‘Tis the season for online sales! But are you ready for the holiday?

The holiday season is one of the biggest drivers of retail sales every year, accounting for about 19% of total retail sales on average.¹ Just last year, holiday ec-ommerce sales amounted to nearly 186 billion dollars in the US alone.² This year is expected to shatter new records, with Statista predicting an 11.3% growth in e-commerce sales.³

If you want to enter this lucrative market and take advantage of the holiday boom but don’t have the start-up capital, then wholesale dropshipping might be the solution for you.

Dropshipping is an easy, low-cost way to get started in ecommerce. It also has the potential for substantial profits. Global ecommerce B2B sales are forecasted to reach new heights during the holidays, hitting US $1.1 trillion dollars by the end of 2021.⁴ If you’re a small- to medium-sized dropshipping business, then you definitely don’t want to miss out on this sales opportunity.

Keep reading to discover 5 valuable tips on how to prepare your dropshipping business for the holiday season and how Alibaba.com can help you through the process.

5 tips on preparing your business for the holiday season

Because of the huge spikes in online traffic and sales for Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas shopping, the holiday season is a key part of making most online retailers' businesses successful.

Want to seize this opportunity to expand your business and boost your bottom line? We’ve made a list of tips (and checked it twice) on how to prepare your business for the holiday season. Let’s get started!

1. Decorate your online store with holiday elements

Did you know that it only takes 0.5 seconds for customers to form an opinion about your website and decide whether to stay or leave?⁵ Even if they choose to stay, 38% of people will stop engaging with a website if the content or layout is unattractive.⁶ In e-commerce, having a well-designed and attractive digital storefront is critical to capturing and maintaining a potential buyer’s attention.

Now that the holiday season is upon us, customers expect to see seasonal embellishments on store websites. If you don’t want to disappoint your consumer base, then it’s time to deck the halls of your store with holiday-themed content. Here are some ideas:

Put a festive spin on your logo
Include holiday graphics on sale banners and pop-ups
Use vibrant holiday colors like red, green, gold, silver, white, and blue
Feature holiday-specific products
Create curated holiday collections and give gift guidance

Here is an example from Shopify^[13]:

If you don’t have the skills or time to do this yourself, plenty of people offer services on platforms like Fiverr. You can see how someone customized Fiverr’s logo for Halloween below^[12]:

2. Make a plan to promote your products

The holiday season is the busiest time for retailers, and the data proves it. Holiday season spending exceeded US $789 billion in 2020, an all-time high.⁷ To capitalize on the most profitable season of the year, make sure you have a marketing campaign to capture potential customers' attention. Here’s a list of marketing channels you can use to reach more potential buyers:

Social media: Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram have become a goldmine for retailers. A recent survey revealed that over a quarter of shoppers in the US plan to use these platforms to research new products when holiday shopping.⁸ Determine which platforms your target audience uses most and incorporate this channel into your marketing strategy.

Search engines: Popular search engines such as Google are a go-to resource for gift ideas and where to buy them. You can boost brand visibility through Google Search campaigns and see what’s trending this holiday season in Google’s Holiday 100 list.⁹

Paid ads: Online ads are a great way to reach potential buyers, create brand awareness, and generate sales. They also aren’t as expensive as you might think, and many allow you to tailor ad campaigns to your specific budget. Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and Linkedin Ads are all great options to help you increase leads and achieve your conversion goals this holiday season.

Email marketing: Email campaigns are one of the most effective holiday marketing tools available to online retailers.¹⁰ Use email marketing to provide personalized emails, instant buying options, last-minute deals, holiday-themed templates, and CTAs that direct traffic to dedicated purchase pages.

Influencer marketing: Collaborating with influencers is an excellent way to inform consumers of holiday promotions and new products. Influencer marketing is one of the fastest-growing online customer-acquisition channels and is positioned to reach US $13.8 billion by the end of this year.¹¹ Connect with micro and macro influencers who can reach a wider audience and showcase your brand/products through personalized holiday gift guides and reviews.

3. Communicate with suppliers in advance

Dropshipping businesses do not have their own warehouses and therefore can not control inventory. Many dropshippers view this as an advantage. However, it does require you to rely heavily on your supplier’s inventory and shipping operations, which can become even trickier to manage when working with multiple suppliers.

