Shopify is one of the most popular eCommerce platforms, allowing merchants to create an online store in just a few steps. In addition to giving eCommerce and brick-and-mortar store owners all the tools they need to build, launch and grow their business, Shopify also has a growing marketplace of apps and solutions that can extend the capabilities of the platform. With the developments of Coronavirus (COVID-19), now is the perfect time to be analyzing which apps will help you to master the management of an omnichannel store.

To date, the Shopify’s app store offers upward of 2,400 apps to its users, and on average, 33,000 are downloaded each month. 

But not all apps are created equally, and with 2,000+ to browse, it can be challenging to find which app is going to get the best results for your business. 

So, we've saved you the hassle of browsing thousands of solutions and identified the 13 best Shopify apps to get you through marketing, analytics, accounting, staffing, merchandising, and much more. 

When it comes to loyalty marketing and automation for your Shopify store, look no further than Marsello. 

Our app equips you with powerful tools that can help you run delightful marketing campaigns across physical and digital channels. Want to set up a loyalty program that seamlessly works online and offline? We got you covered. Need to send targeted messages via email and SMS? You can do that too! 

Marsello also puts the power of AI at your fingertips. The platform uses customer segmentation to organise and track customers based on their shopping behavior (i.e., purchase history, recent interactions, etc.), helping you to run the right campaigns at the right time.

eCommerce support is critical to keeping customers on your site, engaged with your brand, and moving through to purchase. Kiri assists with just this through the use of artificial intelligence.  

Kiri allows store owners with an eCommerce site to increase their profits and customer satisfaction with automatic replies, intelligent sorting, and assessing the customer value and risk, so support staff know which conversations to prioritize. 

Wishlists enable customers to identify and store items they like. Smart Wishlist helps merchants to make this process as smooth as possible, even before customers have registered or logged into your site. 

Smart Wishlist is a simple tool that gives customers the ability to add to their wishlist in just one click, no sign-in needed, and no coding required from merchants.

4. Tagalys

The Tagalys Personalized Recommendations app for Shopify allows you to tailor the product categories and recommendations shown on your website, based on the interest of the user as well as what’s trending. 

Tagalys lets you create data-driven product listings and recommendations, so your website displays products that shoppers are most likely to buy. Product recommendations on your online store, in turn, keeps customers on your site and helps to increase conversions and revenue.

Shipping is a crucial piece of the eCommerce business puzzle, and finding the right shipping solution can help businesses to save drastically – both their time and money. 

The Easyship app for Shopify gives merchants access to low shipping costs all over the world. With more economical shipping costs offered to customers, the barrier of freight is removed, paving the way to increased conversions and more repeat purchases, not to mention cost savings for both sides.  

6. SEO Booster

Being seen online is the primary battle in building a customer base. To be seen, your eCommerce site needs to be search engine optimized and to be optimized, you either need an in-house team, or you need systems working to support you. 

SEO Booster by Secomapp helps eCommerce sites to boost their SEO with no prior SEO skills required. With a number of automatic functions, tools, and insight features, the SEO Booster app helps your site to set up SEO like a pro. 

10. Bulk Products Editor

Editing product information in bulk can be a nightmare, no matter whether it's tens of items or thousands. To counter this, SpurIT developed Bulk Products Editor for Shopify users to streamline the process and make it possible to edit in bulk from one page. 

Through the app, merchants can edit product and variant details in bulk, with just a couple clicks, all from the same page. This could be bulk tags, vendor details, product titles and descriptions, SEO information, or bulk price changes. 

With smoother staff management, retail store owners and managers can focus less on admin and focus more on important work – such as growing your online and offline sales, keeping your customers happy, and strategizing where to take your business. 

To that end, Staffy is a Shopify app that helps you stay on top of employee management, scheduling, and payroll. With quick and easy shift scheduling, salary calculation systems, payment integrations, and team communication tools, Staffy is an all-rounder system for sites managing staff. 

Staffy is a platform that is made to ensure teamwork productivity and payroll in Shopify. It's designed for merchants that rely on remote teams, physical employees, and/or POS store retail employees. Staffy's time tracking capabilities ensure that employees are working during business hours, no matter if they're at home, or at your fulfillment center.  Staffy also comes with in-depth integrations to provide key features and insights such as custom made reports, one-click payroll, project management tools and more - all while being fully integrated with your Shopify system. 

