1. Upload *.crt file to Certificate File to convert
2. Choose Type of Current Certificate to “Standard PEM”
3. Choose Type to Convert to “PFX/PKCS#12”
4. Upload *.key file to Private Key File
5. Upload *.ca file to Chain Certificate File(Optional)
6. Set Password to PFX Password
Copy the *.pfx file to the Server
Open the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager. From the Start screen, click or search for Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager and open it.
In the IIS Manager, select the server node on the top left under Connections.
Click on the server name.
From the center menu, double-click the Server Certificates button in the IIS section (it is in the middle of the menu).
From the Actions pane on the top right, select Import.
Browse to *.pfx in order to upload Certificate File(.pfx) and then enter the Password of the *.pfx file and then select “Web Hosting” as Certificate Store and Click OK to install the certificate.
After successful installation of SSL certificate to the server, you will need to assign that SSL certificate to the suitable website using IIS.
Choose the name of the server to which the certificate was installed from the Connections menu in the main IIS Manager window.
Under Sites select the site to be secured with SSL.
From the Actions menu (on the right), click on Bindings… This will open the Site Bindings window.
In the Site Bindings window, click Add… This will open the Add Site Binding window.
Under Type choose https. The IP address should be the IP address of the site or All Unassigned, and the port over which traffic will be secured by SSL is usually 443. The SSL Certificate field should specify the certificate that was installed. Click on OK then Close the Site Bindings window.
To Verify Installation: Test your SSL certificate by using a browser to connect to your server. Use the https protocol directive. For example, if your SSL was issued to secure.mysite.com, enter https://secure.mysite.com into your browser. Your browser’s padlock icon will be displayed in the locked position if your certificate is installed correctly and the server is properly configured for SSL.
Step by Step Guide to Setup SSL on the site on Linux Server:
1. Copy the certificate files to the server
There should be 3 SSL files:
your_domain_name.crt
your_private.key
DigiCertCA.crt – This will be your chain file.
Note: Make them readable by root only to increase security.
2. Find the Apache configuration file (httpd.conf) you need to edit.
The name and location and name of the configuration file can vary from server to server—mainly if you’re using a special interface to manage your server configuration.
Apache’s main configuration file is typically named httpd.conf or apache2.conf. Possible locations for this file include /etc/httpd/ or /etc/apache2/.
Often, the SSL certificate configuration is located in a <VirtualHost> block in a different configuration file. The configuration files may be under a directory like /etc/httpd/, /etc/apache2/. In this directory, you need to find the conf file of the site for the site www.uksoccershop.com it will be uksoccershop.com.conf. You will find the <VirtualHost> tag in this file. In case the file uksoccershop.com.conf is not present you can use the common file httpd.conf or apache2.conf
3. Identify the SSL <VirtualHost> block you need to configure.
Below is a very simple example of a virtual host configured for SSL. The parts listed in blue are the parts you must add for SSL configuration.
5. Test your Apache configuration file before restarting.
As a best practice, check your Apache configuration file for any errors before restarting Apache.
Caution: Apache won’t start again if your configuration files have syntax errors.
Run the following command to test your configuration file (on some systems, it’s apache2ctl):
apachectl configtest
6. In case of no error please restart apache using the below command
service apache2 restart
After restarting apache2, you can check whether your SSL is set up correctly or not using https://www.sslshopper.com/ssl-checker.html. In the above screenshot, you have to verify that the arrow should be green like above between server and chain. If there is no issue then your SSL is set up correctly.
In case of an issue while implementing the code, feel free to reach out to us at support@Knowband.com. Also, Knowband offers eCommerce store plugins at the best price. We offer the smartest solution for online platforms including PrestaShop, OpenCart, Magento 2 and WooCommerce.
We are pleased to announce that KnowBand has been recognized as one of the leading Mobile Commerce Solution Providers by Global Market Researchers. As per research reports of various global retail & mobile market agencies, KnowBand has made to the list of top eCommerce mobile app developers.
It is a remarkable accomplishment that has made our entire team, at KnowBand, proud of their continuous hard work and efforts behind the Mobile App Builder in providing a better, easy and simplified shopping experience to mobile users.
Regions/Countries covered in the research include the United States, Europe, China, Japan, South-East Asia, India and Central & South America.
A majority of online shoppers prefer mobile devices to shop nowadays, and ever since the introduction of mobile apps, online shopping has become way too easy.
It can be backed by the fact that mobile sales accounted for 40% of the total eCommerce sales in the US, in 2018, and expected to reach 54% by the year 2021, as per a report by Statista.
