5 Tips for Boosting Online Holiday Sales

Chances are that you've already been planning for the holiday surge for months, but if the holidays snuck up on you this year, here are five actionable tips you can leverage now to make sure you get a slice of the holiday shopping pie:

1. Make it relevant for gift shopping. Holiday shopping is usually about buying things for others. Yet research is reporting that many holiday shoppers buy for themselves as well. In either case, make sure your online strategies aren't completely dependent on prior session data or past purchases. Ideally, you want to provide product recommendations based on what your shoppers are looking for right now, not what they purchased on your site last week. For best results during the holidays, look for trends in the search terms visitors use, the links they click on and the products they engage with to learn what they're looking for at any particular moment. Then serve recommendations and offers that fit for that exact moment.