Small Business Owners Feel Optimistic About Holiday Season Despite Large Challenges, Says Volusion Study

76% of SMBs feel optimistic that their business will generate more sales this holiday season, cite defining the right marketing mix astop challenge for success

Volusion, the leading provider of ecommerce solutions for small and medium businesses (SMBs), recently announced findings from itsreport that gauges strategic outlook for SMBs during the 2014 holiday season. Overall, SMBs are optimistic about their holidaysuccess, despite facing major challenges that stem from larger competitors and tighter budgets.

Key findings from the report:

• SMBs rank their top three challenges in achieving holiday success as follows: 1) Defining the best marketing mix to reachnew and existing customers, 2) Competing against large retailers like Amazon, and 3) Determining a pricing strategy that remains competitive but protects profit margins.
• 76% of smaller online merchants are “Somewhat Optimistic” to “Very Optimistic” that their business will generate moresales this season than in 2013.
• Although 92% of respondents indicate that they are looking to acquire new customers, their marketing mix doesn’t fullyalign with this objective, having indicated an emphasis on retention-focused channels like social media (35%) and email(24%).
• To help customers complete their holiday purchases, 26% of respondents said they would focus most on streamlining thecheckout process, with 23% placing top emphasis on offering shipping discounts.

Overall, online SMBs designate adequate time for holiday readiness, with 58% of respondents stating they begin preparations in orbefore September. October is the second most popular month for smaller retailers to begin holiday planning, with 31% ofrespondents laying initial groundwork that month. Also of interest is the impact of positive sentiment on levels of preparedness, as58% of merchants who are “Somewhat to Very Optimistic” about their holiday success indicate they are “Somewhat to VeryPrepared” for the holidays.

Only 37% of respondents indicate that Black Friday will be “Important” or “Very Important” in terms of impacting their overall sellingseason, indicating that SMBs see the holiday race as a marathon instead of a sprint. Instead of placing high efforts into these majorselling days, smaller retailers are focused on longer-term strategies like streamlining customer checkout, leveraging limited-timediscounts, and implementing professional web design.

In terms of roadblocks, smaller retailers struggle with selecting the right holiday marketing mix. 92% of respondents state they willhave some level of focus on customer acquisition, however their primary marketing channels, like email and social media, are bettergeared toward customer retention. Although social media can be a cost-effective alternative for merchants with smaller budgets, itsimpact and efficiency for acquisition are not as realized as other channels like paid search. The primary reasons behind SMBs’selected marketing mix are a lack of time and budget.

“Small business owners have the right attitude to achieve record-breaking sales volumes during the 2014 holiday season,” said ClayOlivier, CEO, Volusion, Inc. “Based on their level of preparedness and an overall positive climate for the ecommerce industry, weexpect to see high performance from our merchants and look forward to supporting their efforts all season long.”

To see the complete findings, download the full survey, “Report from the Front Lines: Small Business Outlook and EcommerceStrategies for the 2014 Holiday Season (http://pages.volusion.com/rs/volusion/images/2014-Holiday-Report.pdf).”

About Volusion
Volusion is the leading provider of ecommerce solutions and services for small and medium businesses. Used by over 40,000 merchants, theVolusion platform offers a complete shopping cart and fully-hosted website, along with effective marketing and merchandising tools for oneaffordable monthly rate. For more information, visit volusion.com.