How to increase weekend sales?

[Laura Cioclea]

My problem is:

sales are fine from Tuesday to Thursday, but through the weekend my store can hardly make 200 bucks.

Any ideas how to improve weekend sales besides organizing end-of-week sales.

Thx

 

[HFE Signs]

What is your business, can you have a product that appeals to the weekend? I's avoid weekend sales as this could potentially stuff your Tues-Thurs figures. Alternatively, just open on the days that make money so you're reducing overheads?

 

[Paul Murray]

Alternatively, just open on the days that make money so you're reducing overheads?

This was my thought, but as this thread is in the e-commerce section, I'm confused about whether this store is online, physical, or both…

 

[Laura Cioclea]

I've got an online pet store (supplies & accessories)

 

[14Steve14]

I have a similar question and will have to see what advice you are given.

I have highish sales over the weekend but way lower in the week. Admittedly my business is in the hobby sector which might explain it.

 

[JPMiddleton]

Each niche will have a different trading pattern throughout the week, this is fairly normal and rather than worry about the sales at a weekend why not just aim to increase the weekly of daily figures by a % on the previous week/year. This way you would see a better overall picture and the weekend fluctuations may not be of as much concern.

Also - consider that the weekend sales may look weak simply because the weekday sales are so good.

 

[Raw Rob]

For a B&M shop this might be a problem, but for an online shop, I personally don't see it as a problem. Total sales are what is important, how they are spread over the week is irrelevant.

 

[Alby10]

Are you able to ascertain where your traffic is coming from, in terms of key terms? Ideally through analytics. Do your traffic levels drop considerably over the weekend? Does your conversion rate drop? There could be various reasons. The key is to analyse the key elements of what changes between Tue-Thur compared to Fri-Sun, in terms of how your visitors reach your site and what they do when they arrive.

 

[Nochexman]

...sales are fine from Tuesday to Thursday...

Have you thought about how you could move from 'fine' to 'outstanding' from Tuesday to Thursday and letting the rest of the week take care of itself? Sounds like you could focus on what works rather than worrying too much about what isn't working.

 

[Shopclicks]

Hello. I'm new to this forum and hoping to share and learn.

Laura, I would be interested to find out how you market your on-line store. Are you big on Social Media? Do you use pay per click advertising? How does your website rank on Google?

Obviously, you see a problem with your lack of weekend sales and I think you're correct in thinking that way. There is no limit to the number of sales you get through your website, so, who is getting those sales at the weekend? And why?

There is most likely an un-tapped market there for you on the weekends.

 

[japancool]

I have a similar question and will have to see what advice you are given.

I have highish sales over the weekend but way lower in the week. Admittedly my business is in the hobby sector which might explain it.

My low point of the week is Wednesday, with the high point being Friday, and often Monday as well.

What delivery options do you offer? I often get people buying on express delivery on Thursday for delivery on Friday so they can build it over the weekend.

 

[sabian1982]

Total sales are what is important, how they are spread over the week is irrelevant.

I wouldn't say that was true! By understanding your visitors and their buying habits you can tailor your promotions dependant on how they are spread over the week.

 

[LucasHart]

Each niche will have a different trading pattern throughout the week, this is fairly normal and rather than worry about the sales at a weekend why not just aim to increase the weekly of daily figures by a % on the previous week/year. This way you would see a better overall picture and the weekend fluctuations may not be of as much concern.

Also - consider that the weekend sales may look weak simply because the weekday sales are so good.

Good idea in my opinion. It's relatively simpler to come up with a good way to get better overall sales than trying to change the daily sales fluctuations.

 

[kingblinguk]

Post some Classified or Advertisement Banner and offer some thing big on weekdays, then you might get some more sales

 

[antropy]

Why has no one mentioned sending out emails on the quiet days?

