Monetate Offers 7 Tips for Retailers to Drive Ecommerce Revenue Through Back-to-School Promotions

PHILADELPHIA, PA--(Marketwire - Aug 15, 2012) - According to a recent survey, almost half of consumers plan to spend more money this back-to-school shopping season than last, and 79% of back-to-school shoppers plan to purchase some items online.¹ Monetate, a leading provider of cloud-based technology for online marketers, stresses the importance of creating winning campaigns based on data to help retailers ace the back-to-school shopping season.

"It is critical for marketers to capitalize on the back-to-school spike in online shopping, and the best way to do that is by providing the most relevant and responsive online experience to the customer," said Monetate Chief Marketing Officer Kurt Heinemann. "Monetate has been maximizing the revenue of major brands for years through testing, targeting and providing an agile marketing platform to make the most out of all opportunities. We are pleased to share seven proven ways to get the most out of the back-to-school shopping season."

(click here to download The Ultimate Guide to Optimizing Your Website for Back to School Traffic eBook)

1. Keywords are King: Pay attention to back-to-school keywords that visitors use when searching your website to identify when the season starts for your shoppers so you can respond at the right time.
2. Examine Website Behavior: Identify trends in behavior that can clue you in to what's important to your visitors. Are visitors looking for specific products? Do they spend more time on product pages as they compare prices? Make sure to tailor your promotions to this specific segment of users.
3. Think Beyond August: Once you uncover back-to-school activity and trends, market to this segment of shoppers through the end of September.
4. Ace Your Offers: Back-to-school shoppers are price conscious, so identify which products you should offer deals on, and offer them early.
5. Run Targeted Campaigns: Once you've spotted a trend in customer behavior, focus your campaigns on being as relevant as possible throughout the user experience. Make sure to echo campaigns throughout the website experience and on subsequent visits to maintain the "scent trail" of your offer through to conversion.
6. Launch Flash Sales: Running a series of limited time "flash" sales on back-to-school products can help visitors convert faster and increase return traffic during the season as shoppers hunt for more surprise sales.
7. Watch Your Language: Simple language tweaks can have a positive impact on conversions. For example, change email acquisition offers to include language about back-to-school season in order to generate additional interest and capture more email addresses.

(watch the "School Is Now In Session" webinar for tips on how to boost conversions from back-to-school shoppers)

Monetate's solutions, which combine A/B and multivariate testing with behavioral targeting, merchandising and product recommendations, are used by global brands across a spectrum of industries. The company enables brands to increase conversions and improve other key performance indicators by creating a more relevant online customer experience. 

About Monetate
Monetate drives billions of dollars of revenue every year for some of the best-known brands in the world, including Best Buy, Comcast, Urban Outfitters, Aeropostale, The Sports Authority, and PETCO. The company's comprehensive product suite and conversion expertise enable marketers to deliver a more relevant customer experience with unprecedented agility.

¹ PriceGrabber.com Back-to-School Shopping Forecast Survey (May 22-June 5)

Leading marketers rely on Monetate's cloud-based browser technology to achieve a new level of speed and control, allowing them to run 16 times more optimization campaigns compared to industry averages. The Monetate Agility Suite includes advanced products for testing, merchandising, targeting, and cross-channel consistency, providing an opportunity to bypass IT restraints and react in real time to customer demands. Monetate also helps marketers implement best practices and drive online revenue through its expert strategic services and content publishing teams. For more information visit http://monetate.com/ or follow us on Twitter @Monetate.