It is scary to even type this but there are three days until Christmas.

Gulp.

You probably feel this same numb panic/guilt/stress – call it what you may – if you’re anything like me and have, oh, most of your shopping left to do. I’m being hard on myself – I’m not THAT bad. Though procrastination is definitely a flaw under which I fall prey too often – if you’re a fellow sufferer you know the pain that comes along with it…

As online retailers, there really isn’t much choice – you can’t procrastinate on giving shoppers what they need, especially those who are like me, waiting until the last minute and expecting it all. While most online retailers should be seeing sales rising sharply, there will inevitably be a mad dash to fill orders in the last few days before the end of the year. So the question is: as online shoppers procrastinate more and more, what can you do to get them to buy from you?

Create a Visual Sense of Urgency

One of the best ways to get these procrastinating shoppers to move is to show them a sense of urgency. A great way to do that is to have a prominently displayed countdown to Christmas clock or calendar on your homepage. This will jump start people who keep saying to themselves, “But there are still a few weeks until the holidays.” Yes, I…errr…people literally fool themselves into such nonsense and need a shouting image that screams “Get with it!” to remind me…THEM!…to do so.

Discounts – Oh the Discounts!

Seems so overdone, right? Well, you’re in the biz, you know – it works! Offer discounts and specials that expire before the last shipping date that will allow gifts to arrive on time. By offering coupon incentives to people that have obvious expiration dates, with small windows of time to take advantage of them, people will realize that they need to “use it or lose it.”

Don’t Try to Trick Your Customers

Online shoppers are getting savvier by the minute. If they see that your discounts are steadily increasing, they’ll know to wait until the last minute to get the best deal. Give them other incentives to buy earlier – specific items on sale or available only on Cyber Monday, for instance, and then others exclusive available during each of the 12 days of Christmas. If they miss it, they’ll know your efforts to get them to buy weren’t trickery but real, and they’ll likely remember for your next promotion.

By making your customers aware that the end of the year is speeding towards them, and giving them defined time frames to take advantage of savings and specials, hopefully those online procrastinators will be spurred into action.