If we talk about global mobile commerce statistics, m-commerce has already surpassed desktop sales in 2016, accounting for 52.4% of m-commerce sales that particular year. The sales graph can reach as high as 73% by the year 2021.
Considering the continuous growth in mobile commerce, KnowBand has been putting its all every day to help eCommerce merchants to take their business to the next level and increase their sales margin. With its tech-savvy pool of developers & entire focused team efforts, every eCommerce merchant got the best shopping apps for their business. KnowBand is also a Superhero Seller on the official PrestaShop Addon Store.
The Mobile App Builder is currently available for PrestaShop, OpenCart, Magento, Magento 2 and WooCommerce. Check them out:
Free Shipping is a sales strategy used by eCommerce businesses to encourage online shoppers to purchase without having to worry about the shipping cost.
Does it actually help in improving sales?
Well, “Yes. It does”
One may argue that free shipping is not the ideal solution to ensure growth in sales as it can affect the profit margin. However, if the right tactics are applied, it can surely bring fruitful results.
In this article, I have discussed how to offer free shipping and why it is an important part of your sales strategy. It will also brief you on when you should offer free shipping.
So, let’s start.
Why should you offer Free Shipping?
It is obvious that free shipping delights customers but it also provides ample benefits to eCommerce businesses. Free shipping-
1. Increases Sales
The primary benefit of offering free shipping is that it increases sales.
The tag of “Free Shipping” induces customers to purchase as they would not have to pay additional costs while purchasing a product. A study by Invesp confirms the same, which says that 9 out of 10 consumers find free shipping to be the primary reason to shop online.
2. Increases Average Order Value
Adding to the benefits of free shipping is it boosts your average order value.
Retailers often set a minimum threshold for customers to get free shipping on their purchases. Only if the customer makes a purchase over the threshold, he or she would be eligible for free shipping.
Shoppers add additional items to the cart to cross the threshold value, which eventually results in an increase in the average order value.
The stats collected by Invesp confirm that 93% of the online shoppers show the tendency to purchase more products if the free shipping option is available.
3. Reduces Cart Abandonment
High shipping cost is the foremost reason behind shopping cart abandonment. And it makes sense. When shoppers look for a product, they do not take the shipping charge into account.
And when the price on the payment page goes much higher than what it was on the product page or what they expected, they reluctantly abandon their cart.
Imagine how satisfying it would be for a customer if the product price remains the same throughout.
Free shipping helps you earn customer loyalty and improves brand loyalty simultaneously. Customers become loyal to your brand and they keep coming back to your store at regular intervals, avoiding your competitors who are charging a high shipping cost.
How to offer Free Shipping?
Free shipping simply cannot be provided on every product. There are certain ways to offer it. For example-
1. Over a Certain Product Value
You can specify the minimum product amount for which the customer needs to shop to get free shipping. This does not include other charges.
To put it simply, the “product amount” should be equivalent to the threshold, not the “total order value.”
You can define a cart value that a customer must match if he or she does not want to pay the shipping charge.
For example, free shipping if the total order value exceeds $100.
3. Limited-Time Free Shipping
Create urgency to purchase by offering limited-time free shipping. The purpose is to convert prospective buyers into potential customers.
Start sending out emails or post it on social media to make your customers aware of this limited-time offer. Do whatever it takes to reach your audience.
4. On Taking a Membership
You can charge an annual subscription fee for a membership program, under which customers can enjoy the free of cost shipping.
One of the popular examples is Amazon Prime that offers free and quick shipping under their membership program.
5. On Shopping for a Certain Quantity or a Package
This can include offers like Buy 2 or buy a combo and get free shipping.
However, you need to make sure that the package that you are offering or the products falling under “Buy 2 or buy a combo” offer can adjust your shipping cost, else it will be a loss if it is applied on low-priced products too.
When should you offer Free Shipping?
1. On Special Occasions
Free shipping can provide a huge boost to your sales during the holiday season, simply because the shopping fever is high at that time. Occasions like Black Friday, Halloween, Christmas, New Year provide a perfect opportunity to grab more sales by offering free shipping.
2. If Your Competitors are Offering It
It’s good to track your competitors’ activities. It provides you with the areas of improvement.
Check whether your competitors are offering free shipping or not. If they are doing it, you should offer it too, to be in the race among brands. If they aren’t, you can use this to your advantage and get a competitive edge over your competitors.