- Harel Ishay, CEO at Staffy

Analytics tools are what makes the Internet go round and allows eCommerce businesses to get ahead of their competitors. For Shopify sites, Conversific ‑ Store Analytics is the analytics tool of choice, bringing up actionable analytics and reports so that merchants can make sense of and harness their data.

With no need to develop technical skills, merchants can optimize for traffic and conversion, access benchmarking and insights tools, and master Google Analytics to boost their online sales.

13. Product Questions and Answers 

The modern consumer is a research savvy, internet literate individual with a penchant for seeking answers to hunt down the best deal. Answering questions all day, however, is time-consuming for merchants or customer service teams; hence Product Questions and Answers become so valuable. 

With this free app on Shopify, eCommerce site owners can create product-specific FAQ sections on various product pages. Not only does this answer consumer questions, but it also helps with SEO and product questions and answers.

The biggest benefit [of Product Questions and Answers ] is it helps merchants maintain the FAQ page for each product on their respective product pages. Plus, questions and answers are rendered via In Page HTML and via JS rendering. This helps Search Engines read the content of the pages more efficiently.

- Amit P Jivani, CEO at Simprosys InfoMedia 

Bringing it all together

Retail success requires you have a strong presence on both physical and digital channels. If you’re a brick-and-mortar store looking to go online, then installing some of these apps from the get-go will help you kick off on the right foot. Already have an online store? These apps will optimize it further so you can take it to new heights! 

Now is the time to give your customers as much information as you possibly can. AllBirds do a great job of this through their social media channels. In the following example, pulled from their Instagram account, AllBirds share their empathy, understanding, and, most importantly, critical details about their operations. 

Take note of the second paragraph in which they state, “Our corporate staff are now working from home, and our stores in the US and Europe will be closed from March 15th through the 27th”. They then go the extra mile to support their staff and reassure their customers that by continuing to shop with AllBirds, they support an ethical and socially conscious brand: “All employees will get full pay and benefits during this time.”

Following their operation updates, AllBirds also add that as the details surrounding Coronavirus develop, so may their plans. They acknowledge the importance of communication and promise to stay connected through their ‘digital channels’.

AllBirds are careful to keep their customers informed by sharing essential updates while also strengthening their customers’ confidence in AllBird’s company ethics and genuine care for the situation surrounding COVID-19. They do this by updating all of their digital channels, which includes using email marketing. Although tools like social media are a powerful way to reach your customers, it’s also easy for your update to be lost amongst the rest. Make sure you’re sharing your information across all channels, starting with email marketing campaigns. 

Showcase your brand:

Lightspeed retailer, Iko Iko, is known for their eclectic and colorful branding, and they don’t let the chaos of a worldwide pandemic get in the way of their charismatic communications. Take note of the way that they reiterate that they will be taking extra measures to sanitize their brick-and-mortar store’s high-touch zones: “We are taking a few extra hygiene precautions as recommended by the Ministry of Health. The staff are regularly cleaning high contact surfaces including our eftpos machines [point-of-sale card machines] and countertops …”. By assuring their customers that hygiene is at the forefront of their business practice, Iko Iko helps their customers to feel secure in their decision to continue to shop with the store, particularly because the majority of Iko Iko’s sales are generated in-store.

Iko Iko also let their customers know that the coming weeks may be difficult for them as a business, and they reiterate that customer loyalty is the key to their ongoing success. Finally, they end the email with customized links to their social media accounts, clearly giving customers access to more information from Iko Iko as it’s released.

Iko Iko have done a beautiful job of informing their customers while also showcasing their store’s branding. This not only helps their customers to recognize who the email has come from, but also further entices their customers to shop. The additional graphic design is on-brand with colorful patterns and block colors, but still tasteful and respectful. 

Get on top of your COVID-19 communications with campaigns that are easy to create and schedule.

Think outside the box:

Warby Parker is a household name; known for their standing as a socially conscious eCommerce and physical retailer for prescription glasses, and they’re acutely aware that the products they offer help people each and every day. They want all of their customers, new and loyal, to feel connected and considered. For this reason (among many others), they created an additional landing page on their website dedicated to COVID-19 updates.

They cut right to the chase and let their customers know that they “have decided to temporarily close all of [their] stores through March 27 for the safety of [their] customers, [their] employees, and the general public.”

