September is here, the kids are back at school, and life returns to normal – or does it? Things are starting to get a little hectic as we enter the fourth quarter of the business year. September is also the time you should start preparing for the key e-commerce months of November, December, and January. We will talk more about that a little later in this post.

But first: let’s look at some of the e-commerce opportunities September has in store for your business.

e-Commerce Opportunities in September

Australia celebrates Father’s Day on September 1, while the US gears up for Labor Day on September 2. Targeted campaigns focusing on patriotism and this year’s upcoming Presidential elections offer plenty of options to engage your American customers. Have you considered creating individually targeted e-commerce campaigns for each of these enormous markets?

September 8 is International Literacy Day, which ties in perfectly with kids going back to school. Show your company’s commitment to social issues – you could sponsor school children in Africa or create an international student exchange program – there are many ways in which your company could demonstrate social involvement. If you don’t want to go as large as that, you might ask your customers for their favorite books, create reading lists on your social media channels, or poll for favorite authors.

The northern hemisphere celebrates the first day of fall on September 22. Golden leaves, harvest images, fruit baskets – there are many colorful ways in which your e-commerce presence can celebrate the cooler season with eye-catching visuals.

September 24 is the International Day of Peace. Considering the many conflicts around the world right now, this United Nations-sponsored day could be a great opportunity to honor fallen soldiers or highlight peace-promoting efforts.

On a lighter note, Oktoberfest in Munich begins on September 21 and lasts two weeks. How about some themed beer steins or other promotional items as giveaways with purchases from your online shop? Fashion-related online stores could feature traditional Bavarian-themed items or ask for pictures of their customers at the beer festival for their social media channels. The possibilities here are endless – let your imagination be your guide!

This year’s European Day of Languages falls on September 26. Europe is a melting pot of languages and cultures – a fact you might want to celebrate via your online presence. Create a video of customers in your European markets that offer greetings in their native language! Ensure that your online store is accessible in at least the main European languages, addressing your customers in a way that makes them feel welcome.

These efforts will tie right in with World Tourism Day on September 27. Invite your customers to share memories of their latest holiday adventures or create a discussion or poll about the best holiday destinations of 2024. Online travel agencies might highlight special offers, city hop destinations, or romantic getaways for fall and winter. The opportunities here are endless.

Top 5 e-Commerce Events in September

Savant eCommerce Barcelona will be held on September 17-18 this year. The conference focuses on hot topics like AI in e-commerce, improving user and product experience, growing your business, increasing your reach via social media, and other topics. The conference will feature lectures, panel discussions, workshops, and networking opportunities. The event primarily focuses on the latest e-commerce trends, innovations, and strategies.

Paris Retail Week (September 17-19) is arguably the most important event of the year for online and offline retail. Around 370 suppliers offer solutions for logistics, e-logistics and supply chain, trading platforms, marketing, data, customer relations, artificial intelligence, and payment solutions.

eCommerce Expo in London (September 18-19) is the largest e-commerce industry event in the UK, bringing together over 12,000 e-commerce professionals, over 300 technology providers, and leading industry speakers. Attendees will be listening to presentations about latest trends and challenges of the e-commerce market, brainstorm new ideas, see case studies on the implementation of latest technologies in e-commerce, talk to solution providers, and watch system demos.

The ECOMEXPO|24 on September 19 in Wilno (Lithuania) will bring together e-commerce business owners, developers, digital marketing experts, creators and suppliers of e-commerce tools and solutions, dropshipping specialists, and sellers. Topics discussed at the conferences will include global e-commerce, digital solutions and e-commerce using artificial intelligence, trading on trading platforms, and legal and tax regulations in export.

And finally, we’re back in Spain for the EPP Global Retail & E-commerce Pricing Forum 2024 (Barcelona, September 24-27). This remarkable event brings together pricing executives, category managers, thought leaders, technology innovators and industry practitioners from around the globe to share innovative insights, best practices and action plans for the development of pricing strategies and achieving pricing goals. This is a must-attend event if your role involves pricing, category management, e-commerce, customer management, omnichannel management, data science, brand management, or commerce/channel management targeting the end consumer/buyer (B2B and B2C).

Preparing for the hottest sales months of the year

Especially if you are just starting out on your online sales journey, there are quite a few points to consider regarding the upcoming online sales crescendo around Christmas.

Here are a few pointers that will put you on the road to e-commerce success in the hottest sales months of the year.

Focus on specific dates to target with your campaigns. We have offered some inspiration in this post, but the list is – of course – not exhaustive. Depending on your target audience, you might want to add national holidays in specific markets.

Plan your marketing campaigns well in advance. Decide on the deals you want to offer – discounts, free shipping, free gifts, 2-for-1, etc. Set up helpful features for your store and make sure to test them for any eventuality. These could include abandoned cart recovery emails, voucher codes, chatbots, exit pop-ups, and more.

Run a full maintenance of your online store. After all, you don’t want to be caught with your pants down when heavy traffic comes in and you’d lose precious sales! Make sure your website is easy to navigate, other language versions are easy to access and complete, the checkout process runs flawlessly, and most importantly: the mobile experience you offer is as attractive as it is convenient.

Create engaging social media content. Everyone’s lives are shifting more and more online. Your e-commerce presence should be relevant, attractive, and wherever possible: driven by influencers.

You will need eye-popping visuals. People remember up to 80% of what they see, and only about 20% of what they read. If you want to stand out from the crowd this holiday season, invest time in creating eye-catching imagery for your marketing campaigns.

Set and communicate order deadlines. Your customers must know well in advance until when they can place orders. Avoid frustration and make sure deadlines are met. You might try e.g. reminder emails for business customers and abandoned cart emails for end customers.

Retain your old and new customers. You have done everything right. Your customers are happy. Now is the time to make sure you will have return business by creating a customer loyalty program, point system, or issue discount vouchers to be redeemed next year.

That’s it – we think you will have quite a busy September!



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autor_eurotext_100Author: Eurotext Editorial Team

We explain how internationalization works, provide tips for your translation projects and outline some of the technology and processes used. We also report on current e-commerce developments and cover a range of language-related topics.