day header or banner, and help her dress the part! She should look like a shop where Mother’s Day dollars should be spent.
4. Segregate – Scan through your product catalog and identify the products that would make appropriate Mother’s Day gifts. Create a special Mother’s Day gifts product category, and make sure that it draws visual attention in your store!
5. Help customers make up their minds – If you have a lot of products that would be appropriate for Mother’s Day, it may be worth your time to separate your products into subcategories by price or other subcategory (such as gifts for new mothers, relaxing gifts for mom, etc).
6. Promote via email – Design a well-crafted email to blast out to your customers. Remind customers just how quickly Mother’s Day is approaching (perhaps number of days or weeks left), and consider noting order deadlines for various shipping methods to ensure on-time delivery of gifts. Be sure to promote your best Mother’s Day offers, discounts, gifting options, and really demonstrate the reasons why your customers would be crazy to spend their Mother’s Day dollars shopping anywhere else!
7. Offer gift messages & gift wrapping – Allow customers to make their gifts a little more special with a free personalized note to mom. If you can swing it, you might also consider offering free gift wrapping – what a treat! If you’re a Nexternal customer, these are easy features to activate in your Settings / Site Options section.
8. Adjust your Upsells – If you’re a Nexternal customer taking advantage of your Upsell Overlay feature, now is a great time to change the message in the popup box. Remind customers who are shopping now just how easy it would be to throw in a gift for mom too. If you’re allowing customers to have Multiple “Ship To” addresses in a single order, promote the fact that shoppers can easily wrap it all up in one simple checkout!
9. Offer a preferred delivery date option – Allowing customers the ability to select their own delivery date at checkout is a luxury that customers appreciate and rarely get. If you’re offering perishable products intended for Mother’s Day, or enticing customers to shop early, it is particularly important to let customers know they will have this choice when shopping with you.
10. Promote gift cards when shipping deadlines pass – Almost 20% of shoppers plan to shop for gifts within 48 hours of Mother’s Day. Help out those individuals who lost track of time, and promote your electronic gift cards when the clock winds down.
Employ these tactics, and you’ll be sure to make your mamma proud!
Lanette Willis is a Senior Account Manager at Nexternal. Before joining Nexternal she spent nearly a decade working in market research and professional services marketing, before running her own successful eCommerce apparel business. Lanette is passionate about helping people and businesses thrive.