Special mention: notice that they’ve included a floating banner at the top of their website that lets all online customers know that Warby Parker’s brick-and-mortar stores will be closed from March 15 - March 27. Now that’s one way to keep your customers informed! 

Nevertheless, Warby Parker are careful to highlight that they are still open for business with their online stores, accentuating this with bolded text. They offer several stand-out services, including a ‘Home Try-On Program’, which is still in operation. They also list the ways that customers can get in contact with them, should shoppers have any questions, helping customers to feel cared for and catered to. 

Replicating these examples:

So how can you take the above examples and use the key information for your own COVID-19 communications? 

We’ve whipped up and broken down a quick example that you can build on. Make sure when communicating with customers that you’re careful to include all relevant details affecting your own business and be specific. For example, if your store is solely online, then you don’t need to add a paragraph about increasing the hygiene standards of your store.

Example introduction:

Here at [Store Name], We’re committed to the safety of our team and our community – you. 

With the rapidly changing developments of Coronavirus (COVID-19), we believe it’s important that you’re kept up to date, and you feel confident that your health and safety is a priority. As we learn how to contain and manage the spread of COVID-19, we are doing everything in our power to ensure the safety of our customers, employees and extended community. 

You should only include key information that is relevant to your customers. Have you increased your hygiene practices for your brick-and-mortar stores? Are your online stores up and running, but seeing delays in shipping? Whatever you have decided is best for your business, make sure you describe this clearly without going into too much detail. And make sure that any information you add to your communications is accurate. Some examples could include the following.

If your eCommerce store is seeing delays in shipping, you could include something like the following paragraph :

Our online store is operating as usual, although we are expecting delays in shipping. We are working to guarantee the safety of our employees while also fulling your orders as quickly as we can. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us here: 

Hygiene practice adjustments for brick-and-mortar stores (ensure these practices are in place before you notify customers):

We understand the need for extra precautions and have additional sanitization practices in place, with a particular focus on high-touch zones like door handles and card machines. We will ensure that can maintain the highest possible standard of hygiene by keeping hand hygiene stations stocked throughout our store(s).

Finally, let your customers know that any of this information could change at any time as the conditions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic develop. This could include a paragraph similar to the following:

As the situation surrounding COVID-19 continues to develop and change, our strategies and practices may too. 

This is an opportunity to add your social media icons and direct customers to follow you if you plan on also updating customers there. And make sure to let your customers know how they can stay up-to-date with your store practices. 

Finally, sign off in a way that includes your store name and add some reassurance – a little positivity can go a long way too! Don’t be afraid to follow Iko iko’s suit and fit your brand into the messaging.

We appreciate your ongoing support and understanding in these uncertain times. 

Stay safe and healthy,

[Store Name]. Or [Your name], from [Store Name].

Adjust how you’re trading

We touched on this a little in the intro so let's break it down. With many people practicing social-distancing or even self-quarantining, some brick-and-mortar stores may find a reduction in foot-traffic – some countries are even requiring stores to close. Look at this as an opportunity to develop your business and cater to more online customers. If you’re in-store only and you have to shut up shop for a while, now is the perfect time to work on getting an omnichannel operation set up and starting an online store, or giving a little more love to your online store if it already exists. Set up automated email campaigns while you’re at it, and actively retain online customers without any additional manual work.

It’s reported that eCommerce could account for 40% of all retail purchases in the UK as a direct result of COVID-19. Just think about how huge that is on a world-wide scale and get excited to embark on a new frontier of online shopping. Omnichannel stores are not only a strong retention marketing channel, they’re a fantastic way to keep the local economy going without having to be physically present in-store – even some supermarkets offer online shopping! If it’s within your margins, why not offer customers free shipping, even if it’s just locally? This will encourage customers to shop with you. Adding incentives for customers to share your store with their friends (think: discount codes for proven referrals) will help you to acquire new customers. 

Adaptability and resilience is the key; many retailers are revamping their in-store hygiene practices, implementing social-distancing strategies to protect their employees and customers, and putting countless other changes in place to protect their customers and their businesses. Just don’t forget, transparency is your friend. If you’re expecting delays in shipping, add this to your email campaigns and digital channels. If it’s taking a little longer than usual for your new stock to arrive, using tools that allow customers to ‘wishlist’ or save items could be a nice touch too.  

