The term “Cyber Monday” was dreamt up in 2005 by a marketing team at Shop.org, a division of the National Retail Federation. It was created to allow customers to shop online from the comfort of their offices and homes.

Since 2005 it’s become a very popular day to shop and has become an international marketing term used by online retailers across the world. Cyber Monday has since served to push sales up and boost increased online shopping throughout the holiday season. Over the past several years, hotels, tours and airlines have all started venturing into the Cyber Monday promotional space.

To maximize profits, you need a Cyber Monday strategy.

Cyber Monday provides opportunities for your ecommerce business that shouldn’t be missed. Below are some tips for how best to drive online sales on Cyber Monday.

Your website

Consider re-skinning your website for Cyber Monday. Even if you have limited Cyber Monday deals, the splashier your page is, the more customers will assume there are great savings to be had. Set up specific landing pages for brands or categories to increase your sales. Try not to offer too many items on sale so that customers are not overwhelmed by choice.

It is essential that your website is prepared to handle the increase in traffic. Be sure that you have got the bandwidth to accommodate everyone. It is worth the investment to have a separate server or cloud solutions so that your site does not crash and people can actually get to your deals

Shipping

When preparing for Cyber Monday, keep in mind that customers love free shipping and it has almost become expected on this day.

Social Media

Utilise social media to promote your Cyber Monday deals. Tease your sales in advance and build anticipation for the products that will be on special.

Leverage Cyber Monday to build your database

Be sure to encourage customers to sign up for your email list so that you can reach them in the future. Have a box on your site and also on your checkout page to capture the email addresses. A signup tab on your Facebook page is also an effective method for capturing customer data.

Pay Per Click

Set up a pay per click campaign targeting the keywords that are mostly used during the holidays. These include things such as: “sales, top gifts, cyber monday, black friday”. The increased traffic will most likely result in increased sales.

Are you an online retailer? Are you taking advantage of Cyber Monday? We’d love to hear about your special deals in the comments.