If you sell back-to-school essentials, it’s time to gear up and make the most of this lucrative season. With students and parents actively preparing for the new academic year, you’ll want to make sure your website is ready for increased traffic, and your fulfillment operations can get the products to the customers in time for the first day of school. ShipWizard, your trusted 3PL partner, is here to share tips for a productive and profitable back-to-school 2023.
Back-To-School Checklist for E-Commerce Sites:
Elementary students get a supply list before the first day of school, college freshmen receive a “dorm room essentials” list, so we thought e-commerce website owners could also use a list: a back-to-school checklist! Here is our version:
- Review Your Inventory: Review your current stock of back-to-school essentials and ensure you have an adequate supply to meet the expected demand. Consider popular items such as school supplies, backpacks, clothing, electronics, and dorm room must-haves. Last year’s data may be a good indicator of what to expect for back-to-school 2023.
- Update Your Website: Optimize your website to highlight your back-to-school offerings. Create dedicated landing pages or sections that showcase your products, making it easy for shoppers to find what they need. Make sure your website navigation is intuitive and user-friendly. Use clear and descriptive menu labels, and consider adding a “Back-to-School” category in your main navigation for quick access.
- Refresh Product Descriptions and Photos: Enhance your product descriptions with relevant keywords and highlight the key features and benefits for students. Use high-quality product photos, color swatches, size charts, and detailed descriptions to help your customers make the right choice, and avoid potential returns.
- Leverage Social Media: Use social media platforms to engage with your target audience, whether it’s parents of younger children, teenagers, or young adults heading off to college. Choose the platform where each audience is most likely to hang out, which may include Snapchat, Tiktok, Facebook, Instagram, or the newest social media platform, Threads. Share content related to back-to-school tips, product recommendations, and student-focused articles. You could even run contests or giveaways to generate buzz and increase brand visibility.
- Step Up Customer Support: Offer multiple channels for customers to reach out to you, including phone, email, live chat, and social media. Did you know that customers and businesses exchange 20 billion messages a month on Facebook Messenger alone? And according to Hootsuite, messaging channels reduce the cost of customer interaction by 60%.
- Plan Your Fulfillment Strategy: If you handle your own order fulfillment, now is the time to organize your warehouse to maximize efficiency. Allocate space for fast-moving back-to-school items and arrange products for easy picking and packing. Use labeling and barcoding systems to streamline inventory management. And if you are not already using order management software to automate order routing, tracking, and fulfillment updates, it’s time to invest in one. If you work with a 3PL partner to fulfill your orders, discuss your estimated order volume to ensure proper capacity. Does your 3PL have the infrastructure and resources to scale up their operations to accommodate the seasonal surge in volume? Keep your 3PL in the loop on the marketing or promotional strategies you plan to implement that drive an increase in sales.
Back-To-School Fulfillment and More At ShipWizard3PL
Whether you sell notebooks or shower caddies, portable chargers or pencil cases, whether your target audience is headed to Kindergarten to to their last year of college, back-to-school shopping is an exciting time. It could also turn out to be the most stressful time of the year for e-commerce. Fortunately, you don’t have to tackle the back-to-school season alone. ShipWizard provides eCommerce fulfillment solutions for companies all over the United States and beyond.
Our expertise in electronics fulfillment is a secret weapon for our e-commerce clients. Our inventory management systems ensure accurate tracking, real-time visibility, and efficient order fulfillment. And let’s not forget our experienced account managers who work closely with you to provide support in all areas of e-commerce fulfillment services, such as:
- Shipping
- Product Storage
- Order Management + Processing
- Returns Processing
We offer 3PL solutions for apparel, beauty and personal care, and dietary supplement fulfillment, among other product categories.
With our 3PL fulfillment centers in Fort Lauderdale, FL and Phoenix, AZ we can handle shipping volumes of any size, with 2 business day delivery nationwide. This will help even the most notorious procrastinators receive their orders on time for the first day of school. Try our fulfillment cost calculator, or contact us to discuss how we can help your company take advantage of back-to-school shopping 2023.