Final words:

Now is the time to take note of Warby Parker’s example again – do you want to compile this information on a landing page? Perhaps you could instead direct customers to follow you on social media if an additional landing page isn’t quite your speed; or, perhaps now is a great time to try adding SMS campaigns to your toolkit. 

However you chose to do it, the bottom line is that communicating clearly with your customers is essential. Whether it’s affecting your shipping times, forcing the temporary closure of your brick-and-mortar stores, or just creating added stress, it doesn’t hurt to let your customers know how you’ve been affected and remind them that they are what keeps you trading.

If you’re looking to email your customers to communicate about COVID-19, you can get started with Marsello’s campaigns feature for free. Email marketing is the perfect way to communicate with your customers and set expectations, so when you’re back to trading at full-capacity again, don’t forget to shout it from the rooftops throughout all your communication channels, starting with a one-off email campaign. 

Look after your best customers. Automate an email flow that encourages your best customers to keep shopping. If product recommendations in the first email don’t motivate a purchase, automatically follow them up with an exclusive discount just for them.

Build loyal relationships on customers’ birthdays. A cheerful ‘Happy Birthday’ message or offer designed to delight your customers will get them shopping again, and help move them to more desirable segments.

Win back At Risk customers. Bring back at-risk customers with an automated email flow designed to win them back. If product recommendations in the first email doesn’t motivate a purchase, automatically follow up with a limited-time discount email.

Recover abandoned carts. Automate great-looking abandoned cart emails to be sent when your customers don’t complete a purchase and leave items in their cart. Go the extra mile and pull through product images from their cart and a button to take them back to complete their order.

Send one-off email campaigns. Update your customers with on-brand, creative, and easily built one-off email campaigns. Send and schedule newsletters, promotions, or new stock emails to your entire database or to a certain customer segment with just a few clicks.

So how do you make the switch? All you need to do is install Marsello on the Shopify App store with a 14-day free trial (no payment details required). Marsello has been built for Shopify, so all of your customers will automatically sync. Still have questions about migrating from Mailchimp? We’ve put together a helpful page of FAQs on making the switch.

Still can’t decide what to do? Ask our marketing experts for help.

Would you be able to tell what the item was by looking at this URL? No chance. It contains no keywords, so it’s only by clicking that you’d know the item is a V-neck dress. This is exactly the kind of link you want to avoid; it looks messy and chaotic, so no one is likely to click on it.

A messy URL also makes your site more difficult to navigate. If your customers can’t retrace their steps back to other parts of your site by reading your URLs, there’s a good chance that Google will struggle as well.

What to do instead: focus on website hierarchy

Your links should be offering a solid road map of your site. An optimized link would follow this structure:

https://example.com/category/sub-category/product

The pet care retailer Bobbie Dogs has a great URL structure – their URLs have a logical flow from the broader elements of the website (e.g., homepage, category pages, etc.) to the more specific parts (e.g., the product in question).

As such, both Google and shoppers alike will find it easier to understand what the page is all about. Check out their URL below and note the logical mapping of data within the URL; it’s easy to follow, understand and remember.

This description is very wordy and dense, using the keyword ‘top’ multiple times. It also uses far more descriptors than necessary, making it more likely to confuse customers than inform them.

What to do instead: Sprinkle in keywords and don’t overdo it

Use your keywords moderately and only in places where it’s natural to do so. Try putting yourself in the position of your customer when you read your copy. Is it relevant, useful and compelling? If so, that’s what will make them want to stick around – and Google, in turn, will reward your website for it.

Check out this example from Triangl, a highly successful Australian swimsuit brand. In the following product page, you’ll notice that Triangle lightly sprinkles relevant keywords (e.g., ‘bikini’) throughout the content without going overboard.

Mistake 3: Not having an internal linking strategy for your product pages

The saying “You have to spend to make money,” is quite true in the world of retail. As a store owner, you often have to invest in marketing and advertising to acquire new customers and generate revenue. The question is, exactly how much should you spend on customer acquisition to ensure that your efforts are worth it?

To answer that, you need to calculate your Customer Lifetime Value (CLV).

Sometimes referred to as Lifetime Value (LTV), this metric is the amount of revenue or profit that your business stands to generate from each customer during their lifetime. So, if your CLV is $50, then that tells you that it shouldn't cost more than $50 to acquire each new customer.

There are a number of formulas for computing CLV, and the right method will depend on your business model, customer behavior, and available data, among other things.

