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Your Christmas Shop Checklist

Nanna's Christmas Puddings if your Nanna was a star baker that is!

 

Here's your essential list of what to check to make sure your Yumbles shop is primed and ready to maximise sales this Christmas.

It can be a struggle we know to step away from the kitchen for "admin" but set aside a little time on this now and you'll see the difference.  Simple issues with your listings can mean missing out on significant sales.

 

1. Review your listings

  • do your listing titles contain good descriptive keywords that a) make it clear to customers what you are selling and b) match the most likely search terms customers would use for your products?
  • are the descriptions enticing? See our guide.
  • have you covered all key questions that if missing might put off a customer such as shelf life information (early bird shoppers always want to know when is best to order the perishable items).
  • have you completed the Ingredients section for your listings?  Not only is this legally required, many buyers won't buy if they don't know what's in it.
  • have you completed the Values section of your listings? If not then your products won't be appearing in all relevant search results. 
  • have you added a Gift Message option if your product is relevant for gifting. See our guide to options.

 

Check your listings >>

 

 

2. Enhance your product photos

No checklist from us is complete without a reference to one of the biggest influencers to online sales success - your product photos. 

Our top tips:

  • If you don't already have great quality lifestyle images (i.e. real surfaces not plain white studio backgrounds) for your products now is the time to invest.  Have a look at the other products in your category on Yumbles to see the level of photography needed and styles that work.  
  • Uncluttered, light backgrounds and natural lighting is key.
  • Consider festive updates to your photos.   It’s best practice to regularly update your listing photos, especially ahead of the key seasonal occasions like Christmas so you can make them feel festive and seasonally relevant.
  • For gift items have photos of the gift packaging they come in - if not as the main image then add photos clearly showing the packaging (and any packaging variations offered) as the additional images.  Buyers judge gifts on presentation just as much as contents so they always want to see how it will look before they buy.
  • Upload multiple product images - show buyers your product from all angles and with all variations it comes in. Listings with multiple images show higher conversion to sales.

See our guide to product images >>.

 

3. Update inventory levels

Make sure that the number of units specified in the Quantity field for all of your listings are up to date and reflect either your stock levels or your capacity to fulfil (for made to order items).

Don't miss out on orders by having too low inventory levels that quickly puts your products out of stock but also don't over-inflate and risk disappointed customers.   

During the peak December days close to the cut-off shipping days consider checking and updating your inventory every few days or so to reflect the maximum daily order volume you can cope with.

 

Update your listings >>

 

4. Activate Christmas product listings & use the Pre-Order feature (where needed)

To make the most of the Christmas period (and ensure we can include you in Christmas marketing plans) we recommend that you have your Christmas products listed and active on the site no later than mid-September.

 

For items that aren't ready to ship until nearer to Christmas you can set them as available on a pre-order basis (find out how here).

 

Update your listings >>

 

5. Check your shipping timescales &  offer Tracked Express delivery (if you can)

A big determining factor of whether customers will place their order is the Estimated Delivery Dates they see for your products.  These estimates are calculated from the settings in your shipping options  here

 

Make sure that you check those settings for each of your options (the # days to dispatch, your dispatch days etc).  You don't want to be under nor over-promising your delivery timescales.   Under-promising and showing longer than typical delivery timescales to customers will mean you miss out on sales, and persistently over-promising by showing estimated delivery timescales you rarely achieve will cause you alot of issues with customers upset their orders haven't arrived. 

 

Also consider, if you don't already, offering Tracked Express Delivery - i.e. shipping using a guaranteed next day delivery service - at least for the Christmas period if not year around.  Express shipping is becoming more and more the expectation from online shoppers, and also as a result many buyers leave their shopping up to the last minute. Note that we do not call is Next Day Delivery because you can still control what days of the week you dispatch and # days you need to dispatch, but the point is you can then ship it on a guaranteed next day service.

 

If you would like to offer Tracked Express delivery let Seller Support know the charges you would like in place.

 

Check your shipping timescales > >

 

 

6. Check your Last Order Dates for Christmas

As described above the settings for your shipping options will calculate and show buyers your estimated delivery dates.   Automatically those settings effectively determine the last date that customers can order from you and still see that the estimated delivery date is in time for Christmas.  This is your "Christmas Orders Cutoff Date".   After midday on that date buyers will see that the estimated delivery dates for your products are after Christmas.  

 

So, do check the Christmas Orders Cutoff Date specified within each of your shipping options here and manually adjust it if it is not correct.  It will default to any dates you set last year, which may or may not be right for this year...

 

Check and update your Christmas Orders Cut-Off Dates >>

 

7. Shutting shop for Christmas

If you're taking a well earned break at Christmas which will affect your usual fulfilment of orders then set your holiday dates ahead of time so you don't forget in the Christmas rush.   

 

This holiday mode will automatically amend the delivery dates on orders received while you are away - and auto-respond to customers who message while you are away.

 

The Start Date is the last day you are fulfilling orders, and the End Date is the first day you are back again processing orders.     Any orders received between those two dates will have their estimated delivery dates revised to show that delivery is after you are back from your holiday. 

 

Set your holiday dates >>

 

 

 

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