Christmas and the sale period are two important moments of the year for online merchants. Indeed, a big part of their turnover is made during this period.

Get ready for Christmas….

Christmas time is often the occasion for online buyers to make unusual purchases on Internet: quick delivery delay, lack of time, a bigger choice on Internet… It is therefore an interesting time for the acquisition of news clients. Getting ready for this period is essential: a disappointed buyer during Christmas time will become a lost client! So, the key to success is preparation.

For the reminder, online sales in December 2011 were up 30% year on year, and the last week before Christmas 2011 saw almost double the sales compared with 2010. As a token of this essential time of the year, 96% of e-shoppers expect to do some shopping online this Christmas and 26% believe that they will spend more online this year in the run up to Christmas*! During Christmas time, 96m UK internet visits went to retail websites, a 19.5% increase from 2010 figures*.

…and for the sale period:

Other fundamental time in the merchant’s selling cycle: the sale period! Indeed, this period is a strong one to increase turnover, so merchants must be well prepared. The next sale period starts in 2 months, on Boxing Day – 26th December – , and lasts until the end of January.

Being efficient during the sale period is fundamental. For the record, Boxing Day 2011 was the biggest ever day for online retail in the UK: Britons spent 13m hours shopping on Boxing Day! Furthermore, overall UK retail sales grew by 2% in volume in January 2012 – during the sale period -, compared to the same time in 2011, and by 4.4% in value*. It is therefore a key moment of the year whose sales are growing year-on-year.

It is necessary to develop your distribution channels for these two key times. Lengow allows online retailers to program specific actions and centralize your management in order to save time.

Lengow can help online merchants make the most of the festive season and establish a plan for their seasonal promotions.

If you have any inquiry or if you want to prepare a strong festive season strategy, contact Lengow UK team at .

Yacine Merad, Lengow Country Manager UK (, ), Mariko Komaki, Business Developer UK (, ) and Thomas Nolleau, Business Developer UK (+44 203 445 1002, ) will give you all the information and solutions you need to make Christmas time and sale period a success.

*Source: Internet Retailing & Econsultancy.com