The holidays are quickly approaching and this timely post provides you with the top 10 things to get done before it’s too late to maximize the presence of holiday shoppers.

1. Ensure your checkout process is stable and the shopping cart is streamlined. Take one good look at it and make sure it is working (across multiple browsers) before the holiday shopping season hits big.
2. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it. If your website is working and is smooth, now is not the time to try new programming alterations, etc.
3. Ensure your search marketing and ads reflect the holiday things people are looking for. This includes free shipping, big discounts, buy-one-get-one-free offers, etc., that people look for during the holidays especially.
4. Utilize your social media channels to ensure you spread the word about your offers. Viral marketing during this time of the year is something you simply can’t overlook. Good news (and offers) spread fast!
5. Tweak navigational elements to cater to the holiday shopper. Consider adding the following temporary categories to your navigation during the holidays: Gifts by Price, Gifts by Person, Gifts for Him or Gifts for Her category as well as Gifts for Boys and Gifts for Girls.
6. Showcase stocking stuffers. Be sure to highlight low cost products that would make good stocking stuffers.
7. Make sure your shipping and return info is clearly marked on your product pages. Again, this is something that I say should be there all the time anyhow, but during the holidays you must have it prominently displayed.
8. Consider offering gift-wrapping services. You can add this as an “upsell” on the product page (and remember to cross sell it on the shopping cart page in case they missed it), but be sure to add enough additional charge to cover any labor and materials associated with this.
9. Create product bundles. Consider taking several related products and grouping them into a “gift package” at a discounted rate than if the items were purchased separately (this too will encourage sales.) Gift selection is much easier when related items are grouped together in some sort of gift basket or bundle.
10. Add gift messages as an option. If your cart enables you to do so, let your customers add a personal message to their gift.

These 10 things will prepare your ecommerce store for the holidays, increase traffic and increase sales. If you think of anything to add, let me know in the comments below.

Otherwise look for more tips coming soon.