To help you figure out the right CLV calculation method for your business, we’ve put together some of the most common CLV methods used by eCommerce merchants. Check them out and see which one is the best fit for your business.

1. Use the simple CLV formula.

The no-frills way to compute your CLV is to subtract the cost to acquire and serve customers from the revenue that you’ve earned from them. To do this, use the formula:

LTV = Lifetime Customer Revenue – Lifetime Customer Costs

So, if you earned $200 from a customer over their lifetime and you spent $140 acquiring and serving that customer, then their lifetime value is $60.

Since CLV is often defined as the profit you’ve earned from your customers, then it technically makes sense to subtract your customer costs from your revenue. That said, this takes a very simplistic view of CLV, and it becomes problematic when you’re calculating the CLV of entire customer groups or segments.

That’s because this formula doesn’t take into account the fact that not all your customers spend the same amount at your store. Not to mention, shoppers don’t all stay active within the same time period i.e., certain customers are active for 2+ years, while others just purchase once and then become dormant.

For this reason, it’s a good idea to use more complex CLV calculations to ensure that you’re able to factor in different customer variables.

And that brings us to our next formula...

2. Determine CLV based on customer revenue distribution

Another way to calculate your customer lifetime value is to look at how revenue is distributed across your customer base. You can do this by benchmarking customer spending in your business and then grouping your customers based on those spending thresholds.

Let’s say that spending in your company typically falls into the following buckets:

• Customers who spend $25

• Customers who spend $50

• Customers who spend $75

• Customers who spend $100

The next thing you need to do is to figure out how many customers fall into each bucket. So you might list them as follows:

You’ll want to sum up the lifetime value of all your customers using the formula

(# of customers 1 x revenue) + (# of customers 2 x revenue) + (# of customers 3 x revenue) & so on

So the example above would be:

(98 x 25) + (80 x 50) + (102 x 75) + (68 x 100) = 20,900

You can divide that amount by your total number of customers to get the CLV

= 20,900 / 348 = $60.05

This is a good calculation to use especially if your basket sizes vary from one customer to the next. As The Balance explains, this CLV formula accounts for the fact that “some customers may be one-time or occasional buyers, versus the regular purchasers on the other end of the scale who have a higher LTV and generate the most profits.”

3. Multiply customer value by average customer lifespan

This CLV calculation is the one recommend by Shopify. What’s great about it is that it factors in a number of variables, including average order values, purchase frequency, and customer lifespan.

This method uses the formula:

Customer Value x Average Customer Lifespan = Customer Lifetime Value

Let’s break down what each of these components means.

To determine Customer Value, multiply your Average Order Value (AOV) by Purchase Frequency. You can find your AOV by dividing your Total Sales by the Number of Orders.

Meanwhile, to determine Purchase Frequency, divide the Number of Orders you have gotten over a certain time period (say 1 year) by the Number of Customers you have within that same time period.

Once you know your AOV and Purchase Frequency, multiply those figures and you’ll get your Customer Value.

Next, let’s talk about the Average Customer Lifespan. This figure pertains to the length of time that a customer is active. You may need to examine your purchase history to figure this out, though some experts say that 1-3 years is a good estimate.

Once you’ve determined your Average Customer Lifespan, you can go back to the formula above, Customer Value x Average Customer Lifespan to find your CLV.

Total sales + No. of orders = Average Order Value

No. of orders (1 year) + No. of customers (1 year) = Purchase Frequency

Average order value x Purchase frequency = Customer Value

4. Multiply lifetime value by profit margin

Another way to approach CLV is by multiplying Lifetime Value by Profit Margin. According to Clever Tap, this method takes your expenses into consideration so you're able to figure out the net value that you get from each customer.

Lifetime value x Profit margin = Customer Lifetime Value

The formula for this method is: Lifetime Value x Profit Margin, wherein Lifetime Value is Average Order Value multiplied by the Number of Transactions, which is then multiplied by Average Customer Lifespan.

Average order value x Number of transactions x
Average customer lifespan = Lifetime Value 

Lifetime value x Profit margin = Customer Lifetime Value

But before you consider how you can approach the ideas from previous years, check out the following tips picked to help you prepare for the impending Cyber Week madness.