3. Free Shipping on Returns
If your customers are not satisfied with the product and on top of that if you are asking them to pay the shipping charge for placing a return, it can annoy customers and might affect customer loyalty.
To improve customer satisfaction and maintain customer loyalty, you can devoid your customers from the shipping charge when they place a return request.
1. Set the minimum cart value for a customer to receive free shipping.
2. Set the minimum and maximum weight of the products to get the free shipping facility.
3. Allow free shipping to users of a particular zone. (Africa, Asia, Europe, etc)
4. Make free shipping available for visitors, guest and customers.
5. Help customers understand the shipping criteria right when they are on the checkout page.
The Bottom line
Free shipping can be a great marketing tactic to boost your eCommerce sales and reduce cart abandonment. But not everyone can afford to provide it. E-commerce giant Amazon started offering free shipping way back but is quite difficult for small scale businesses.
So, make sure to check whether it would be the right idea for your business or not.
If you are already offering it, do let me know how useful it has been to your business so far. If you are planning to offer it, check out the above mentioned free shipping strategies and set yours accordingly.
Have some more points to add? Let me know by dropping a comment below.
Hey all eCommerce store owners, the holiday season is about to begin and what are your plans? This is the time for more conversions & sale opportunities for your business”. Right? According to the previous reports, last year in US holiday season sale surpasses 1 trillion mark for the very first time. This wasn’t just from the online store, but mobile apps were also the leading pillar behind this growth.
So, what’s your game plan for this holiday season sale? Make sure tapping into mobile space is in the list. Why? Let’s find out in detail.
Well, if you look into the usage of mobile apps versus website, mobile apps are always one step ahead of websites. Online shoppers prefer mobile apps rather than websites. As you can see mobile app completely dominated the market and this is the main reason behind mobile app started take over on desktops and tablets.
These numbers clearly indicate the impact of mobile apps during holiday season. Smartphones becoming more popular and an important part of this holiday season. After seeing this impact many marketers predicted this would be the best year for online retailers.
1. Mobile Apps installation during Holiday Season
According to reports, In this holiday season the number of mobile app install increased as compared to an average day of any month. Because people looking forward to get their hands on year best offers & deal.
The reason behind this huge growth of app installation is offers and deals offered by eCommerce store provider. Also,
Result : After going through all this research, we can definitely
say that Mobile apps are clear winner here. Final comparison between mobile app vs mobile websites:
Growth of your business during holiday season
You will see a huge growth in the holiday season in mobile app industry. From spending time on mobile apps to transaction, the numbers are increasing and its not slowing down. This is the most awaited time period in eCommerce industry for both users & merchants.
How can you make the most of it? Simple, go mobile! And it’s so easy beyond your imagination. You can get it done in just a few days without technical knowledge. Knowband offers a module to build mobile app for your eCommerce store in just a few clicks for the following platforms:
Most awaited season for online shoppers is holiday season. In this time, user engagement reach to its peak and this data is increasing year-over-year with very huge margin. Well if we are talking about user engagement, then its unfair to not mention the name of push notifications.
Turning point: Push notification is one of the best tool to boost your user engagement during holiday season sale. These push messages works like a source which bring more users to your store. Push notifications claims higher open-rate as compared to email. Knowband offers unlimited push notifications in their mobile app.
Also, by offering free shipping and flash sale you can create an urgency in your user’s mind and encourage them to shop instant from your store.
2. Increase Sale
From last few years, the number of sales of every store changing in this time period. No doubt mobile app has a big hand in this huge shift which continuously changing the number of sales. The more you spend in attaining user’s attention the more you will get benefit of it which result in increasing the sales number of your store.
During this environment a lot of transactions occurring. Adapting this new advancement in technology can gives you the opportunity to get a piece of this revenue.
Well, don’t worry we got you this time. KnowBand provides you an opportunity to get a piece of this revenue in your bucket-list by offering Spin and Win module for this holiday season. You can display a Spin-wheel pop-up to your user’s in this holiday season. This module is specially designed for these kinds of occasions. So, whether it’s a Halloween or Christmas Eve you can present special themes for every occasion.
Flash sale is also one of the essential ways to boost the sales during the holiday season because it creates an urgency in user’s mind to get their hands on the special offer. This urgency can make them to go for purchase. In short Flash sale can be a game-changer for your business in this holiday season.
All Types of Coupons & Vouchers Support:
Your store sales will automatically increase if they get multiple coupons & vouchers while shopping. So, this holiday season provides multiple coupons & vouchers to your user’s and get ready to witness the highest revenue of your store.
