3 Solutions for Running an Online Shop While on Holiday

The beauty of e-commerce is that the internet is open 24/7. Therefore, users shop online not only during the day, but also on weekends or in the middle of the night. Orders are then processed during normal business hours. But what if an online retailer goes on holiday and is thus unable to process orders for a relatively long period of time?

1. Ask somebody to step in

Online retailers need a holiday, too. Arguably more than anyone else – especially if they operate their shop alone or together with a small team and have to take care of orders and customers personally.

The best-case scenario is that the online shop continues to operate, even though the online retailer is "out of office" for a few days.

But this only works if (a) you have a business partner or a trustworthy employee who can temporarily take over the shop’s daily activities or (b) everything is completely automatic (i.e. your shop sells e-Book downloads, you use a dropshipping business model, etc.).

If you run a one-man shop, where each product must be sent manually, this obviously complicates things a bit. Another option is to...

2. Temporarily close your online shop

If you decide to close your shop during your absence (i.e. put it offline), you shouldn’t simply shut down the server, but you might also want to let both search engines and users know that it’s just a temporary timeout. You can do this by means of HTTP 503.

However, this is not the best option you have. Unless you are a web development pro, we advise you to get the help of an expert.

Otherwise, you run the risk that potential and existing customers might feel affronted because they are unable to visit your website.

Moreover, in case your server timeout doesn’t function properly, your ranking could decrease. Indeed, Google & co. might think your shop is closed and remove it from its search results altogether.

That’s why we advise online retailers in need of a holiday against closing the shop or putting it temporarily offline. They should rather adopt an intermediate solution: instead of closing the shop completely, you can opt for showing visitors a message (through overlay or a 302-redirect) informing them that you are currently on vacation.

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However, this option might lead to your customers feeling affronted, too. A more elegant solution would be to integrate a call-to-action button into the absence message. This could even lead to new customers being acquired in your absence if you ask the user’s e-mail address in exchange for a discount, the participation in a sweepstake, or a freebie.

3. Keep your online shop open

Your shop doesn’t need to close completely during your absence. On the contrary, it can go on with business as usual. Only a small adjustment is needed.

If you don’t want customers to order and pay for something, you can deactivate the payment function or temporarily redirect users who have clicked on the payment option.

For instance, if potential customers click on the button ‘Buy now’, you can redirect them to a page where you can provide them with information on the special circumstances instead of directing them to the shopping cart.

But this is not the only option you have if you want to leave your shop open. You may also want to...

Indicate longer delivery times

If you're an online retailer, leaving your shop open by increasing the delivery times sounds better than closing the shop completely, which could discourage customers from buying at your shop. By choosing this option, you still have the opportunity to collect new orders and make sales even in your absence.

Trusted Shops legal expert Madeleine Pilous has a few tips for you about temporary delivery times:

Simply informing customers about the changed delivery times on the homepage of your online shop is not enough since this information could easily be overlooked by customers.

When customers look for a specific product, they mostly find themselves directly on the relevant product page.

Therefore, we advise you to inform your customers about your vacation on every page of the online shop. You could write something like the following:

‘Dear customer, please note that we are on vacation from 18 July 2017 until 1 August 2017. Your orders will be processed starting on August 2nd.’

Extend delivery times

Delivery times should also be extended as a consequence. You must deliver in 3 to 5 days if that’s what you state on your website. If this is not possible due to vacation, you should extend delivery times. It’s not enough to inform your customers that you’re going to be out of office.

Indeed, you might want to inform them on longer delivery times as well by simply writing:

‘Delivery time: 1 to 2 weeks’

‘Delivery from 4 to 7 August 2017’

Basically, the following applies: you’re not obliged to send the goods immediately after the purchase; what you must do, however, is inform customers on delivery times – and comply with them.

Even though you did inform your customers on the exceptionally long delivery times, there is the risk that customers get angry and leave a negative review on your shop. This can be avoided if you...

Inform customers and visitors in a timely manner

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Whether you choose to switch your shop offline or leave it online, you should inform your existing customers on time about your absence.

Sending your customers an e-mail just before catching a plane to a sunny beach is an option.

However, it would be far better for you to inform customers of your absence in a timely manner.

For instance, you could send a first e-mail a month before going on holiday, a second a week before, a third on the day before and a last e-mail on the first day of your holiday.

You may also want to provide this information on your social media channels and on your shop (through a banner or a pop-up window).

Don’t forget any important information, so that visitors and customers know immediately when your shop is back to business as usual.

Tip: Instead of an impersonal message, you may want to write a blog post where your customers can find relevant information, but also the reason for the timeout and what it means for them.

If you write a personal blog article, visitors and customers will be more likely to forgive you for not being able to process their orders immediately.