A Holiday Marketing Plan to Showcase Your Brand

A 2015 study by the National Retail Federation suggested that effective marketing of your brand before and during Cyber Week can increase sales by up to a shocking 30%, this even increases to 40% in some industries (such as jewelry). Use this knowledge to your advantage! Even if you’re behind on your email marketing, you could try to find a moment to create a series of email flows that offer exclusive discounts and deals for your store during the Cyber Week chaos.

This is a great time to mention that Marsello's email templates library is a great place to find ready-made templates that will allow you to easily design and send emails even in a time-crunch. 

Just to be thorough, here’s an example of a manually created email flow which could be the the push you need to see holiday success and marketing ROI.

Let’s break these down:

Email 1:

• • Campaign Launch! Announce your enticing Cyber-focused deal/sale and give a clear call to action to your customers to shop with you – an idea for a first email is a gift-guide or staff-picks announcement.

  • Include some branded, appropriate and fun graphics to make your email instantly recognizable as a Cyber Week related email which is also linked to your brand.

  • Add another call to action at the bottom which suggests the customer checks out more products or visits you in-store at a list of your brick-and-mortar locations.

Extra note: you could segment this email flow so that those who are making a first-time purchase are offered a similar email immediately after their purchase, but their email includes a coupon code valid only for cyber-week, incentivizing them to shop again with you in the near future.

Email 2:

• • Your call to action needs to remind your customers that your sale or deal is ending soon and convince them to shop before it ends. A simple ‘Our sale is ending soon/ on [date/day of the week]. ORDER NOW!’ is a tried and true CTA.

  • Your cyber-week visuals for this should be fresh and attention-grabbing, reminding your customers that you’re creative and current.

  • Include your shipping costs or terms so that your customers are reassured about their shopping experience with you.

  Email 3:

  • Your sale ends today, tomorrow, or in [X] hours. With an imminent end, remind your customers that this is the last day to shop and they shouldn’t miss out.

  • Graphics and images could be changed to include themed gift-guide ideas or suggestions from popular purchases throughout the week.

  • Marsello offers an email flow option which shows the customer similar items to those that they’ve previously purchased. Including smart AI that personalizes the email will help your customers to feel as though your items meet their needs.

• Email 4:

  • Thank those of your customers that made a purchase during Cyber week for shopping with you. Or you could send everyone a reminder of the next holiday in your calendar or that it’s simply coming up to the festive season and now is the perfect time for them to get on top of their shopping.

  • You can always add themed graphics which say thank you but why not show off some of the top-sellers from the week if you haven’t used this already.

  • If there are any delays in shipping or updates, make sure to let your customers know why this is the case.

Get Creative & Be Consistent

We’ve compiled a shortlist of these 5 ways that you can make the most out of your marketing and see results from just a few quick changes:

1: Add themes and graphics to your website and social media marketing.

Whether this is just updating your website’s banner with a cute graphic that includes some of your products, or a fully adapted homepage/landing page, the end-game is to narrow your customers’ focus onto the products you’re hoping they will buy. Some stores even use a product countdown or time-until-sale-ends timer so that customers feel the pressure to shop and avoid missing your store’s deals.

Australian pet-product store, Peticular, is a seasoned pro at seasonal and festive marketing. Check out the way they’ve used social media to advertise their Halloween-specific items by including this adorable photo of a bandana-wearing pooch. They are also quick to update their store and email marketing with similar graphics which show off their brand but also their products.

We love that they’ve cleverly included the item’s price, clearly displayed with the additions of a ‘products shown’ button below the image. Peticular have also gone the extra mile and included a link in the description to even more bandana designs. They do a great job of using their marketing to show off their in-season and cutest items. We recommend keeping an eye on them for inspiration.

One key part of your holiday marketing to remember is making sure that your images are optimized and meet the needs of your customers. Think of all those stores with beautifully branded festive images and how much more inclined you are to buy from them. 

2: What deals can you offer in terms of shipping?

Maybe free shipping isn’t an option, but what if customers are spending over $100? In a survey conducted by BigCommerce, 80% of Americans cited shipping costs and speed of shipping as a major factor in determining where they shop, with 66% deciding not to buy entirely because of shipping costs. Even a small token to show that you understand this could be the difference between a sale or not.

While you may not be able to offer free shipping, no matter the amount of a customer's purchase, perhaps you could offer it to local buyers and specific locations, or perhaps you simply offer fast-tracked shipping with a tracking code. What about free returns? Giving your customers a sense of security over their online purchases will make them feel even more justified in their choice to shop with you.

