Traffic decreases as Xmas draws closer?

If you're selling physical products (i.e. on eBay), you'll see a dip between now and Christmas. The reason is that the "standard" shipping window is about to close. Fewer people will be willing to pay extra for 2-day or next-day shipping. Christmas Day it picks back up some and gets pretty strong again until the first of the year.

Digital products don't see the same slump overall. In these cases it's more niche-dependent.

This really depends on what you're selling.

If you're selling "gift type" items, you'll likely see an increase in traffic and sales. If you're selling items of interest to people around this time of year (like News Year resolution topics like quit smoking or lose weight), you might see an increase.

If you're not selling gift-type items, you might see traffic holding steady (or even increasing), but no corresponding increase in sales. This might be because people are off and thus have more time to surf, but their cash is tied up in the holidays right now.

In still other cases -- yes, traffic might dip too. People have their minds on the holidays.

And in still other cases, you might see no change at all. For example, if you're selling a book called "Help! I think I'm pregnant!", desperate people will buy no matter what their financial situation is or what time of the year it is. Certain problems just can't be ignored just because it's the holiday season.

So... it depends on your market. Since this is your first year, this is the year you'll start establishing a pattern so that you know better what to expect next year.

BTW -- January tends to be brisk (though again, that depends on your market).

Cheers,
Becky

When I was doing a lot of "bizop" stuff the time around X-mas
showed spikes in traffic... especially on Xmas day. People have time
off work to do some reading and research.

We usually do very well until the week before Christmas. Then it tails off a bit.

We do ok between Christmas and New Year. We even get orders on Christmas day.

Then one of our busiest periods starts in January which is great.

I depends what market you are in.

BUT, never blame seasonality when sales are down. There is ALWAYS something a business can do to get them up.

Sam

If you have Adsense sites or product sites on Xbox, Wii, etc, you will have a spike in traffic at this time. That is what people are searching for. Non-gift oriented sites, for me, tend to slow down.

Great responses, thank ya'll. Traffic is still kinda low right now but the EPC is good. I figured that especially after Christmas both traffic and sales should increase again as people have money from Christmas to spend. That January is suppose to be busy surprises me but that's definitely fine by me. Shall be interesting!

Last year my weight loss site really took a dive this time of year, but it picks up big in January. Same this year. Looking forward to January.

Hello my friends!

I'm a firm believer in we create our own reality. Don't fall into that trap of things are going to slow down because it's that time of year. If it's a positive trend, by all means ride it. If people say your traffic or sales are going to decrease because of a cycle, you allow that cycle to manifest itself in your business by believing and giving energy to it. You attract it.

I was told that in my business & industry traffic & lead flow slows down the last few weeks of the year. Since that is not ideal for me, I focused my energy on what is ideal for me. My lead flow is the highest & the more steady than it has ever been, and my blog is at a higher traffic rank than ever in it's history.

Create your own reality now & in 2010!

kungfumarketer
Scott Blasczyk

It all depends on the niche or products you are selling. Usually this period sees boost of sales in some product categories and dip in profit margin in other niche. If you see some dip between the end of dec & start of jan, I'm sure new year is gonna kick starts with great orders and bulk sales. So use that period for upgrading your business bringing in more new ideas and also monetizing your site. So that you can do great after mid jan and your business goes interesting!!!

Good luck for 2010 & rock in your business!!!

Paul.

I've been doing the Amazon thing selling Christmas gifts and it had been a booming business up until the last few days. Amazon stopped doing free standard delivery on the 17th and at this point you'll need to pay an arm and a leg for shipping unless you have Prime. A lot of my items were only being sold through third parties which many won't trust for on-time Christmas delivery this late in the game. I went from selling $1000s of dollars a day in products to selling around $200 a day for the past 3 days.

Hi,

I have been selling lingerie on eBay for four years now. 2009 has been my slowest sales volume and for this month as I put items on sale, I notice that my traffic and sales are down. Staying positive for 2010.

Jessica

I have a weight loss site and the worst month for traffic is usually December. But, oh, you should see January traffic! LOL!

Suzanne

Fantastic thread. Was wondering about this

It's true people go online to shop for Christmas, but my traffic slows down because I don't sell gift items. That's why I make sure to send out my newsletter with some extra nice deals in December. Traffic may slow down, but the income stays solid.

Sales actually go up during the winter months for me

All of my sites are seeing a dip in traffic. As christmas moves closer - people are going on vacation, going to friends and family members houses,,,,,.

I do not look for traffic to get back to normal until after the first of the year.

I have noticed that the traffic does decrease a bit before big holidays, especially in the IM niche.I guess people has less time to spend online.However, if you are selling weight loss products you will probably see your traffic go way up in January.