For many shops, butchers, caterers and bakers, December is the busiest month of the year. Online too. Customers order presents, festive menus and platters, and they expect everything to run smoothly. A few hours of good preparation now will save you a lot of stress, phone calls and disappointed customers in December. This checklist will get you started.

1. Review your stock and range

Go through your products one by one.

Mark products you no longer have as "sold out" or take them offline.
Add your festive range in good time, so customers see it before they decide.
Does the stock in your webshop match what is actually in the shop? If you sell both online and in store, plan how you will keep track.
Do you have limited quantities, such as festive platters per day? Set a maximum so you do not sell more than you can make.

2. State delivery times clearly

Around the holidays, deliveries often take longer. State clearly on your product pages and in the basket when an order can arrive at the earliest. Better a cautious lead time you meet than a promise you break.

3. Set a last order date

For each holiday, decide the last day to order and communicate it everywhere:

in an eye-catching bar at the top of your webshop
on your product pages
in the confirmation email
on your Google Business Profile and your social media

Also put a reminder in your calendar to change or remove the bar once the date has passed.

4. Organise collection slots

For butchers, caterers and bakers, collection is often more important than shipping. Let customers choose a collection day and time slot when they order. Limit the number of orders per slot, so there is no queue out into the street. On 24 and 31 December that makes a huge difference.

Put the collection details in the confirmation email too: where, when and what the customer needs to bring.

5. Offer gift vouchers

A gift voucher is the ideal present for people who do not know what to choose, and the money comes in today. Check whether your webshop supports digital gift vouchers that the customer receives straight away by email. Test beforehand how a voucher is redeemed, both online and in the shop.

6. Check your speed

A slow webshop costs orders. Especially on a busy day, customers give up if a page keeps loading. Test your webshop with PageSpeed Insights, a free tool from Google. Common causes of slowness are oversized photos and cheap hosting. You can read more in our article on why your website is slow.

7. Test on your phone

Many customers order from their phone, on the sofa or during their lunch break. Place a complete test order on your phone yourself:

Can you easily find the product you are looking for?
Are the buttons big enough?
Can you pick a collection slot without any hassle?
Does payment with Bancontact work?
Does the confirmation email arrive properly?

Ask someone else to try it as well. People who do not know your webshop spot what is unclear more quickly.

8. Test payments and emails

Check that all payment methods work and that the emails your webshop sends are correct: order confirmation, shipping confirmation and any reminders. Also check that those emails do not end up in the spam folder.

9. Update your opening hours and contact details

Are your opening hours different over the holidays? Update them on your website, on your Google Business Profile and, if needed, in your email auto-reply. That way you do not send anyone to a closed door for nothing.

10. A plan for when things go wrong

Decide in advance what you will do if a product sells out after all or a delivery is delayed. A friendly email with an alternative or a refund keeps a customer happy. Also keep the phone number or email address of your web designer or hosting provider close at hand.

After the holidays

After New Year, remove your festive range and banners, and look back: which products sold well, where did customers get stuck, which questions came up often? Write it down straight away and you will be even better prepared next year.

To wrap up

Good preparation turns the busiest weeks into the most enjoyable ones too. Do you not have a webshop yet, or does your current one struggle with things like collection slots or prices per kilo? Read more about having a webshop built, or get in touch to see what is possible.