Webshop checklist for the festive season

The number of online purchases of gifts for the festive season is continuing to rise. Over the three weeks leading up to Christmas Eve, there is a turnover increase of more than 30% per week. The end-of-year period is once again expected to be the busiest time of the year.

Have you started preparing yet? We have drawn up our smart checklist of 13 tips to help you prepare and make your webshop stand out during the busy festive season!

Checklist for the festive season.

#1 Drop off your parcels to a PostNL location on time

Deliver your parcels to PostNL on time so that all your gifts are guaranteed to be delivered to your customers on time. You also need to encourage your customers to place their orders for the festive season early so you can guarantee their desired delivery date.

#2 Make sure your webshop is findable

Is your webshop ready for the influx of orders? Make sure your webshop is findable in the run-up to the busy festive season. Want to know if your webshop is findable? Do an SEO check and customise your content so it gets a better Google rating.

#3 Customise your webshop

Customise your webshop by implementing your design in your visual material, newsletter, blog and social media channels. You can find a lot of visual material online, but you can also be creative by creating your own photos for your webshop.

#4 Stand out from your competitors by offering special promotions

Bring out nice discounts and promotions for the festive season and help your customers with their Christmas shopping. Our blog provides useful tips on how to make your webshop stand out from the rest during the festive season!

#5 Make sure you have enough packaging supplies

Parcels shipped to international destinations can cover quite some ground. That’s why it’s important that your parcel can take a beating. Always use sturdy packaging that is the right size and protects the product. A wide range of packaging material that you can use to ship your products, hassle-free, is available in our webshop. An extensive list of packaging tips is available here.

#6 MyParcel packaging tips

Prevent delays and damage by using the right packaging. Our packaging tips:

• Products weighing up to 10kg can be packaged in a single wall cardboard box.
• When reusing boxes, make sure that no old stickers or barcodes are showing. This will prevent confusion with delivery addresses.
• Make sure your parcel has no sharp corners to prevent damage to other parcels.
• Do not use rope, wire or tape to attach multiple parcels together.
• Items such as glass, pottery, etc. should be shipped in a 7mm double corrugated cardboard box, type BC.

#7 Send your customers clear information about upcoming busy periods on time

Inform your customers about upcoming busy periods through your newsletter, social media channels or website. With the festive season around the corner, ask them to place their orders early so you can guarantee fast delivery.

#8 Think about your webshop’s speed

Be prepared for an increase in traffic on your website so your webshop doesn’t crash due to the increasing number of visitors. Make sure you have a fast website so that your customers don’t leave. You can test your website’s speed using the Google speedtest. From there, you can optimise your website where necessary.

#9 Make your webshop smartphone friendly

Did you know that 48% of orders are placed using smartphones? The smartphone also takes the lead during the festive season, so make sure your webshop also has a mobile version. 

#10 Offer flexibility in delivery times

It is important that customers can decide where and when they have their parcels delivered, and even more so around the festive season. You can make this happen by offering flexible delivery options. This has extra benefits for your customer and results in an increased delivery rate!

#11 Insure expensive Christmas parcels

Sell high-value items? Insure your parcel against damage or loss. You can decide on the total value for which the parcel is insured. You can even insure a parcel from € 0.50! For more information on the available shipping options, please refer to our ‘Shipping options’ page.

#12 Check that your products are permitted abroad

Send a lot of parcels abroad at the end of the year? Avoid delays and check in advance what is and is not allowed in the destination country. Our list of prohibited goods can help you with this.

#13 Increase repeat purchases using MyParcel’s returns service

During really busy periods, your customers might change their minds about an order. Offer your customers extra service by allowing them a longer period of time to return Sinterklaas and Christmas purchases. You could extend the returns period until the second week of January, for example. You can easily arrange this by setting up your MyParcel returns service.

We aim to provide you with all the important information you need over the busy upcoming period. That way, you can sail through the end-of-year period with no hassle. Want to give your sales a boost as well? Go for it with Black Friday and Cyber Monday! Wondering how to do that? Read our blog.