Seasons change, and seasonal clues are some of the strongest ways to increase conversion. The 4th quarter is filled with traditional social signals. When children head Back To School the seasonal dance starts. The last warning shot for ecommerce merchants is Halloween. After Halloween, all bets are off and the race is on in earnest. Magical things happen for Ecom merchants in Q4, including:
- It takes fewer visits to make a sale (like half the summer).
- Traffic increases by 30% to 50%.
- An Ecom’s site’s conversion rate may gain a half a point (this is HUGE).
- User Generated Content contributions increase.
- Everything is happening more, faster and better.
As you enter this week, the last week of the season, there is one final, last-minute rush with expedited shipping (if you don’t have a FREE 2 DAY SHIPPING option this week you are crazy btw). Then almost as soon as it started, another holiday season is in the books.
Before we chalk up another holiday selling season, we thought it would be interesting to find the Top 10 Holiday website designs. Who dressed up their e-commerce site best this holiday season? Our Holiday Festival of Ecommerce Lights list of Top 10 Holiday Website Designs is below. If you have a favorite we missed, share in comments, and we will curate into the list.
Happy Holidays to every hard-working ecommerce team and shopper. You Rock!
Atlantic BT’s Top 10 Holiday Ecommerce Website Designs
1. L.L.Bean http://www.llbean.com/
It always feels festive and like you need a sweater on to look at Bean during the holidays.
2. Lands End http://www.landsend.com/
Simple, clean and to the point, Lands End knows how to create a Christmas spirit and still get their deals across.
3. Talbots http://www.talbots.com/online/home_page.jsp
Talbots gets more festive with each roll of their hero.
4. Pottery Barn http://www.potterybarn.com/
Love the old woodie they open with and the simulated snow, but it doesn’t stay on screen nearly long enough.
5. BlueFly http://www.bluefly.com/
Nice hand-drawn Christmas lights bordering the hero. Well done.
6. Amazon http://www.amazon.com/
Amazon did a nice job of dressing up for the holidays this year.
7. Macy’s http://www.macys.com/
Enough red and green here to choke.
8. Neiman Marcus http://www.neimanmarcus.com/
Great food shot, easy to forget how important food is this time of year. Neiman wasn’t as over the top as I expected, but not bad.
9. Urban Outfitters http://www.urbanoutfitters.com
Has that strange young thing going for them.
10. Vermont Country Store http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/store/
Not as good as Bean, but good enough to capture #10 on Best Holiday Heroes.
Scrooge Awards
Websites that didn’t dress up much if at all or were dressed strange. Way too many immediate popups too. We understand popups, those annoying messages asking you to join an email list, work, but give visitors a few seconds to take in your holiday website before exploding something in their face (is our thinking, but test a small delay and let us know if it depressed conversions).
http://www.overstock.com/
(black and gold for Christmas?)
http://www.abercrombie.com
(another black background with a single red bow)
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