The holiday season is not only a peak time for sales but also a unique opportunity to engage with your customers and provide exceptional service. With Company, Pop-Up, and Redemption Stores, there are some questions we consistently hear every year during the holiday season. By addressing important questions related to store setup, payment options, and features, you position yourself to meet customer expectations and create a seamless shopping experience.
To help you prepare, we’ve compiled a list of questions your customers may be asking and how you can offer solutions.
Timeframe
Whether your customer is rushing to open a last minute store, or has ample time to launch, it’s important to be prepared for whatever comes your way. Some questions we often hear regarding timeline include:
Question:
How fast can you get our stores up and running?
Answer:
Depending on the requirements your customer has for their holiday store, there are multiple options. OMG’s Pop-Up and Redemption Stores have a quick turnaround time. Using time saving features on our Pop-Up platform can be the perfect solution for customers who are in a hurry to get their stores open as soon as possible.
If your customer has some extra time to build their store or requires more robust functionalities, Company Stores are the most likely fit. To meet all your customers’ needs, you can create a fully branded and customizable holiday store that mirrors their website. However, it’s crucial to start early and be proactive with these feature rich stores, so don’t forget to discuss your client’s launch date. Discovering exactly what your customer needs can help ensure the store is open in time for shoppers to enjoy their exciting seasonal products.
Lastly, if you want to let us do the work, our Creative Services team is happy to help. If you go this route, it’s crucial to provide our team with all product data and the directions needed to fulfill your online store requests. With good communication and guidance, it’s typical for Pop-Up Stores to take a few days, whereas Company Stores may take a few weeks for our team to turn around.
Question:
Can I open a last minute store for year end gifts?
Answer:
Yes! In addition to Pop-Up and Redemption stores’ ability to open quickly, there are features that can help move the process along even faster. Store Templates and Store Copy features are perfect for cases where you need to open your customers store as soon as possible. Store Templates allow you to choose from either your own template or various supplier templates. Store Copy offers the ability to copy holiday stores you may have opened in the past. Additionally, Pop-up stores also have bulk actions and artwork. These features can offer some store-building relief. Bulk Actions allow you to make changes to multiple products at once, whereas Bulk Artwork helps you add or make changes to artwork across products. These features can all save you time this holiday season, so you can build and launch stores with ease. Try them out to see how much time you can save!
Payment Methods
With a variety of payment options, your customers can choose which method works best for their holiday store. Let’s explore some frequently asked questions about payment methods.
Question:
Can shoppers place orders without paying? For example, gift distribution.
Answer:
Yes, they can! OMG offers various store types with diverse payment options. Alternative payment methods include Custom Payment Methods like purchase orders, Gift Cards, Coupons, or Account Balances (offered in Company Stores only).
OMG’s Redemption Store platform is also perfect for customers who want to distribute holiday or year-end gifts without the shopper paying. With this store type, shoppers just enter a code, select their products, and use the code as payment for those products. You’ll also have the option to offer custom codes or system generated codes based on what your customer wants. Another perk of Redemption Stores is that they are super secure because of the unique code that allows store access to only shoppers in possession of that code.
Within the Company Store platform, OMG also offers Point Stores. Point Stores have no money reflected on the storefront, and currency is displayed in points. For example, if one point is equal to one dollar, a product worth ten dollars would be ten points. You can easily assign points to the shopper for this special occasion, or give opportunities for them to collect points throughout the year leading up to the holiday season. Lastly, if shoppers don’t have enough points to cover a purchase, they have the option to pay with a credit card to complete the checkout process.
Question:
What payment options are popular this time of year?
Answer:
Our Company and Pop-Up Stores offer an extensive range of payment methods for seasonal stores. Both platforms allow for traditional payment methods such as credit cards. Additionally, a great method to offer during the holiday season is Klarna (Buy Now, Pay Later). This option not only encourages customers to purchase high value items, but also gives them the opportunity to split up the order total into smaller, flexible payments while you still receive your money in full.
Features & Functionality
What types of functionalities your customer wants in their store is a great indicator of what store type they need. Let’s dive into these features by store type and explore how they can make a difference in your online stores.
Question:
What features are popular this time of year?
Answer:
Both platforms:
In both Pop-Up and Company Stores, there are some features that are consistently popular during the holiday season. Features that control store access and privacy are highly requested. To make sure that only authorized shoppers can access the store, features such as Permissions, Email Authorization, and Code Groups can be beneficial. With the high demand this time of year, Inventory Tracking is also a valuable feature. You can set your own internal inventory levels or use supplier managed inventory levels. With the Product Database, you’ll also be able to add products directly from suppliers. Lastly, to ensure timely delivery of products, we offer various Shipping Options and Shipping Integrations that can help you manage your end-of-year shipping strategy.
Pop-Up Stores:
In our Pop-Up Stores, Landing Pages are perfect for running multiple stores under the same organization. For example, if you’re running a store for the one company with multiple departments, this feature makes it easy to keep seasonal and holiday stores organized under the same umbrella.
Company Stores:
If your holiday store happens to be a more feature rich Company Store, there are multiple features you can utilize. If you already have a Company Store open for your customer, you can simply add a holiday specific category to the existing store instead of launching a new one. Lastly, holiday storefront customizations are all the rage – add an element of tailored winter art or seasonal designs to your online store.
As the holiday season approaches, preparing your online store to meet customer needs is crucial for success. By understanding the common questions and concerns that arise during this busy time, you can offer solutions that enhance the shopping experience and streamline operations.
At OMG, we’re here to guide you every step of the way. With our wide range of store types and features, you can confidently tackle the challenges of the holiday season and make the most of this busy season. Make this holiday season your most successful one yet, and contact us to get started on your own holiday or seasonal store.
