12 Posts of Christmas: Tip # 9–How Many Online Shopping Days till Christmas?

Don’t let buyers view your store as the Grinch that store Christmas. Just as WISMO (Where is My Order?) questions are the most frequently asked questions from buyers after an order, WIGMO (When Will I Get My Order?) questions are the most frequent in the weeks leading up till the holidays. Make it explicitly clear what your “order by” date is in order for buyers to receive their orders in time for Christmas. Be sure to factor in whatever time it may take for you to process and fill orders. In other words, if it takes you two days to get an order shipped, back up the final “order by” date by that amount.

Some places to put this information:

• home page in the header or footer
• final-text area of section (category) and item (product) pages
• Shipping options sections in checkout (Checkout Manager makes adding fields easy)

Example of adding a custom field with shipping times to checkout

Also, if time permits, you may wish to contact buyers that select shipping methods that would likely arrive after the 25th. This could be a conscious choice on their part, but it could also be a mistake. Taking a moment to confirm this with them could not only save some angry calls (misdirected though they may be) but it could also win you some loyal customers.

Paul Boisvert
Yahoo! Small Business