Conclusion
Retailers should now focus on mobile apps because they are constantly changing the numbers every year. Also, they have to be prepared for huge peaks during these holiday season. This is the high time to stand out your business different from crowds. So, are you ready for this Holiday Season?
Successfully launched an eCommerce Mobile App & start selling products on shopping apps along with the website. Now, what’s next?
Getting your native Android & iOS shopping app to overcrowded Google Play Store & Apple App Store is just the beginning in the world of mobile commerce. There is much more beyond from here. Being an eCommerce merchant, now two options left for you. One is to wait & let the users discover about your app on their own and the other one is to do something about it & promote the app in the right manner. The later one can be a game-changer for you.
Nowadays, the majority of developers are facing the problem of fewer downloads, after the app is published on App stores. The eCommerce industry itself has huge competition and is growing with each passing day. To get expected downloads will require some efforts & understanding from you. Before getting into that detailing first, let’s discuss how marketing exactly works in the world of mobile apps.
You probably would be aware of the term ASO (App Store Optimization) which is responsible for ranking/position of your app in app stores. App stores have their own ranking criteria which are quite similar to search engine rankings algorithms. Let’s know more about ASO:
#1 App Store Optimization
ASO works like SEO. It handles the ranking of apps in app store search results. This fact is quite obvious that the better ranking of your app will rise both visits & downloads. Developers should optimize the right keywords for the app to make it rank higher in search results. Here are some checklist points for this technique:
1. App Title:
The name of a mobile app plays a vital role in its success. You should go for some catchy yet descriptive title without missing the core value of the brand. Always remember that the name will have an everlasting impression on users. Before finalizing the app name, you should always have a look at the name of your competitor apps. And, the keyword with the highest search volume should be used in the app name.
Apple App Store provides 255 characters to write a title. Whereas, Google Play Store has lowered title limit to 30 char & allows putting keywords in the description instead of the name.
2. Keywords/Tags:
Choose the right keyword for your app & use them in the tags/keywords field of app listing. Apple store allows 100 char limit to insert keywords while the Google Play store allows to add them the long description of 4000 characters.
Just like SEO, keywords will only be beneficial if they are well-suited & match your business domain. So, do proper keyword research & analysis & sneak into some competitor as well if required. It would not harm.
Also, there should be a check on keyword performance as well. If they aren’t able to give downloads after some time, it’s a signal to update them.
2. App Description:
The description for the app plays the same role as a landing page for a website. Description could be a compelling factor for the user reading it to end up with app installation. Both Google Play & Apple App store offers 4000 char description to put them wherever you like.
You should write the description with the thought-process that user isn’t aware of the app at all. For an eCommerce store, the app would have no download charges yet users hesitate to download it for free, why? That’s where your description plays its role to impact their decision.
Try to list down all the features & benefits with proper keywords to make the most out of it. For the visual part, make sure the screenshots are appealing and have relevant information. For instance, take a look at how clear & self-explanatory screenshots are of Barcode To Sheet mobile app. The interactive app preview video gives complete info in just 2 minutes.
4. App Downloads:
You should always keep a track of the downloads of your app. It should always keep increasing. The more downloads you will get the higher ranking you will get. Even, the app store also shows the visitors ranking of the tops app In their respective category which majorly depends on the app downloads.
Somehow, if your app is lacking downloads in the initial launch phase, you can even try some third-party promotion to get a rise. The downloads depict the authenticity of your app & help in ranking as well.
5. App Ratings & Reviews:
Being in the retail industry, you would be aware of the potential of ratings & reviews. That works for your app as well. Keep your user reviews positive & ratings higher for better ranking.
Launching a beta version of your app is a way to make sure that it is user-friendly & match expectations. You can even get happy & satisfied reviews from the beginning. In order to simplify this task, try to get fully genuine & real reviews.
Yes, Google search it is. You can use it to rank the app in Google searches & get it installed in the user’s devices. The process is quite simple, you just need to optimize app listing page & link it to your website.
1. Interlink Store & Apps:
There should be a proper interlinking between store & app listings. Keep the brand name in app title & description which should have a back-link to your website.
Also, highlight app links on your website homepage for better usability & increased downloads.
2. Allow App Indexing:
Indexing signals Google Bot to crawl the content of a specific web-page. Make sure that indexing is allowed for your app listing page as well.
This will let crawlers go through app description & keywords which will ultimately help in Google ranking of apps. You should even keep an eye on the content of app web-page & update it from time to time.
