Want some inspiration this Christmas? Why not check out Qubit's top 12 tips for website personalization to help improve customer experience and conversions!

1. Wednesday, 20 November 13

2. 12
12 ways to win big
this Christmas
A best practice guide
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Wednesday, 20 November 13

3. 1. Welcome your visitors and customise this messaging
Why
How
A lot of new shoppers,
shopping for other people.
Customise your messaging
based on traffic sources, search
terms, plus purchase history.
Introduce your brand,
and point them where they
might want to go.
Adjust wlecome messages or
email sign up layers in line with
Christmas.
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Wednesday, 20 November 13

4. #1
Welcome your
visitors
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Wednesday, 20 November 13

5. 1. Welcome your visitors and customise this messaging
Ensure welcome
messages highlight
all key USPs
relevant to the
customer - mention
any new Christmas
appropriate areas
on site e.g. last
delivery dates/gift
guides.
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Wednesday, 20 November 13

6. #2
Use a marketing
promotion to
trigger frequent
return visits
Wednesday, 20 November 13

7. 2. Use a marketing promotion to trigger frequent return visits
and engage prospective customers
Why
How
The more prospective
customers return to a site,
the more likely they are to
purchase.
Engage customers with updated
content, features and deals
throughout the Christmas
period.
Use an advent calendar to count
down the days before
Christmas.
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Wednesday, 20 November 13

8. 2. Use a marketing promotion to trigger frequent return visits
and engage prospective customers
The Oasis advent calendar played Jingle
Bells while the customers were looking
for the right door to open. Each door
revealed a different treat (free delivery,
free gift wrapping, etc).
By opening the doors of the Whistles
advent calendar, each visitor is taken to
a video of a bursting box with the
product of the day revealed. The first
people to open the doors each day get
the items for free - encouraging visitors
to check online early!
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Wednesday, 20 November 13

9. #3
Make christmas
fun and the online
experience
remembered
Wednesday, 20 November 13

10. 3. Make Christmas fun and the online experience remembered
Why
How
Customers should be engaged make Christmas shopping a fun
experience.
Use video content, games, and
innovative technology to inspire
customers.
Get your brand experience and
website remembered so
customers will return.
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Wednesday, 20 November 13

11. 3. Make Christmas fun and the online experience remembered
Farfetch had a ‘weird and wonderful’
Christmas market - customers had to
click on the doors to open them and see
an animated selection of products
inside.
Topshop used video content to show a
Christmas-themed film and help
promote their seasonal party dresses.
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Wednesday, 20 November 13

12. #4
Push gift
guides
Wednesday, 20 November 13

13. 4. Push gift guides and present finders
Why
How
People aren’t shopping for
themselves; they don’t know
what they’re looking for.
Create category pages for gifts
(and tag them with UV), or add
filters to existing pages.
Who is the present for?
Age, relationship, gender, etc.
Include size guides, reviews and
detailed specifications.
Present a gift suggestion guide.
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Wednesday, 20 November 13

14. 4. Push gift guides and present finders
The Body Shop Christmas Gift Finder is ideal for
helping customers to find gifts easily and
encouraging bundle sales. Customers run
through a series of choices, selecting who they
are buying for and are then presented with a
visual edit of products to select from and add
to the shopping cart.
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Wednesday, 20 November 13

15. #5
Show stock
levels
Wednesday, 20 November 13

16. 5. Show stock levels
Why
How
People don’t want to miss out!
We are loss-averse.
Track stock items through UV
and highlight low in stock items.
Everyone enjoys getting
“the last one in the shop”.
Remove, or obscure out of stock
items.
A common complaint we find is
a lack of stock information.
Suggest the nearest available
store and offer reserve and
collect, or home delivery.
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Wednesday, 20 November 13

17. 5. Show stock levels
Increase threshold
stock level at which to
show low in stock
pointer.
Think about also
showing stock
notifications for
specific products on
the basket page.
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Wednesday, 20 November 13

18. #6
Bundle products
together
Wednesday, 20 November 13

19. 6. Bundle products together in Christmas-related merchandising
categories
Why
How
People are looking for stocking
fillers.
Use your basket data to gather
items commonly bought
together.
It makes people think they are
getting a really good deal.
Add in extra low-cost items.
You get more out of every
purchase!
Visitor history: if they have seen
a few product pages, serve them
a layer about relevant bundles.
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Wednesday, 20 November 13

20. 6. Bundle products together
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Wednesday, 20 November 13

21. #7
Publicise
Store/E-vouchers
Wednesday, 20 November 13

22. 7. Publicise store/e-vouchers for gifts and make them easily
redeemed
How
Why
Capture those people who
aren’t sure what gift to get!
Prepare a specific page, devoted
to gift vouchers with different
image options.
E-vouchers are not dependent
on physical delivery.
Give the same attention to these
as any other product.
Make people aware of E-voucher
USPs and also after C
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Wednesday, 20 November 13