Consider creating a seamless shipment and tracking system so that your customers feel your support, even at the busiest times of the year. One example of this as a store ad-on is Aftership. Basically, you’re giving the power back to your customer to follow where their item is at, and when to expect it. Cut yourself out at a middleman and forget the days of chasing couriers.

3: Be clear about what your deal or sale terms are.

Your customers are less likely to buy from your competitors if they feel the sense of urgency that the impending end of a sale brings, particularly if they’ve shopped with you before and trust you to look after them at such a busy time of year.

While we’re talking sale ends, don’t be afraid of extending that sale as well. Sometimes giving people an extra dale to check your deals out is the extra push they need to make a purchase. There’s a lot of demand in the days that follow on from holidays – give your customers a little push and remind them why your products are worth the extra purchase.

Giving a clear explanation of your timeline shows that you’re only doing this deal for a limited time, even if it’s a little beyond that of other store’s sales, says to your customers perhaps this is the best time for your customers to hunt down that item they’ve wanted for so long or to tick another item off their gift-list.

It’s worth a quick mention that a flash sale or one-day deal isn’t outdated. With the rise of websites that offer a deal for just one day, there’s room to compete, just remember to keep it on theme. Cyber week means that it’s cyber exclusive so this is a great time to out some select items on sale and advertise them through your emails and social media with that theme present. BigCommerce agrees – it’s the prime time “to capture the target market’s attention and up-sell your other products.”

4: Speaking of gift lists, why not spice up your blog as a form of gift guide?

Gift guides were the go-to marketing form of 2017 and for good reason – they work! They’re a simple way to show off your most appealing, beautiful or theme-appropriate products and to funnel your customers to your site. They also boost customer confidence, which leads the way for customer loyalty.

A shopping guide says to your customers, “I understand what you need, why you’re here and how I can make your life easiest for you.” It’s a low-key ‘look no-more’ that your customers will find easy to navigate, so the more inviting you make your gift guide, the more successful it’s likely to be. Besides, this is one of those cases where everyone is doing it, and you should too but because of that, you need to stand out.

Check out this example from Anthropologie who have a whole landing page dedicated to ‘gifts’ that sits in their navigation. Their products are all beautifully displayed in a similar style with clean lighting, pastel backgrounds, and essential details.

Gift guides don’t need to be restricted to just your website, they make an effective email flow with a clear call to action that says ‘Shop now and score great deals on these products, and more!’. Great Lakes Northern Outfitters, a Minneapolis-based men's apparel store, did a great job of this last year. The following email shows a careful selection of their favorite items. They followed these up with links directly to the items which corresponded to the numbered item from the photo.

5: Create and promote a loyalty points system.

Offering your frequent shoppers and brand-lovers an incentive to shop in the form of holiday season loyalty points is a simple way of winning customers back and developing customer loyalty. If you’re running a loyalty program (if not, check out Marsello’s easy-to-use loyalty program), you’ve already got access to a golden egg in the form of loyalty. If you haven’t tapped into this yet, make it a priority. As BigCommerce point out, customer loyalty is a multi-faceted focus point with long-game benefits.

Customers love to feel special, so let them feel appreciated and looked after in the form of exclusive deals but look beyond the short few months of the holiday season. Use this busy time to direct your customers to your loyalty program, incentivize them to join with exclusive deals or a limited time points bonus for first-time buyers who sign up.

It can be tricky to know what deals or offers will best benefit your store in particular. Marsello has you covered here too! Marsello includes smart suggestions to recommend the optimal reward settings for your particular store, offering your customers the ideal rewards.

Our top tip? Make sure that you can keep up with that marketing from now until the end of your promotional period.

Automation is the best way to do this – take some of the pressure off yourself by scheduling as much of your marketing as you can. Clearly branded email campaigns with simple, enticing call-to-actions, scheduled SMS campaigns, boosted campaigns, loyalty points promotions are all ways that you can ramp up your marketing... and, let's be real here, a little planning before the madness begins can go a long way to easing the stress of a busy holiday period.

Just remember the key is to show off your brand in a stand-out, flattering and appealing way. Offer deals where possible, and give your customers incentive to remain loyal throughout the rest of the holiday season.

And if you haven’t gotten a head-start on your holiday marketing yet, get started with a deep-dive into campaigns and the templates library.