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Give a gift centre for Christmas


Six tips to making the the gift-buying experience quick and pain-free for consumers


With Christmas being peak period for many e-tailers, putting the right strategy in place has become a key differentiator in who secures the best return on investment from their festive campaigns. One way to effectively present products to your customers at this time of year is through gift centres. Here are a few tips:


1. Build a gift centre Experience will have taught retailers that with


large volumes of deals available at Christmas, shoppers have all the more reason to go elsewhere if they can’t find what they are looking for on your website.


One technique to ensure that customers


have an enjoyable online shopping experience is to create a separately placed and marketed “Gift Centre”. This capitalises on previous searches and buying behaviour, allowing for a personalised shopping experience in which customers can purchase items on their own terms. In doing this, customers can even be afforded the luxury of setting their own search parameters and viewing options. This not only allows them to find their chosen gift as quickly and efficiently as possible, but builds loyalty with the e-tailer for having offered a more personalised shopping experience.


2. Be selective It’s something that we have all experienced


as consumers: logging on to a high-street retailer’s website looking for a Christmas bargain and being overloaded with pages and pages of gift recommendations. Not only is this an inconvenience, but the fact is that many competitors or aggregators will already be specialising in producing these. Quite simply, why would you stay on a website that you have to wade through, when you can get a quick-click experience somewhere else? The focus needs to be placed on presenting


customers only what is appropriate. It is preferable to make lists short and snappy, two or three pages of results, as this is generally how


Firebox’s year-round dynamic gift finder enables customers to refine their searches by minimum and maximum price, category, and intended recipient.


far a customer will browse before becoming frustrated. Make your recommendations based on trends, most popular gifts and top-selling products within your customer’s desired price range. In short, fit your suggestions within the realms of the customer’s agenda.


3. Monitor performance Since you’re really limiting the amount of


products you’re offering in the gift centre, it’s imperative to carefully monitor how these are performing. Keep a close eye on available sales, click-through rates and conversion data and update your product offering according to what your customers are telling you. Further, to get your gift centre at a peak


position in search engine rankings, make full use of title and meta description tags, in addition to targeted keywords.


4. Personalisation is key The further online retailers can personalise the


shopping experience, the likelier they are to differentiate themselves from the competition. Dividing items by “personas” is a great way to achieve this, as it leaves shoppers free to filter searches by specific personalities and interests. For example, a sports retailer could present gifts for “The Outdoorsman”, “The Gym Rat” and “The Savvy Swimmer”. Presenting ideas through “Top Rated”, “Top


Sellers” or “Most Wanted” lists will assist with this by giving shoppers a clear idea of what’s hot this year. Equally, pricing brackets such as “Gifts under £15” are a clear way of allowing the cash- conscious customer to get what he wants out of an online shop as quickly as possible.


5. Optimise consumer engagement


Creating a separate “Gift Services” page is a simple yet effective way of clearly showing additional options available to customers. Such services could include alternate payment options such as PayPal, information on last- order dates—especially for international despatches, or any gift wrap and messaging services on offer.


Tactics Views


Last year, Notonthehightstreet’s Christmas gift centre allowed customers to choose by recipient and type of gift. A further click presented options such as price and delivery timescales, and features such as eco-friendly or made in Britain.


6. Plan to succeed It can’t be stressed enough just how important


planning for the Christmas rush is. With the right strategy in place far enough in advance, retailers will not only have the head start on competitors but also develop a priceless perspective on what their customers are looking for and why, meaning trends in sales can be responded to swiftly and intelligently.


Hosein Moghaddas is vice president and managing director,


international at ecommerce services


provider GSI Commerce.


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