Ah, November. The start of the busy holiday shopping season. That time of year when merchants are busy gearing up for the mad rush of sales that follow Thanksgiving.

In between all the commotion, take a break to read up on a few highlights from this month that relate to ecommerce. Maybe a few tips will help makes this season better than last (at least in terms of sales).

Just a short post to say “Happy Thanksgiving!” to our United States clients.

One of my daughter’s favorite poems is this short, classic one from Jack Prelutsky. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

As Black Friday / Cyber Monday fast approaches, ecommerce merchants cannot afford a major glitch in their shopping carts. Assuming you’ve accounted for the things you can control (no security issues, streamlined checkout, great search results, good code, etc…), what about the things not under your direct control?

Payment Card Industry (PCI) Compliance is a big thing for ecommerce merchants. Becoming and staying compliant when handling credit cards through your website is mandatory now. It’s such a big deal that overnight, a whole new industry was born to “help” merchants become compliant by providing scans and questionnaires – Approved PCI Scanning Vendors (ASVs).

Whether it’s Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or your busy season has already begun, having your website tuned up and ready for the influx of online shoppers is key to capturing the most sales. Just like Santa, checking your “list of things to check” is a good idea.

Here’s a few ideas of items to test and verify so your store is in tip top shape. Hopefully one or two help you with your holiday preparations.