Surprising Ecommerce Trends & How to Use Them to Help Your Sales

A little while ago, I saw a great infographic on SumAll: An E-Commerce Seller’s Guide to Sweet Success.

The SumAll team analyzed data from over 17,000 online merchants over a four year period, uncovering some unexpected trends and offering ways to use that information to increase sales.

Here are some of the key points:

1. PayPal is the top payment method (44%); Visa is second at 15%, Mastercard is 6%, and AMEX is 3%.Takeaway: If you haven’t included PayPal as a payment method in your online store, add it – stat! If you do use PayPal, add a PayPal button to your product pages to remind shoppers that it is available.
2. The best time for sales is between 3 pm and 8 pm; the worst times for sales is between 5 am and 7 am.Takeaway: Get the most bang for your buck: Schedule your store promotions (through social media, emails, and online advertising) to occur during peak sales hours. Make sure you have telephone coverage (customer service and sales) during these hours as well.
3. The best sales day is Monday (15.7%); Saturdays and Sundays are the lowest, at 11.8% each.Takeaways: Several thoughts here. One is to focus your sales efforts during the week, when you’ll get the most activity. You can also try offering special deals on the weekends (similar to how restaurants offer specials on off days of Mondays and Tuesdays) to attract more buyers.
4. December is the best month for revenue ($121 million); June is the worst month for revenue ($69 million).Takeaway: While this information isn’t necessarily surprising, it does offer opportunity. Instead of ignoring the summer months, consider offering promotions. Two big gift-giving opportunities in June include Father’s Day and weddings (June is the most popular month for weddings). Christmas in July promotions, such as those made popular by Bonanza, can also help increase summer sales. August is the time for back-to-school specials to kick up sales.

Have these numbers held true when compared to your business? Let us know (and other trends you’ve found) in the comments!