Blog

Online shopping represents a significant portion of overall holiday sales.

US ecommerce sales increased 17.8% during the 2016 holiday season. And Cyber Monday online sales set a record $3.45 billion in sales, which was a 12% increase from 2015 to 2016.

We review furniture ecommerce trends and provide an ecommerce holiday checklist with tips to get your ecommerce ready for holiday shoppers.

Ecommerce Trends

Overall, online furniture shopping is increasing in prevalence.

• Online furniture sales is the second-fastest growing area of ecommerce (with grocery as #1).

• 26% consumers purchased furniture/home décor online within the last year and 31% consumers plan to purchase furniture online within the next year.

• 47% of home furnishing shoppers say they are making more purchases on mobile.

Ecommerce Holiday Checklist

Here are our top 6 tips to ensure you are ready for the online holiday shopping season.

Pest Control

Check and double-check for bugs. Eradicate anything that slows down the shopping process. 22% of online shoppers said website errors/website crashes caused them to abandon their online shopping cart.

Responsive Ready

How easily can customers shop using either mobile or desktop from browsing to purchasing? During 2016 holiday ecommerce, mobile generated $1.07 billion in revenue, which was a34% increase from 2015.

User Friendly

A frictionless online checkout process was the #1 priority for online holiday shoppers in 2016.

Inventory Updates

Make it easy to find top-selling items. If there is a limited supply of a certain item, update regularly so customers know if the item is still available.

Customer Support

66% of customers switch brands because of bad customer service. Allocate staff to handle both front and back end user issues. Be clear about where e-shoppers can get help (technical issues and product information).

Spread the Cheer

Make it festive and fun to shop! Integrate holiday art and sound into the online shopping process.