This month, the spotlight is on easy ways to do business more effectively. We feature Mother's Day merchandising tips, an automated way to increase sales per customer, and a timesaving tool to help you manage your inventory. Read on to learn more!
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| Merchant Showcase |
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Mother's Day Tips for Sales Success
Holidays present great opportunities to sell thematically related products, give customers extra shopping incentives, and set up special offers. This month we look at several successful merchants and offer tips for sales success that you can apply to any seasonal event or holiday:
- Mother's Day Tip #1: Make It Easy for Shoppers to Find Gifts for Special Occasions
The purrfectly savvy folk at Kitty City have created a permanent Holidays & Special Occasions section in their Yahoo! Store. The storefront showcases unique accessories, gifts, and collectibles for cats and cat lovers -- and makes it easier for feline-focused shoppers to find the right item.
- Mother's Day Tip #2: Edit Product Names and Captions for Special Occasions
1-800-muffins.com demonstrates the value of using thematic product names and captions that are optimized for special occasions. 1-800-muffins.com features a selection of tasty gifts that say "I love you, Mom!" for a variety of budgets.
- Mother's Day Tip #3: Free Shipping Adds Value to Mother's Day Specials
Free shipping is another great way to move holiday-specific merchandise. BFP Cotton Blankets offers an all-cotton "Only One Mother" throw blanket with free shipping. Enlighten Candles and Gifts offers free shipping plus free gift wrap on its special Mother's Day candle gift, and the folks at RedWagons.com offer free shipping on a Mother's Day gift basket packed into a miniature Radio Flyer red wagon. Note that these special offerings fit the holiday while also showing off each store's main product line.
- Mother's Day Tip #4: Online Wholesalers Supply Seasonal Themes
Progressive Balloons and Gifts is a wholesale store that's built a business supplying retailers with seasonal gift items. The company's comprehensive Mother's Day collection of stuffed bears, latex and mylar balloons, and assorted gift goodies includes an offer of free shipping on larger orders. Visit the store for details -- maybe there's a Mother's Day opportunity that could enhance your retail sales strategy.
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| Store Building Tip |
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Increase Sales per Customer With Automatic Cross-Selling
Cross-selling is a powerful sales practice that suggests additional products or services at the point of purchase -- when the customer is most inclined to buy -- and increases the customer's total spending during that visit to your store. If you've ever heard "Would you like fries with that?" or "Do you need a belt or socks to go with those pants?" you've experienced cross-selling.
With Yahoo! Store's automatic cross-selling feature, you can set up to three cross-sells for each product in your inventory -- in just a few minutes. You can also add customized discounts when the cross-sold items are purchased together. Once you've set up the cross-sells, Yahoo! Store does the selling for you.
Here's an example from an online store that sells bath and body products: First a customer places a Mother's Day gift basket priced at $28 in her shopping cart. Then the shop's cross-selling feature automatically suggests a special aromatherapy candle, regularly priced at $10, now on sale for $7 when purchased with the Mother's Day gift basket. The customer adds the candle to her cart, and checks out, knowing she's taken advantage of a great bargain. Meanwhile you, the merchant, ring up 25% more in sales on a single transaction!
To learn more about cross-selling and how to set it up, visit our Yahoo! Store Promotions Help Page.
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| Feature Update |
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Save Time with Database Uploads
We've improved one of our most powerful features -- database uploads. Now it's easier than ever to upload all of your product catalog information from a spreadsheet on your hard drive straight to your Yahoo! Store.
With database uploads you can skip time-consuming data entry and upload all of your products at once. You can also review your data and catch any errors before you add the new data throughout your storefront.
If you haven't tried database uploads yet because the feature seemed too technical, now is a great time to try this productivity tool. If you regularly used database uploads with the old Editor, be sure to check out the improvements.
Here's how:
- First you'll need to upgrade to the new Store Editor by signing in to your Store Manager, and clicking "Upgrade My Editor."
- Once you're inside the Store Editor, switch to the Advanced Editor tool bar by clicking the red arrow on the Regular tool bar.
- On the Advanced Editor Toolbar choose "Database Upload." Then click "New Upload." You'll land on the Upload page.
- Click "Browse" to locate your data file on your hard drive. Next click "Open." Then click "Upload."
- You'll land at a staging area where you can review your data before permanently uploading it to your store.
- If there are no data errors, the "Add" and "Rebuild" buttons on the toolbar will now be clickable, indicating that you can now either add the new records to your Store or rebuild your Store by deleting all existing records and loading the new records. To add your new data, click "Add", then click "Yes: Add" at the confirmation page. All three options (Add, Rebuild, and Revert) now have confirmation pages.
- If there are data errors, you will see error messages for individual records. The first line in the Warnings section tells you what's wrong with that record. You can make edits to your data file offline and then upload the file again.
For more information visit these pages in our help files and Merchant Guide:
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| A D V E R T I S E M E N T |  Build Your Email List!
Spring is here! What better time to "freshen up" your email contact list. Now, you can build your list by collecting customer email addresses at your store's checkout. Use your list to welcome new subscribers, promote your store, and announce new products! Leverage the power of Yahoo! Store and Campaigner email marketing tools. Learn More.
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| E-commerce on the Web |
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Links to Sites, Features, and Stories
Customer Relations: Helping Your Customers
Building your customer base often depends on word of mouth. Here's how one merchant provided special offers and incentives to increase referrals to his business.
No-Fail Email
Email marketing is a must for a successful online store. Here are eight tips for writing effective emails that can make your store stand out.
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