Actually indexing of application is slightly different from the web-pages. Along with app description, the content available on app screens can also be brought to crawling with deep linking app indexing & firebase app indexing.
3. QR code for App Install:
Display compressed QR codes on your website & let users land straightly to app download option on scanning. This not only improves usability, but also it is a future trend which could affect rankings in coming time.
These QR codes on the home page of the website will grab the user’s attention & straightly lead them to apps for better browsing & hassle-free purchase. Click here to create a low-density QR code.
#3 App Promotion on Social Platforms
As far as eCommerce mobile apps are concerned, social media networks are an effective channel for promotion. You can increase the visibility of your app & get potential no of downloads from there.
Majorly there are two ways to do that. One is to promote the app through your social business profiles on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Another one is to run Facebook ads for your app.
Often it happens that developers focus is just on the download numbers. It’s good, but there should be a check on the user’s behavior & app performance as well. Your app will be uninstalled from user’s devices whenever they face any sort of abnormal behavior.
You can use Google’s Firebase Analytics to learn more about user’s demands in real-time & plan on how to deliver them accordingly.
Similarly, the Apple store has also its analytics tool with App Analytics which also used to measure performance & set new goals. The Google Firebase tracking can also be added in Google Analytics in order to keep a check on app performance & growth.
#4 Press Releases for App Launch
Before launching an eCommerce Mobile App for the online store, you should release a press release on different digital media networks as an announcement. This campaign will voice out about future app presence & get initial downloads in beta version as well.
The developers can even go to influencers & reviewers to get genuine feedback/review for their apps. The reviews get published on multiple websites which grabs user attention with a quality back-link to your app listing web-page. This approach has worked for various leading names when it comes to increasing downloads.
A pre-launch campaign can gain exposure for your app. Pre-announcement about ongoing app development & will be available soon is the best thing to do instead of just waiting for launch day. A blog post about development updates maybe even published for better interaction with users. It will help in building eagerness in users regarding your app.
For all the eCommerce merchants out there, if you haven’t taken your store to the mobile platform & start generating heavy leads, here is the most advanced & automated Mobile App Builder plugin available for all major platforms. Check them out:
The answer to successful app downloads lies in the preliminary strategies we choose. The above-discussed tips will be a booster for your app downloads, but you can also opt for any other technique as well if it works for you. In the wide eCommerce industry, multiple domains have a variable audience, so there isn’t any foolproof way to get numbers. But, yeah these points have worked for a majority of developers in the past & would hopefully bring recognition & downloads for your app as well.
Ever searched for something on a site and thought it should also have a Google search Feature? Well you can do it now by Prestashop Google Custom Search Addon by Knowband. Through the Prestashop Custom Google Search Module, you can add a custom Google search feature on Web Store. It means that whenever a customer will search something on your website, it will show the search result from Google. As a Web store owner, you can also set the Websites from only which the search will be shown to your customers from the backend.
PS Google Custom Search easily incorporates your web store search with your Prestashop Web store search.
How it works?
2.0 Features of Prestashop Custom Google Search Module
3.0 Installation Guide for PS Google Custom Search
The store admin can follow these simple steps for installing the Prestashop Custom Google Search Module on their eCommerce store:
1. Firstly, download the addon package from the Knowband store.
2. You will get a zipped file containing the source code and user manual. Unzip the complete package in the root directory of your Prestashop store through FTP manager (like Filezilla or WinSCP – download here: https://filezilla-project.org/). You’ll find the files and folders as shown in the image below:
The Prestashop Custom Google Search addon is now installed and ready for use. Now the admin can configure the various configuration settings in accordance with their Prestashop site.
4.0 Admin Interface of Prestashop Google Custom Search Plugin
Just after successful installation of Prestashop Custom Google Search Module at your website, you can configure Custom Google Search settings as per your needs. In the admin panel or dashboard, Click on “Modules and Services” and then on “Configure” button provided next to Google Custom Search Module.
Once Clicked on Configure, the following page will open Up:
4.0.1 General Settings
From this setting of the Prestashop Google Custom Search module, Store owner can enable/disable the complete module and do much more. The following screen will be shown to the Admin:
A smooth eCommerce checkout is of paramount importance to enhance the online shopping experience of users. If not optimized, it can hamper the checkout flow and compel users to abandon their cart.
In this article, I have presented 7 crucial tips to optimize your eCommerce checkout process and provide a convenient checkout experience to your visitors.
1. Provide Guest Checkout
The mandatory registration form can be a barrier in an eCommerce checkout. It would be unwise if a customer looks all set for the purchase but is forced to abandon because of compulsory account creation.
