It’s really not too early to be thinking about Mother’s Day and the revenue-generating opportunity it presents for your spa or massage practice. That’s why you want to make sure to get ahead of the day with gift card promotions. The Independent Retailer notes that gift cards are the most popular gift for Mother’s Day after greeting cards, flowers, and special outings.
Since mom might like nothing better than a day of pampering, make sure to make it as convenient as possible for family members, friends, and even admirers to purchase a gift card from your spa or massage practice. Convenience nowadays means online shopping, and the number of online shoppers keeps going up. “In 2015, 205 million U.S. citizens were online shoppers and had browsed products, compared prices, or bought merchandise online at least once,” reports Statista. That means two-thirds of the U.S. population is online searching and purchasing goods or services.
Now is definitely the time to capture some of that online sales potential not only for Mother’s Day but on an ongoing basis if you aren’t already. And if you have an eCommerce presence and aren’t maximizing its potential for gift cards and retail sales, then it’s time for a change.
Be mobile-friendly
One of the first things you’ll want to do is ensure that your website is mobile friendly for the growing number of mobile shoppers. In Nielsen’s Mobile Shopping, Banking and Payment Survey Q1, 2016, 38% of participants worldwide said they purchased a product or service on their mobile device in the past six months, and 34% said they used a mobile app to purchase in the same period.
Mobile-friendly means pages are quick to load, and the user interface (UI) should require as few taps as possible to get the needed information. Buttons and calls to action need to be large enough so that that they are easy to find and “tap.” And to make it easy for consumers to get information on the go, the emphasis should be on visual content versus text.
Make sure to provide sufficient product information or a frequently-asked-questions section. Your site's phone number should also be obvious if someone has a question that can’t be answered online.
Drive customers to your site
Even after your site is ready for online gift card sales and more, boost marketing to drive shoppers to your site.
- Leverage your social presence to let followers know about your online offerings. If you have a blog, devote periodic posts to highlight your online offerings.
- Use email marketing to update clients and prospects on gift cards and retail items they can purchase online.
- Produce and promote videos through social media and email marketing of your services to encourage gift card sales and products.
- Encourage reviews on review sites of your spa or massage practice to drive traffic.
Encourage purchases
Once a customer is at your spa or massage practice site, encourage purchasing.
- Feature product specials and sales prominently on your homepage with a link to a landing page and a call to action.
- Offer free shipping for a minimum order of retail products.
- Create seasonal bundles of products, as appropriate.
- Use product badges to indicate when something is new or “recommended just for you.”
Consumers are shopping online more and more. Please take steps to make sure they stop and shop at your site.