Christmas is only weeks away, and for ecommerce retailers, that means preparing for the seasonal rush. Before we get to Christmas, however, we still have Black Friday and Cyber Monday to contend with, which are two of the busiest days of the year when it comes to internet shopping. So what can your business do to ensure that it can handle Black Friday and Cyber Monday? To help you make the most of these two special days, here are three top tips.
Load testing
Essentially, load testing refers to the process by which you test the ability of a piece of software, in this case your ecommerce website, to see how it will cope under extreme conditions. This kind of test is extremely important when preparing for busy shopping days, as you will be able to see how your website functions under the kind of extra strain that an increase in customers would provide. By testing this now, you can identify any issues on your ecommerce site, and be sure to rectify them before Black Friday and Cyber Monday get any closer.
Check your back end
Due to the increased amount of traffic and sales on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, you need to make sure that the back end processes of your ecommerce site are up to scratch. This means testing things like the speed at which your inventory updates to specify whether items may be out of stock, as well as checking order fulfilment processes. In addition, your customer services team will need to be briefed on how to deal with increased numbers of queries throughout both days.
Talk to a professional
If you’re to be certain that your ecommerce website can handle the added pressures of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, you need to speak to a professional. You may feel that you are able to prepare your website properly for the seasonal rush, but in the long term it may be more beneficial to seek professional help and advice. This is especially important in the run-up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, as together they could be the most profitable days of the year, and you don’t want to miss out on them!
Here at catalyst2 we can certainly help prepare your site for the busiest time of the year, just drop us an email and someone will come back to you.
