The holidays are the biggest revenue-driving season for most retail brands, which makes customer experience a top priority. As traffic spikes, so does the pressure on your site’s performance. Every step of the customer journey, from landing on your site to checking out, shapes your conversion rate, customer lifetime value, and revenue growth, so getting it right matters.
In this article, we share how to optimize the customer experience ahead of the holidays across each phase of the customer journey: discovery, consideration, purchase, and beyond.
Discovery
During the discovery stage, customers are finding your website and getting acquainted with your brand. They may arrive there from social media, through a word-of-mouth recommendation, from a search ad, or another marketing channel.
At this stage, site performance and navigation are critical. Focus on the following:
Core Web Vitals
Page load times directly impact bounce rates and conversions. In general, aim for a load time under three seconds, ideally closer to two seconds. More specifically, you will want to optimize your site for Google’s Core Web Vitals, including Largest Contentful Paint, Interaction to Next Paint, and Cumulative Layout Shift.
Code Errors & Crawlability
Broken links, JavaScript errors, and poor site structure can prevent search engines from properly crawling and indexing your content. You should regularly audit your site for errors using Google Search Console, fix broken links promptly, and ensure your site structure is logical.
Mobile Responsiveness
A majority of eCommerce traffic comes from mobile devices, making a mobile-responsive design non-negotiable. Ensure your site adapts seamlessly to all screen sizes, buttons are easily tappable, images load quickly on mobile networks, and checkout flows are optimized for smaller screens. Once you’ve implemented changes, regularly test your site across multiple devices.
Site Navigation
Product categorization should make products easy to find, grouped intuitively, and searchable. Optimize product detail pages and merchandising with strong images and keyword-rich descriptions to improve discoverability. Include breadcrumbs to help customers understand where they are in your site hierarchy and ensure your menu structure is clear and not overly complex.
Consideration
During the consideration stage, potential customers are determining if your products meet their unique needs. They are researching products, pricing, delivery times, return policies, and more on your site and competitors. During the holiday season especially, customers place increased importance on shipping timelines to ensure gifts arrive in time. Focus on optimizing your site for accessibility, displaying relevant policies early and often in the buyer journey, and creating high-quality content for shoppers to engage with as they navigate your site.
Site Accessibility
An accessible site serves more customers and improves SEO. Maintain WCAG 2.0 A, AA, and AAA accessibility as well as ADA compliance by following best practices like ensuring sufficient color contrast for text, providing alt text for all images, using clear heading hierarchies, and more.
UGC and Social Proof
Customer reviews, ratings, photos, and testimonials can significantly increase trust and conversion rates. Feature authentic user-generated content prominently on product pages, highlight star ratings in search results, and encourage customers to leave reviews in post-purchase emails. If you’re looking for an enterprise UGC platform built to scale with your business, check out Revere.
Personalization
Personalize the customer experience with product bundles and upsell or cross-sell recommendations for holiday shoppers. Include personalized recommendation carousels like “frequently bought together” and “customers also bought.” Use browsing history and past purchase data to show relevant products to each visitor. Dynamic homepage content that changes based on traffic source or customer segment can also improve relevance and engagement.
Purchase
The purchase stage is where a customer completes a transaction on your site, and it represents the moment of truth in the entire customer journey. At this stage, your primary objective should be removing friction and getting customers across the finish line as seamlessly as possible. By optimizing the purchase experience, you not only boost conversion rates but also lay the foundation for long-term customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Streamline Your Form Fields
One of the most effective ways to reduce friction is to minimize the number of form fields required during checkout. Request only essential information at checkout (name, address, payment details) and move optional fields (company name, phone number) to post-purchase follow-ups or account pages. Consider implementing smart defaults that make assumptions where appropriate (e.g. billing address is the same as shipping address) and enable autofill and auto-complete so customers can quickly populate their address without typing each character manually.
Offer Friction-Free Payment Options
Guest checkout is non-negotiable on today’s eCommerce sites and a quick way to remove friction at checkout. In addition to reducing account creation friction, diversify your payment methods to accommodate different customer preferences. Offer digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay to allow single-click payments for returning customers. Include alternative payment methods like Klarna and Afterpay for customers who prefer buy now pay later options. And don’t neglect traditional options like credit and debit cards, as they are still the most common payment method for many customers.
Guide Customers with Thoughtful Microcopy
At checkout, customers want reassurance that their transaction is safe and straightforward. Use microcopy (small, contextual snippets of text) to guide customers through each step, such as brief explanatory text above form fields (ex. We’ll use this to ship your order”). Include progress indicators to show how many steps remain, and use action-oriented button text like “complete purchase” instead of a generic “submit.”
Manage Discount Code Expectations
A leading cause of abandoned carts is customers leaving to search for a discount code. Keep this in check by hiding the discount field behind a button rather than displaying it prominently. Be transparent about active promotions throughout the holidays (not just during BFCM), so customers don’t feel like they’re missing out.
Build Trust Before the Final Click
Lack of trust is another leading cause of cart abandonment. Strengthen customer confidence at checkout by displaying return policy information early in the shopping experience, so there are no surprises. Show shipping options upfront with clear pricing and delivery timelines. Use security badges and trust signals like security seals and payment processor logos at checkout. And be sure to provide clear contact information so customers know how to reach you if something goes wrong.
Abandoned Cart Recovery
Even with a seamless checkout experience, some customers will still abandon their carts. Capture these warm leads with re-engagement campaigns. Send abandoned cart emails within the first hour of cart abandonment while the purchase is still top of mind, and include a clear CTA to return to checkout, ideally with a direct link to their saved cart. Consider sending a second reminder 24 hours later for customers who didn’t click the first email, and if you can, offer a small incentive appropriate for your business. Beyond email campaigns, consider launching dynamic ad campaigns that showcase exact products customers viewed to re-engage them.
Retaining Customers Beyond Checkout
True profitability lies in retention and repeat purchases. After the holidays have ended, you should shift your focus to retaining new customers and growing CLV. Add customers to nurture marketing campaigns that educate them about your brand and provide ongoing value. Send personalized emails requesting product reviews within 1-2 weeks of purchase to build social proof. Encourage customers to sign up for your loyalty program and offer immediate incentives so they see the value. And promote SMS and push notification subscriptions to keep customers engaged.
Key Takeaways
Optimizing your eCommerce conversion funnel requires attention to detail at every stage of the customer journey, especially during the holiday season. From fast load times and mobile responsiveness during discovery, to social proof and personalization during consideration, to streamlined checkout and trust signals at purchase, each element plays a critical role. Finally, don’t neglect the post-purchase experience where you build the foundation for customer lifetime value and repeat business beyond the holiday season.
By implementing these strategies across all stages, you’ll create a seamless, customer-centric experience that drives holiday conversions and builds loyal customers. For more holiday tips, register for our webinar where the experts at Virid will discuss how to best optimize eCommerce site performance to maximize revenue growth and minimize headaches during the holidays.
