Get full marks on the back to school shopping season this September

The back to school period is an important one in the e-commerce calendar. Last year saw the peak of the surge on Sunday 4^th September, which was a 12.8% increase on the month’s daily website traffic average. Friday was the day for spending though, as online sales rose +122.6% on the September daily average. Marks and Spencer’s says that this season is third largest retail event, beaten only by Christmas and Easter.

A* landing page

Getting your landing page right is going to be the key to conversions. Include a more autumnal colour scheme to shift the focus from summer to the new term. Highlight academic items on your home page to direct people to the products they are looking for without creating extra hurdles. If you’re offering student discounts, add this to your landing page to incentivise sales.

The key to conversions

Hack your SEO for back to school by adjusting your keywords for the back to school period. Widen your net by including back to school keywords in your product titles and descriptions. A regular ‘planner’ is now a ‘university planner’. This strategy is known as ‘keyword freshness’, and can have many benefits including beating competition, increasing your brand relevance and more…

The subjects to study

Clothing is one popular category in late august to early September. Not only are people purchasing clothes for school, but as the seasons transition, people are looking to update their wardrobe with warmer items.

Electronics is another category to place emphasis on during the autumn transition. Lots of students will be looking to upgrade laptops. Tablets are becoming increasingly popular for students, as well as the relevant accessories such as electric pens, cases and more.

Stationary and office supplies are the main shelf fliers that’ll be purchased in the coming weeks. Get these items front and centre on your landing page to hook in the shoppers.

Here’s the deal…

With so many things to buy ahead of getting back into education, parents, students and teachers are all after the best deals. Offering deals on the big categories may help make those few extra conversions. 9 out of 10 consumers agree that free delivery being an option influences their decision to purchase, so that may be the between someone hitting ‘checkout’ on your site, rather than somewhere else.

Wondering how to ace the ‘back to school seaoson’ test? Our new dynamic pricing solution, Performance Flex can help you meet your conversion targets while maximising your revenue potential. With access to specialists who provide specialised and flexible support, it’s the September essential for you.