We all know the day after Thanksgiving – dubbed Black Friday, is considered one of the busiest shopping days of the year. It marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season in the United States.

Well, back in 2005, Shop.org coined the phrase Cyber Monday as the first Monday following Thanksgiving.

Since that time online retailers have realized the sales potential of this busy e-commerce shopping day when many users are searching the internet looking for the best deals on merchandise to fill their holiday wish lists.

Cyber Monday marks the first major increase in online holiday spending as people go back to work after the Thanksgiving weekend and begin to think about how to get a jump on their holiday shopping. What a better place to do it than online while at their computer.

Cyber Monday Sales Forcast

During 2006, ComScore Networks reported Cyber Monday sales rose 25% versus the previous year to around $608 million. 2007 hopes to see more of the same.

Although there are other days of the holiday shopping season which see traditionally have seen more sales, this internet shopping day gets most of the attention. It provides increased buying power for consumers along with increased sales opportunity for merchants and is a time of the year that shouldn’t be overlooked.

So, with millions being spent online and the holidays quickly approaching, what can you do to help increase sales from your online store during Cyber Monday?

Here are a few Marketing Tips for Cyber Monday

1. Give a free gift away for orders over a certain amount
   I’m not talking “free shipping” promos. Add something different to it. Something with a flare. Such as “If you buy this flashlight, get a pack of batteries free.” Make it worth their while.
2. Create product bundle gift packages
   Develop a “gift package” bundle that includes items which complement each other. Make sure the price of the bundled package would cost them less than if they actually purchased each product separately from your store.
3. List a promotion on CyberMonday.com.
   If you got a “to good to pass up” type deal, you might want to consider highlighting it on CyberMonday.com, a website run by Shop.org. Many people offer deals there all year long not just on Cyber Monday.

4. Follow up with consumers both before, and after Thanksgiving
   Make sure you send out an email to your list at least a week before the scheduled “Cyber Monday” specials. Then, make sure you follow that up with another one the early morning of Cyber Monday reminding them of the deals to be found at your site. You want them to know what you have to offer and remember it when the time comes to take advantage of it.
5. Give customers a way to spread the word
   Viral marketing is a wonderful thing. One happy customer gets a deal then tells 2 other potential customers who buy, and the circle repeats itself. Pretty soon you have sales coming in from all angles. If you market properly about Cyber Monday you’ll have an increase in traffic and you should make sure you take full advantage of that increase by asking (don’t just assume it will happen) your customers to refer others. A good place to ask for the referral is on the confirmation page after a sale has been made.
6. Offer certain special deals ONLY on Cyber Monday but run your promotion for several days
   In order to create sales, you must sometimes create urgency. Make sure you stress that certain deals you are offering will only be made available during the 24 hour period called Cyber Monday. After that, they will no longer be found. And then stick to that principle. Once people understand that your “limited offers” are truly “limited” your sales will show it with each subsequent promotion. Offering only select deals on Cyber Monday is great, but make sure you run your entire promotional sale for other items over a multiple day period. You want to give users time to refer others to your store to get similar deals.

There you have it. A few ways you can get a piece of the “holiday shopping pie”.

Now, get working on those ideas, and prepare your store for the holiday shopping season! Cyber Monday will be here before you know it.

Quick alert post here to help you generate some additional sales from your store over the next 3 days.

One way to increase sales is to take advantage of what is going on around you. If you haven’t already figured it out, this weekend, for many, is Labor Day weekend. Are you running a sale? Do you have a special offer for your visitors if they buy this weekend only?

If not you should. It’s not too late to start, but you gotta start!

Any store can do this. It doesn’t matter what you sell or how big you are. Just make the offer fit your market.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Free shipping on everything this weekend only
• Free shipping over a certain dollar amount – this weekend only
• Buy one get on free
• Buy something this weekend, refer a friend who also buys, get a discount on your next order
• Lower prices on all or select products and run the special through Monday night at midnight
• Free Priority Mail shipping this weekend only
• 50% off select items this weekend only

These are just some ideas. I’ll leave it up to you to create one that fits your needs.

Remember, it doesn’t matter what type of store you are, or what you sell. Just make the offer fit, and make it strong.

Then don’t forget the most important part. Promote it! Create a banner, use some very visible text, do something to draw attention to the offer and get visitors interested. If implemented properly, and if your traffic is qualified, you should see an increase in sales. :)

Have a good weekend!