Mercedesbenz Limo Sales

If you think your big holiday rush is over, think again.

Last year, Valentine's Day shoppers spent a whopping *$3.9 billion* on the web alone – a 30% increase over 2004. If you've got an e-commerce web site and you aren't taking advantage of this market, you're missing out on BIG sales: shoppers spent an average of $144 online for Valentine's Day gifts in 2005, according to a report from online payment processor Verisign; and February 1 was the biggest single shopping day of the period.

Some of the biggest winners came from these retail categories: o Greeting cards, up 50% o Jewelry, up 34% (diamonds up 130%) o Flowers, up 16% (purchases on February 14 up 349%!) o Candy, up 2% (chocolate up 49%)

But you don't have to be in one of those industries to get a piece of the Valentine's Day pie. Practically any product or service can be positioned for Valentine's Day sales:

o A night out – restaurant, limo, tickets, clothing/shoes o Spa/massage/beauty/makeover (including a romantic couples' massage) o Travel for two o Stuffed animals o Lingerie o Love songs o Photo albums and frames – anything sentimental o Personalized keepsakes o Relief from burden: maid service, babysitter, etc. o Anything for couples o Anything red o Anything heart-shaped o Anything gift-wrapped in red

5 TIPS TO BOOST YOUR VALENTINE'S DAY SALES:

1. Group gift items together and promote them heavily on your home page and via email.

2. Make it easy to select the right gift: organize your offering by category, recipient, and/or price range.

3. Start early – begin promoting right after the new year.

4. Offer expedited delivery for last-minute shoppers, and highlight this feature. (Be sure to make your turnaround times and deadlines perfectly clear. Don't make any promises you can't keep – it will be hard to placate a husband whose furious wife didn't get her gift on time!)

5. Think beyond sweethearts -– nowadays, people shop give Valentine's Day gifts to parents, children, teachers, children's classmates – even pets!

But why stop at Valentine's Day? With a little smart e-commerce marketing, you could easily be ringing up the gift sales all year 'round.

(c) Copyright Jamila White. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jamila White, The E-Commerce Diva(tm), helps small business owners attract new customers and sell more products on the Web.