23. 7. Publicise store/e-vouchers and make redemption
information accessible
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Wednesday, 20 November 13

24. 7. Publicise store/e-vouchers and make redemption
information accessible
Make customers aware on the gift card product page that they can be easily redeemed - both online and
also in store. Additionally, after Christmas - make sure people shopping on site using a gift voucher know
how to pay with it.
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Wednesday, 20 November 13

25. #8
Align online and
offline targeting
Wednesday, 20 November 13

26. 8. Align online and offline targeting
Why
How
Use the data from all channels to
give customers the Christmas
experience they deserve.
Use geo-location targeting;
communications online to match
in-store messaging
People check online as they shop
in-store.
Use web promotions that apply
in-store.
Items OOS online may be
available in store and vice versa.
Unite your multichannel
marketing.
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Wednesday, 20 November 13

27. 8. Align online and offline targeting
Promote delivery options - especially ‘Collect from Store’ on the online store locator. Many customers are
unaware of this, and it is those who go straight to the store locator who are most likely to use it. Ensure
stores also promote this functionality when items are OOS but in stock online.
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Wednesday, 20 November 13

28. 8. Align online and offline targeting
Change content and products served dynamically, depending on weather conditions for each visitor location.
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Wednesday, 20 November 13

29. #9
Shout about your
delivery
Wednesday, 20 November 13

30. 9. Make delivery information prominent
Why
How
Out exit feedback tool shows
delivery to be one of the biggest
barriers to conversion.
If you offer free delivery, shout
about it! Make this known before
people reach the checkout.
Customers want to know when
their gifts will arrive, and make
sure this will be on time.
Offer last minute delivery.
Ensure all delivery options and
details are easily to navigate to.
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Wednesday, 20 November 13

31. 9. Make delivery information prominent
Ensure last delivery dates are clearly displayed - on the homepage, or in welcome messages.
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Wednesday, 20 November 13

32. 9. Make delivery information prominent
Use last delivery date count
down clocks to publicise
these dates to visitors, but
also to increase the sense of
urgency for purchasing.
Daily delivery times can also be
made clear on the product page.
Adjust the delivery times and
information depending on the
visitor location and when gifts
will arrive.
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Wednesday, 20 November 13

33. #10
Offer gift
wrapping, but
carefully!
Wednesday, 20 November 13

34. 10. Offer gift wrapping, but carefully!
Why
How
It can be a great time saver for
people, particularly closer to
Christmas.
Offer choice of colours, patterns.
Another way to boost average
order values
Make sure gift wrapping is a
seamless part of the checkout.
Build a dedicated section
on your site.
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Wednesday, 20 November 13

35. 10. Offer gift wrapping, but carefully!
The best place to offer gift
wrapping is at the checkout stage
as an easily accessed add-on.
Offer gift wrapping
for all purchases the best place to do
this is at the
checkout stage as
an easily accessed
add-on.
Allow different
options of gift
wrapping to be
selected, and
personal messages
to be added.
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Wednesday, 20 November 13

36. #11
Transparent
returns
Wednesday, 20 November 13

37. 11. Make returns policies transparent and prominent
Why
How
Allows people to buy with
more confidence.
Give clear links to returns
information on product pages.
Make your returns policy
completely transparent.
Returns can represent
a substantial cost for
online retailers
Provide detailed product
descriptions, reviews and size
guides to minimize the risk.
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Wednesday, 20 November 13

38. 11. Make returns policies transparent and prominent
Offering extended returns
policies over Christmas and
making prospective customers
aware of this will help increase
conversions.
Returns information should be
made easily accessible from the
home and product pages.
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Wednesday, 20 November 13

39. #12
Up- or cross-sell to
drive average
order values
Wednesday, 20 November 13

40. 12. Up- or cross-sell to drive average order values
Why
How
People are always looking for a
bargain!
Place upsell items next to the
basket (especially if you have a
free delivery threshold).
Raise your AOVs.
Recommend last minute
stocking fillers.
Make them relevant!
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Wednesday, 20 November 13

41. 12. Up- or cross-sell to drive average order values
Promote matching or
similar items for up
sell on the product
page.
Over the Christmas
period, customers are
more likely to be
susceptible to upselling opportunities.
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Wednesday, 20 November 13

42. #13
And for the day
after Christmas...
Wednesday, 20 November 13

43. 13. After Christmas...Maximise all sales purchases
Why
How
Boxing Day is the busiest
ecommerce day in
terms of traffic.
Get the best-value products in front
of the user as fast as possible.
Create sale category pages - allow
users to sort by
% reduction.
The sale-shopper is very
different to the gift-giver.
Target customers with items they
were previously interested in, but
did not buy and have been
discounted.
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Wednesday, 20 November 13

44. 13. Surprise! Sale! Sale! Sale!
Remind
customers of any
items left in their
basket from
before Christmas
that may have
been discounted.
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Wednesday, 20 November 13

45. Thanks.
Wednesday, 20 November 13