This distraction can be avoided by offering Guest Checkout.
Guest Checkout enables a customer to check out comfortably without disturbing the checkout flow. It speeds up the checkout process and provides a smooth checkout experience to the users who do not want to receive promotional emails from your business.
Guest checkout is a one-stop solution for mandatory sign-ups and is an important element in your eCommerce checkout.
2. Offer Social Login
Along with Guest Checkout, providing visitors with a social login facility would make up a great idea for a smooth eCommerce checkout.
The registration task is tiresome for the online shoppers and they feel reluctant to sign-up many a time. The social login option, in this case, becomes a better alternative by speeding up the registration process.
Besides, social login removes password fatigue. Customers do not need to create and remember a different password every time. They would be able to log in easily with any of their preferred social media accounts.
Looking to add the social login options on your eCommerce website? Try out our Social Loginizer module that can incorporate up to 15 social login options on your site.
Save prospects’ time by auto-suggesting address when they start filling out the address fields.
Enable Google Autofill functionality. Once set up, it would start displaying the address suggestions in real-time, related to the keywords typed by the user. Upon picking the relevant address, the rest of the major address fields are automatically filled.
Google Auto-fill is essential for an optimized eCommerce checkout.
4. Use Inline Validation to Display Errors
Customers generally make mistakes while filling out the checkout fields, and more often than not, the errors are not identified until the customer hits the submit button.
In many cases, customers are required to fill the entire details again and again till all the fields become error-free. This can be irking and hinder the checkout flow. Therefore, it is advised to use Inline validation.
Inline validation checks the inputs in the form fields and indicates whether the inputs provided by the customer are correct or not when they switch between fields. If there is an error, it would display how it can be fixed.
5. Display Checkout Progress
Use a progress bar to indicate at which stage of the checkout process is the customer present and how many further steps do they need to go through before they could finally place the order.
A progress bar presents the overall picture of the checkout process in front of the customer and gives them a clear idea beforehand of your eCommerce checkout.
6. Display Applicable Offers or Promo Codes
Customers often look for promo codes to avail discount on the products they are purchasing.
If there are some applicable promo codes, mention them on the checkout page else the visitor would hit the back button and start looking out for the offers on your website. It is time-consuming and can delay the conversion.
If you display the offers right on the checkout page, it would be easy for the prospects to know about your ongoing deals and hence it would create higher chances of conversions.
7. Do not stick to just Credit and Debit Card
With the introduction of e-wallets, also known as digital wallets, the payment method preference of the customers has changed. Sticking with only Credit or Debit Cards just won’t be enough.
Add multiple payment options on your eCommerce checkout so that a user has a number of options to choose from. Lack of payment modes might lead to cart abandonment.
Each and every step of your eCommerce checkout highly matters for providing a smooth checkout experience to the online shoppers. You need to ensure that every step is optimized and leading to a successful user-friendly checkout.
One small error can add the prospect into the list of abandoned cart users. Also, make sure that your eCommerce checkout is optimized for mobile devices as well. If it does not go well with the mobile format, you can lose out on huge mobile conversions.
To make your checkout more convenient, you can think about using a One Page Checkout. I hope that the information I shared about having an optimized eCommerce checkout turned out to be useful for you.
Mark your calendar for the coming holiday season. It is time to start preparing your ideas and strategies to capture more holiday sales this season. Online businesses are grabbing huge sales every year during the holiday season, and you should not miss it too.
If you own a Magento 2 store and wondering which Magento extensions you should focus on in this holiday season, here are the 7 Magento extensions that I highly recommend implementing on your Magento and Magento 2 store to capture holiday sales.
1. Magento Spin and Win
Magento Spin and Win makes it to the top in our list of Magento holiday extensions.
Though the Spin and Win popup majorly focuses on creating more user engagement and growing your email list by providing a gamified experience to customers, you can capture huge sales with it by making it more appealing in the coming holiday season.
Magento Spin and Win extension provides you with the option to design your popup for various occasions. It comes with pre-existing themes for Halloween, Christmas, New Year, etc. You can adjust the look and feel of your popup in accordance with the occasion.
A popup having a holiday theme will draw more user attention during the holiday season. People would be excited to spin the wheel and earn some offers and discounts.
With this approach, you would be able to catch the holiday spirit and grab more holiday sales. Not to forget your email list would witness a lot of new entries.
Enhance the online shopping experience of your customers by launching a mobile app for your Magento website.
