For many eCommerce sellers, holiday sales can mean the difference between a successful or unsuccessful year.  Follow these 10 steps to online retail success during this busy time:

1. Make sure your catalog is in tip-top shape and have your inventory ready to go. This is always important but even more so during the holidays when the competition is especially fierce. Providing customers with rich product information (descriptions, swatches and multiple alternate product images) makes their purchasing decisions easier.

2. Ramp up your fulfillment and customer service teams. Meeting your delivery promises is always important, but especially during the holidays. Customers will remember a great customer experience, and the holidays are a chance to impress new customers and create repeat buyers. Consider using Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) for high volume, fast moving items.

3. Think through your holiday calendar. When are you going to send your Black Friday promotion? When are your shipping cut-off dates? Work back from your shipping vendor’s dates and think about your shipping backlog. Don’t forget to factor in gift wrapping time!

4. List your products where customers can find them. The holidays are a great time to sell on Amazon and on comparison shopping engines.

5. Get the word out! Reach out to your social networks and e-mail list; start generating buzz about your holiday offerings.

6. Offer free shipping. This is another item that is always important but is absolutely required to compete for gift shoppers.

7. Update your merchandising. Provide gift guides and promote them across your site. Make it easy for shoppers to navigate and find holiday specials, sale items, top sellers, and items in their price range. Make sure your shipping and return policies are easy to find throughout your site (not just on your home page) and include cutoff dates for holiday delivery. Remove empty categories and provide options (like top sellers) on the empty search results page.

8. Millions of shoppers create and share wish lists on Amazon. Add the Universal Wish List button to your product pages to get more eyes on your product and motivated shoppers to your site.

9. Get ready to promote! Shoppers always want a deal and your competition will be offering discounts and other special offers. You need to compete.

10. Get your servers tuned and ready for more traffic?!? If you are already using Amazon Webstore, we have that covered for you!