Communicate with your supplier(s) in advance to conduct an inventory check and ensure you’re both aligned. Once you know how much they can accommodate during the holiday surge, you can work with them to arrange processes and contingency plans.

This step is crucial this year due to the unforeseen challenges that may arise from the pandemic. If you don’t want to find yourself in a bind due to fluctuating freight costs and unexpected production delays, make sure you have a fallback option.

4. Review your shipping and return policy

It’s essential to adjust your store policies during the holiday season.

If you don’t revise your standard store policies, you’re likely to find your tinsel in a tangle with exchanges, returns, and frustrated customers. Transparency is key here – clearly state the new policies, processes, and shipping times. For example, exchanges and returns can prove difficult or even impossible for dropshipping stores, especially during the holiday season. It's not a must to offer exchanges and returns. So, if you decide to do so, make that clear.

You should also let your consumers know when to expect their purchase to be shipped and delivered. Communicate with your suppliers regarding shipping methods and delivery times so you can inform your consumers when they make a purchase.

Here is an example of a clear refund policy from one of the most effective Shopify dropshipping stores, Sambien^[14]:

5. Make sure you have a backup plan

The global pandemic caused a slew of unexpected shipping and manufacturing delays in 2020, and this year may also have similar surprises. For this reason, it's a good idea to have a few contingency plans in place so you aren't scrambling in early December to adjust.

Examples of smart backup plans include:

A promotional plan and pre-determined budget if the traffic from paid ads isn't performing as expected
Processes in place for how to deal with consumers and solve their concerns if a shipment is delayed
A queue of backup suppliers in case inventory runs low or there’s an unexpected delay in production

Now that you have a clear understanding of what to prepare for the holiday, you might still be wondering how. Luckily, with the dropshipping service offered by Alibaba.com, you don’t have to prepare everything all by yourself. In the next section, we’ll explain how Alibaba.com’s dropshipping service can help your business reach buyers and increase sales during the holidays.

How Alibaba.com Dropshipping can help you prepare for the holiday season

Alibaba.com is one of the most popular online platforms for wholesale retailers and dropshipping businesses. In Alibaba.com’s dropshipping center, you can discover innovative ways to engage in cross-border trade, scale your operations, and boost sales this holiday season.

Just entered the dropshipping market? Have no fear – Alibaba.com caters to the needs of both large- and small-scale business owners. You’ll find an extensive network of bulk suppliers and manufacturers that offer products at affordable prices in this online marketplace. Low minimum order quantities (MOQ) and flexible payment options are offered as well, so you can sell quality products at wholesale prices and maximize profits this season. You can even tailor product details to your brand, add holiday elements, and automatically fulfill customer orders.

Our Trade Assurance program is another benefit members can enjoy. Alibaba.com’s Trade Assurance program protects your orders in the event that your supplier fails to ship on time or the product quality varies from what is agreed upon. With the uncertainty of how the pandemic might impact this year’s holiday sales season, you won’t want to do business without it!

Join today and connect with over 10,000 verified or top-rated manufacturers to keep up with your holiday inventory needs, customization requirements, design specifications, and more.

References:

https://nrf.com/topics/holiday-and-seasonal-trends/winter-holidays
https://www.statista.com/topics/1103/holiday-season-e-commerce/
https://www.emarketer.com/content/how-retailers-start-planning-2021-holiday-season
https://www.statista.com/statistics/540658/projected-b2b-e-commerce-volume-usa/
https://www.sweor.com/firstimpressions https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/compelling-stats-website-design-optimization-list
https://www.marketingcharts.com/charts/us-holiday-season-retail-sales-2002-2020/attachment/nrf-holiday-retail-sales-2002-2020-jan2021
https://www.statista.com/statistics/248037/usage-of-social-media-for-holiday-gift-ideas/
https://blog.google/products/shopping/top-trending-gifts-2021/
https://www.campaignmonitor.com/blog/email-marketing/ultimate-guide-holiday-email-marketing/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2021/08/17/holiday-season-2021-influencer-marketing-predictions-and-tips/?sh=4a393cc539d0
https://www.lateshipment.com/blog/6-tips-to-
https://www.fiverr.com/felmeeeh/design-halloween-banner-logo-makeover-flyers-and-posters
https://www.shopify.com/partners/blog/77263235-4-ways-to-give-some-holiday-flair-to-an-ecommerce-store
https://sambien.com/pages/returns