Magento Mobile App Builder converts your website into a user-friendly mobile app (Android and iOS). Talking about its key features, it offers Real-time synchronization of the website into app, Home Page Layout Optimization, Fingerprint Login, Zopim and WhatsApp Chat support, Unlimited Push Notifications, All Product type support and much more.
If you are aiming for a high sales count in the coming holiday season, you should definitely go with this Magento extension.
The schedule is hectic during the holiday season and people do not get enough time to purchase a gift for their every close one. This is when Gift Cards make things easier. Gift cards are the best option for last-minute shoppers.
A digital gift card is a one-stop solution for those who do not want to feel the burden of choosing gifts and spending hours in the search for a perfect gift.
Magento Gift Card Manager comes up with multiple gift card templates like for Halloween, Christmas, New Year, etc. You can create your own gift card template to give it a festive touch. Occasion based Gift Cards capture huge eCommerce sales.
If you do not have the gift card functionality, set it up today to grab holiday sales in the coming season.
Social media has around 3.6 billion people user base and 1.69 out of which are registered users on Facebook. Share and win Magento extension for Facebook is the one that can help the e-merchant to offer a fixed or percentage-based discount if the customer shares the store product on their social media account. The customers will be receiving a coupon code if they share the store product on their Facebook wall or with a friend over Facebook messenger.
Thus, the offer encourages customers to promote store products without any extra efforts. This increases customer retention and brings new customers to the store. Facebook share and win for Magento and Magento 2 is one of the easiest ways to increase brand awareness.
If you are looking for a Magento extension which can help you doing cross-sell then the best strategy which can work will be showing related products to the customers. Magento’s Automatic Related Product extension helps to cross-sell the store’s other products. Depending upon the product view or purchase statistics, this extension displays relevant products.
With Automatic Related Product Plugin, Magento 2 store owner can highlight the best-selling or new arrival pieces. This plug-in improves the up-selling and cross-selling of items from the shop.
To know more about the features and benefits you can refer to the product page of Magento Automatic Related Products extension.
6. Magento Affiliate and Referral Program
The “Refer and Earn” scheme works the best during the holiday season. It is the time when people shop the most and look for the sites offering heavy discounts. Therefore, the referral program, in this case, brings more sales, if you ask your users to refer your Brand to other people.
Magento Affiliate and Referral Program extension allows users to register as an affiliate on your store. After successful registration, the affiliate partner can share your website link to his/her audience through a referral code, a referral link, or share it on social media or via email.
You can also assign vouchers to the affiliate partner. The affiliate can share that voucher code with his known people and ask them to use that code while they shop. After a successful order, the affiliate will receive the incentives as set by the store merchant.
The holiday season grabs countless orders, due to which customers face delays in the delivery. When the delay extends more than usual, it creates a sense of frustration among customers. This is where Magento store locator can prove beneficial for you as well as your customers.
Magento Store Locator extension allows you to display your store locations on the front end of your website. While purchasing a product, a customer can choose his nearest store and pick up the order when it reaches the location, to avoid late delivery.
People expect to receive the product as fast as possible during the holiday season. You can save their important time by implementing the store locator extension on your Magento store. The pickup facility will surely mark a change in your holiday sales graph.
Have any doubt in any of the Magento extensions? Feel free to ask by dropping a comment below or you can mail us your query at support@knowband.com
I hope these Magento extensions for the holiday season provide a big boost to your online business. You can look out for some more Magento extensions in our store.
The holiday season is coming close. It is that time of the year when e-retailers look for every single opportunity to attract customers to their store and maximize sales.
The holiday season alone captures sales equivalent to the sales during the rest of the year. According to NRF, holiday sales for 2021 are expected to rise by around 4% as compared to 2020.
If you are a PrestaShop store merchant, here are the top 10 PrestaShop addons that you should implement in your store, to boost your holiday sales.
Grab customer attention and enhance customer engagement on your website by adding a gamified interface to it.
Knowband’s Spin and Win addon for PrestaShop is one of the best PrestaShop addons to increase customer engagement and your email list. It provides your visitors with a gamifying experience when they visit your store, by displaying them a Spin and Win wheel popup.
PrestaShop Spin and Win addon allows you to design your popup as per the occasion. Give a festive look to your website and provide the festival feel to your visitors. With the help of PrestaShop Spin and Win addon, you can set your popup theme for Halloween, Christmas, New Year, etc.