 

[gibby]

We also see lower sales over Sat & Sun and have been looking at our competitors.
One almost always offers free delivery & 20% off at the weekend, so effectively they will not be making any profit. They do seem to have conditioned customers to wait for the weekend and I'm sure they are not making much profit.
We do often run flash sales or online clearance events at weekends. These offers work well and more often customers buy other items, making it worth while for us. These work best if we promote it for a week or so in advance to build up interest.

 

[webboy]

How about giving insensitives to your visitors or adding more value

 

[buildmeashop]

Why not try an email shot to your customer base stating 'weekend offer of x% discount'? We do this with our hot tub accessories, make sure it goes out on around Friday lunchtime.

 

[zimone]

One big question is "Are you getting a consistent flow of traffic to your website throughout the week?" If there is a drop off in traffic at the weekends then it is a traffic problem and not a sales problem i.e. you are still converting the little traffic that you get at the weekends. Next question is "Do your servers or website go into maintenance for a period of time at the weekends where your website/store becomes unavailable" It could be a technical issue and not a sales issue. Again as mentioned by another poster how do you promote your store? Do you slow down on promotion towards the weekend etc. You have a few ideas to investigate here and hopefully you will come back to us with some findings so that others in similar positions can benefit. All the best

 

[Rene Vatz]

Offer a voucher codes, promo or discount, like free deliver for example.

 

[LeeKnowles]

I know you'd be sacrificing profit, but if you can dramatically increase sales it's a tactic worth considering.

Set up discounts only available at weekends.

 

[Nochexman]

My problem is: sales are fine from Tuesday to Thursday, but through the weekend my store can hardly make 200 bucks.

Any ideas how to improve weekend sales besides organizing end-of-week sales.

Hi Laura, was just wondering what you decided to do in the end?

Always to good to learn if the thoughts and ideas shared here get turned into action.

 

[webstore]

Any ideas how to improve weekend sales besides organizing end-of-week sales.

Wow ! If there are any Magento Extension developers that are on this forum and that read this - that would be a brilliant program extension to develop - whereby selected or all prices could automatically be programmed to change on given dates and/or days and/or times.

These special prices would need to be hidden during good selling hours and during normally tougher selling hours be displayed as "this is a special price which will revert to our normal selling price £xxx in (say) 3-hours time"

Don't think anything like this exists yet - but I stand to be corrected.

 

[zimone]

It would be good if OP could come back and let people know how they are getting on and if any ideas shared have been helpful

 

[andrewjohn1317]

Hello, you will be try a different trading pattern throughout the week, this is fairly normal and rather than worry about the sales at a weekend why not just aim to increase the weekly of daily figure on the previous week/year. This way you would see a better overall picture and the weekend fluctuations may not be of as much concern.

 

[Matt Thorpe]

Sales at weekends is always a tough one, mainly because people are generally out and about instead of being in front of a computer at work. There is also the fact that people shop early in the week so they can receive their items (i.e clothes) for the weekend. Consumers very rarely shop more than a week in advance of needing something.

So, you need to be very creative in order to convert those quieter periods. The best ways to drive sales during the quite times of the week are as follows:

• Value add products (Freebies) - Give a product away for a limited time period. Even something small can have a high perceived value.
• Bundle Offers - Use this period to encourage multi-buys.
• Free delivery - Offer free delivery over the weekend.
• Free next day delivery - Works well on Thursdays
• Discounts - Not ideal but works well every so often. Don't do this every week or you become predictable and it could affect sales at the star of the week.
• Event-led promotions - Sometimes a heavy discount is not necessary. Maybe just 10% off on certain products during Cruffs.
• Customer Exclusives - Customers like to feel important so why not provide closed offers to your customer base only via a hidden page. The more you keep it exclusive, the more likely they are to share it.

I hope this helps.

 

[ZAP]

sales are fine from Tuesday to Thursday

Did you find out why the lack of sales from Fri to Mon in the end?

Lots of good actionable suggestions given here on how to bring buying visitors back to your website on the those slow days.

The best way to get in front of your website visitors and repeat customers on those days is via incentive email me thinks