Important Cyber Monday Preparations to Make in Your Online Store E-commerce companies are preparing for Cyber Monday deals Monday this year. The day falls on December 2 after Thanksgiving. However, most online traders usually start their Cyber Monday deals well before the actual period. Statistics have shown that around 75% of online shoppers usually start shopping the previous day. In 2012, Cyber Monday sales reached a whopping $1.7 billion compared to $1.3 billion in 2011. This is an increase of more than 20% over 2010 sales. In other interesting statistics, over 60% of online shoppers in this period will be under 40. There is therefore little time to waste for the e-commerce manager. It is essential to work on the following tasks before opening your store. Due to the holiday rush, additional problems may occur. Activity no. 1 Hosting Configuration Test and Store Speed Optimization Server needs to be tested before the Cyber Monday shopping rush. This is crucial as it helps managers check whether the site can accommodate a high influx of traffic. It is important to work closely with your website hosting company at this stage. Before testing, it is important to undertake database optimization. Additionally, you need to do log cleaning from file systems, databases, Apache and MySQL configuration, optimization, and site speed optimization. (Learn more at http://blog.x-cart.com/Need_for_speed.html) • Test the speed of your store with a service like http://gtmetrix.com/ and troubleshoot • Move your content static and your images on a Content Delivery Network (CDN) will significantly reduce server load during traffic peaks - this is not a one day project but you may still have time to set it up using the AmazonCDN X-cart module • If your hosting setup supports a... ... middle of paper ... be careful sending out press releases and posting sales information on Cyber Monday blog sites. • Participating in sites and apps that generate coupon codes can also help. • Check if you have your unique store proposition code at the bottom of each notification – those emails can be your automatic generators of recurring sales and referrals. (Example: "SuperGolfStore.com - huge selection of discounted golf equipment - extra 15% off and free shipping until December 15th!" To your success! Anton Pachkine - General Manager of FinestShops (follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn) www. finestshops.com |. 1-800-675-0162 ex 704FinestShops offers premium X-Cart managed hosting for businesses without a large IT department and will manage your online store and servers as your own dedicated IT department you can focus on increasing sales and serving your customers.
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