The more attractive your popup will look, the more engagement it will create. Let visitors spin the wheel and earn some exciting offers. The holiday season is the perfect time to lure visitors with some discounts and offers and convert them into potential buyers.
2. PrestaShop Gift Card Manager
This holiday season, when customers will be too busy shopping, make their task easy and save their time by offering them the Gift Card option.
PrestaShop Gift Card Manager allows you to create multiple gift card templates for multiple occasions. It also comes with pre-existing gift card templates for Easter, Halloween, Christmas, etc. You can give a festive look to your gift cards to catch the holiday spirit and boost your holiday sales.
Let customers spread the love through your gift cards. Gift cards will not only increase your holiday sales but also make the best way to increase your brand awareness.
Let a lengthy and a complicated checkout not be a barrier in your conversions during the peak holiday hours. Replace the conventional multi-step checkout with a single page checkout.
PrestaShop One Page Checkout puts all the checkout fields on a single page and provides your customers with a smooth and hassle-free checkout. To simplify your checkout process, it offers Guest Checkout, Social Login (through Facebook, Google and PayPal) and supports all major payment methods and shipping services. There are tons of other customizations which a merchant can make to make the checkout process convenient.
Mobile Apps have taken the user experience to a whole new level. Today, a majority of customers prefer having a mobile app as it is far more convenient than browsing a website. With that being said, launching a mobile app for your brand will not only increase customer engagement but also boost your revenue to a great extent.
Transform your PrestaShop website into a native Android and iOS mobile app with the help of PrestaShop Mobile App Builder and provide your customers with an enhanced online shopping experience.
Features like Real-time synchronization, Unlimited Push Notification, Fingerprint Login, Zopim and WhatsApp Chat support, etc. make the PrestaShop Mobile App Builder highly exciting.
With mass orders, also increases the order returns and the delay in the product return can irk customers.
So, speed up your return process and manage your eCommerce returns conveniently with PrestaShop Return Manager addon. Apart from the usual Refund and Replacement process, it provides your customers with the option to opt for the “Store Credits” which they can receive for the product amount. It ensures customer loyalty as well as customer retention since the customer would surely be visiting your store again in the future to utilise the credits.
Make the journey of your new customer as well as the existing customers exciting by rewarding them some loyalty points every time they make a purchase on your store. This is a perfect idea to acquire new customers and ensure repeat purchases, especially during the holiday season.
Knowband’s Loyalty Points addon for PrestaShop focuses on customer retention and customer acquisition, at the same time. You can reward loyalty points to a new visitor when they sign-up on your store, and turn him/her into your loyal customer within no time. The points can be used as a discount voucher.
If you offer loyalty points for every purchase that a customer makes on your store, you can generate huge holiday sales.
One of the most helpful PrestaShop modules for this holiday season would be PrestaShop Abandoned Cart.
Brands witness a high number of abandoned carts during the holiday season. Those numbers can cost you a huge loss in the revenue. Though you cannot put a stop to cart abandonment, you can surely recover some lost sales and even a slight recovery in the cart abandonment rate can add to a huge amount in the total revenue.
PrestaShop Abandoned Cart addon allows you to track and chase the abandoned cart users and helps you recover the lost sales by sending regular follow-up emails.
This PrestaShop module reduces the cart abandonment rate, ultimately resulting in increased conversions.
8. PrestaShop Affiliate and Referral Program
Referral programs can be a big boost to your e-commerce sales. While the holiday season is approaching, you can start a referral program and provide exciting incentives to users when they refer your brand to his/her friends, family or relatives and the latter makes a successful purchase.
You can run such a referral program on your store with the help of PrestaShop Affiliate and Referral Program addon. A customer can register as an affiliate on your store, share your website link with his other people and earn vouchers or cash when the referent successfully registers or makes a purchase.
The product delivery takes too long during the holiday season, making customers run out of patience. Because of bulk orders, it becomes difficult for the shipping providers to ship every product in a quick span.
Customers, too, know this very well. In such cases, PrestaShop Store Locator and Pickup addon manages things quite conveniently.
If you have your stores located in multiple locations, you can display them at the front end of your website and allow customers to select their nearby store so that they do not have to wait too long for the product to get delivered. Customers can reach out to the nearby store and pick up their item.
During occasions like Halloween or Christmas, people look to buy costumes on rent. There is a heavy demand for it. Hence, if you run such business, you can provide people with theme-based costumes or dresses on rent and boost your holiday sales.
You still have time to get everything set before the holiday season starts. Try out these 10 PrestaShop addons and capture huge sales in the coming holiday season.
