Introduction
Whether you’re a seasoned e-commerce shopper or business owner, you know that peak seasons such as the famous 11.11 and Christmas sales are booming periods for online shopping. If there’s one thing we Malaysians should be proud of, is knowing that the Malaysian e-commerce market has grown by 10.6% in 2021 as one of the fastest growing regions in Southeast Asia thanks to our love towards online shopping (yay to us!) Now, since we Malaysians love online shopping so much, there’s bound to be a few tricks up both the shoppers and sellers’ sleeves to make this shopping season a success. While there are many guides for online shoppers available out there, here is a comprehensive list that is exclusively for you—an e-commerce business owner to help prepare your e-commerce store ready for the next peak season!
But before we jump right in, here is a compiled list of major holidays and sales seasons in Malaysia for the year 2022 where you can roll out sales and promotions for maximum engagement!
- Chinese New Year – 1 February 2022
- Hari Raya Aidilfitri – 3 May 2022
- Deepavali – 24 October 2022
- 11.11 (Singles Day) – 11 November 2022
- Black Friday – 25 November 2022
- 12.12 – 12 December 2022
- Christmas Day – 25 December 2022
As you might’ve noticed, the last two months of the year are filled with great holiday and sales seasons perfect for hyping up sales for your e-commerce business. Take this opportunity to do that one last stretch for your business before rounding up the entire year. Now, done taking notes? Let’s get right into it!
1. Make Use of Past Data
This is obvious, but sometimes the most common of things can be overlooked or not utilized properly. Remember that past data and analytics can help you forecast trends and analyze your business activity. For example, does your product sell better during Christmas or Black Friday? Did you face any stock-out issues during these peak sale seasons? While these are some potential questions you may ask yourself, here are some other areas you can look into when reviewing your past data
- Past year sales by region, country, and customer demographics
- Warehouse efficiency, e.g. most popular products and their inventory management levels during peak/non-peak periods
- Interaction/profile visits from PPC, SEO marketing activities
- KPIs of past promotions/campaigns
Analyzing your performance from past years can help determine emerging trends or weaknesses in your current business operations, so remember to do it from time to time!
2. Mobile Optimization
When you’re so used to managing your e-commerce business online through dedicated workstations (computers, laptops, etc), it’s easy to forget that mobile phones contribute to at least half of all website traffic in the world. With 87% of the population owning a smartphone, customers nowadays are also looking for meaningful mobile shopping experiences. If your website or e-commerce store does not display optimally during peak seasons, customers may be frustrated and bounce right off to your competitor sites. So, when designing or improving your website/e-commerce platform, make sure the interface is mobile compatible and easy to navigate.
If needed, you can also look into running a few website performance tests with tons of free tools online, so feel free to search away!
3. Create an engaging marketing strategy
Promotions. Promotions. Promotions! Online shoppers are smart and nifty, and know that you only have a few seconds to catch your customer’s attention before they’re attracted to other flashy promotions on e-commerce platforms. While this may not apply to those of you selling from your own e-commerce websites, you still need to generate traffic and redirect it to your site. Now, this is where an effective and engaging marketing strategy comes in.
Here, it is important to understand your audience in order to craft your perfect marketing strategy. By using the correct channels, relevant keywords, and eye-catching graphics—we now have a campaign for success ready to be launched!
4. Improve Customer Service
This is a no-brainer. You’re bound to receive tons of inquiries from eager customers during peak seasons. So, make sure you have a dedicated team of customer service experts motivated and ready to type away! This is especially true for sales seasons like 11.11 and 12.12 where online shoppers tend to start their shopping spree when the clock strikes midnight. Remember that you want your customer service team to be well-informed with relevant information such as inventory levels (for popular products), ongoing sales and promotions, and expected delivery times to different regions. Because if customer queries are not answered in time, chances are your sales will flow towards your competitors instead. And surely, we don’t want that to happen!
5. Good Inventory Management
Having enough inventory of your bestselling products certainly pays off when you see demands soar during peak seasons. If you haven’t experienced it yet, take our word when we tell you to stock up on the right inventory at the right time. It’ll be much better because you’ll be saving so much hassle and time trying to source or pack your products if you ever run out of stock early on.
One thing you can rely on is an inventory management system. Implementing this software for your e-commerce business allows you to not only track and forecast inventory levels but also offers seamless integration with leading e-commerce platforms where your customers are. Now, these technologies require some investment into it… which brings us to the next point!
6. Partner up with a Fulfillment Service Provider
Has your business always been busy with in-house fulfillment? Do you often find yourself overwhelmed with the number of orders you’re getting, especially during peak seasons? If you’re getting frustrated (if you haven’t, trust us when we say you will eventually) doing everything
yourself, partnering up with a reliable fulfillment service provider will be the best cure for your headache. From inventory management to processing returns, you’ll have so much more time to handle other business activities as these complicated tasks are processed by your partner. Their dedicated inventory management systems and warehouses are equipped with advanced technology perfectly suited for providing great e-commerce experiences all year round—so why not just leverage on them instead?
The Ultimate Prep
The ultimate way to prepare your e-commerce business for peak season success is to partner with a trusted fulfillment provider. With over a decade of experience in the fulfillment industry, we at iStore iSend can ensure that you are always ready to meet customer demands with a full-fledged e-commerce system powered by our leading ODIN technology and strategic warehouse locations across different regions. Let our team of professionals take care of all things logistics for you.
Now, if you’re still unsure of your e-commerce pathway to success, feel free to get in touch with us as we’re happy to answer any questions you have!
