Get Your Online Shop Ready for the Christmas Season

For many Swiss online shops, a large share of the annual turnover is decided in early December. The weeks around Christmas bring more visitors, more orders – and more ways for something to go wrong. A gift that arrives too late, a checkout that does not work, or a sold-out item without any notice leave a worse impression than anything during the rest of the year. This checklist walks through the points you can still get done in time – down-to-earth and actionable, with saldiaShop as the foundation.

One thing up front: you don't have to do everything at once. Work through the list from top to bottom. The first points – stock, delivery times, payment – have the biggest impact. Newsletters and fine-tuning come afterwards.

Check stock levels and delivery times

The most common frustration in the Christmas season doesn't happen in the shop, but in the warehouse. Go through your range and sort it by likelihood of sale: which items are typically gifts and see strong demand in December? Those are the ones you need in sufficient quantity – and with correctly maintained stock in the shop.

saldiaShop comes with inventory management that includes automatic alerts for low stock. Make sure these levels are up to date before traffic picks up. If you work with product variants – size, colour, material – check each variant individually: often only one specific size is sold out, not the whole product.

• Update stock levels: Especially for popular gift items and individual variants.
• Clarify resupply: Until when can your supplier still deliver? Build in a buffer.
• Communicate delivery times honestly: Put realistic delivery times on the product page. An honest figure beats a disappointed expectation.

If you have many products, the bulk CSV import helps you update stock and prices in one pass instead of opening each product individually.

Make payment methods available

In December, people who never normally buy from you will buy from you – the last-minute gift shopper. That person abandons the cart if their usual payment method is missing. In Switzerland that means above all: TWINT. On top come credit cards, PostFinance, as well as Apple Pay and Google Pay.

With saldiaPay you cover these methods through a single contract and one dashboard. TWINT, Visa and Mastercard, PostFinance, Apple Pay and Google Pay all run together there, and the integration into saldiaShop can be activated with one click. If you expect higher volume, look at the conditions of the individual plans – saldiaPay starts at CHF 5 per month (billed annually) with the Easy plan, with Advanced and Enterprise above it offering lower fees. Prices can change.

Before the rush, check concretely: does the checkout complete cleanly with every payment method on offer? A quick test purchase with each method reveals snags before a customer does.

Performance and loading time

More visitors at once means more load. A slow site costs particularly dearly during the Christmas season, because impatient gift shoppers quickly switch to the next shop. saldiaShop is hosted in Switzerland and delivered via a CDN; SSL encryption, DDoS protection and daily backups are part of the package. That's the technical foundation – the rest you influence yourself with your content.

• Optimise product images: Large, uncompressed images are the most common drag. Upload them at a sensible resolution.
• Test on mobile: A large share of gift purchases happen on smartphones. Click through your shop on a phone – from the homepage to the order confirmation.
• Tidy up categories: Clear navigation and a visible gift or promotion category help customers find what they're looking for faster.

Prepare for returns

After Christmas come returns – that's part of the deal, especially with gifts. Sorting this out beforehand saves you stress in January. saldiaShop offers return management with automatic return labels and central order management with status tracking. Clearly documented, fair return conditions also build trust before the purchase – a gift shopper is more likely to buy if they know the recipient can exchange the item.

A transparent returns policy isn't a risk but a selling point – especially during the gift season.

Plan newsletters and promotions

Once the basics are in place, it's about revenue. Existing customers are easier to reach in December than new ones. This is where saldiaMaatoo comes in: our email marketing automation, with data in Swiss data centres and compliant with Swiss data protection law. It's not just about a single newsletter, but about automated flows.

• Promotional newsletters: Announce gift ideas, shipping deadlines or time-limited offers.
• Abandoned carts: Automatic reminders about unfinished orders recover revenue precisely during the hectic season.
• Segmentation: Address regular customers differently from new ones – dynamic segments do this without manual list maintenance.

In the shop itself you can work in parallel with coupon codes and discounts. Cross-selling – matching add-on products for the gift – raises the average order value without you needing more visitors.

Communicate shipping deadlines

The most important date of the season is the last order opportunity for delivery before Christmas. This deadline depends on your shipping provider and your internal processes – clarify it early and communicate it clearly. A visible note on the homepage and in the checkout prevents disappointment.

• Set a cut-off date: By when must an order arrive so it still reaches the customer in time? Factor in processing time in the warehouse.
• Make it visible: Banner on the homepage, note in the cart, mention in the newsletter.
• Prepare shipping labels: saldiaShop generates shipping labels directly from the order – which saves valuable time during the peak.

The bottom line: the Christmas season rewards preparation. You don't need a big campaign, but reliable basics – goods in stock, a checkout that works, honest delivery times and clear communication. With saldiaShop as the foundation and saldiaPay and saldiaMaatoo as add-ons, you have these building blocks in one place.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

When should I prepare my online shop for the Christmas season?

As early as possible, ideally in November. Early December is still not too late for most preparations – updating stock levels, testing payment methods and communicating shipping deadlines can all still be done now. The closer Christmas gets, the more important it becomes to communicate the final order deadlines clearly.

Which payment methods does a Swiss online shop need for the Christmas season?

In Switzerland, TWINT, credit cards (Visa, Mastercard), PostFinance as well as Apple Pay and Google Pay are central. With saldiaPay you cover these methods with one contract and one dashboard and activate the integration into saldiaShop with one click. The more familiar payment methods you offer, the fewer purchases are abandoned at checkout.

How much does saldiaShop cost?

saldiaShop starts at CHF 19 per month (billed annually) with the easyBasic plan. Above that there is easyPlus at CHF 59 per month and easyPremium at CHF 99 per month; for large companies an Enterprise plan is available on request. Hosting in Switzerland is included, online payments cost an additional CHF 5. Prices can change.

How do I prevent gifts from arriving too late?

Together with your shipping provider, set a cut-off date – the last order opportunity for delivery before Christmas – and factor in processing time in the warehouse. Communicate this deadline clearly on the homepage, in the cart and in the newsletter. saldiaShop generates shipping labels directly from the order, which saves time during the peak.

Are newsletter promotions still worth it just before Christmas?

Yes. Existing contacts are particularly receptive in December, and automated flows such as abandoned-cart reminders recover revenue without extra effort per send. saldiaMaatoo offers these automations with data in Swiss data centres and compliant with Swiss data protection law – and it connects to saldiaShop, so order data is directly available for segmentation and triggers.