You may think that the holiday selling season is the only season to ramp up for, but take a look below and you’ll be surprised at all the selling opportunities you have for your online business coming up in the next few months.

No matter what you sell or where you sell it, capitalizing on these HOT spring and summer selling seasons can make a huge difference in your income during the 2nd quarter of the year!

From April to June there are 11 different selling seasons that you’ll want to ramp up for! Miss these and you’ll leave money on the table…

April

April may be the kickoff to spring, but in the world of online sales, there’s a whole lot of shopping goin’ on!

• Bathing suit season: It’s still too chilly to wear them but sales of bathing suits are skyrocketing now.  In fact, shoppers who wait much past May will find that all the best selection is gone! If you sell beachwear, it’s time to get it on your store homepage
• Prom wear: Online searches for prom wear are on the rise this month. Even though most proms don’ t happen until late May or early June, prom wear sales are increasing quickly with online searches up 60-80% from last month according to Google Insights
• Wedding season: Wedding season is in full swing as we approach June, one of the biggest wedding months of the year!
• April 8th: Easter: Easter is April 4th.  And there is still time to make last minute sales. According to BIGResearch the average amount Easter shoppers are expected to spend is $118.60, slightly up from the 2009 average of $116.59.
• April 23rd: Earth Day: Earth Day is April 22nd and sales of eco-friendly and green products abound during this time.  Don’t just look to sell traditionally “green” products. Look for the green in everything you sell. A bicycle is not only for entertainment and exercise, it is an eco-friendly way for your customers to commute to work or around town.

May

But that’s not all people are buying…

Bathing suit, prom wear and wedding season continue, but Mom boosts the sales this month!

• Sales of summer products ramp sharply in May (and June): Products for outdoor activities, clothing and outdoor living products for the home.  Don’t wait until June to feature these in your store or you’ll lose a lot of sales!
• May 7th: National Teachers Day. A week long celebration honoring teachers, if you sell gifts and decorative accessories your store should have a promotion around National Teacher’s Day.
• May 13th: Mother’s Day:  Mother’s Day is one of the biggest spending holidays of the year. Because it’s not just about buying a gift for your mom… there are grandmas, aunts, nieces, friends, co-workers and friends who are like a mom, who will all be getting gifts on this holiday too.  Recognize all the moms in your store promotions and you’re sure to increase sales!
• May 28th: Memorial Day: It vacation time, camping time, fun in the summer time and your last chance to make big inroads in summer product sales!

June

• June: Graduation. Grade school, middle-school, high-school, college and technical college – sales of graduation gifts increase in May and June! And don’t forget the little ones!  Pre-school graduation parties are all the rage.  What do you sell that would make a perfect gift for the graduate?
• June 17th: Father’s Day: Dad doesn’t fare quite as well as mom when it comes to Father’s Day spending but Father’s Day gift shoppers will be out in full force. Put together a Top 10 Father’s Day gift list and watch your sales of those products soar!
• June: 4th of July products: Remember the majority of product sales happen in advance of the holiday, so if you wait until July to pull out the red,white and blue – you’ve just lost sales to the savvy seller who merchandised their 4th of July products in June.  So get those 4th of July products out early, so your inventory is sold out come July.

As you can see there’s a whole lot of selling you can do from April through June!

So it’s time to get out there and capitalize on these spring and summer holiday selling seasons!

Use this calendar as your guide.

-Lisa

If you’ve been thinking about selling on Amazon, the time to make the move is now. Amazon is not only the Internet’s fastest growing ecommerce marketplace, it’s also driving the strongest growth for 3rd party merchants of consumer goods across the board.

Overall, Amazon’s sales were up 46% year-over-year in 2011. Compare that to the growth of ecommerce 15% , and eBay’s GMV at 10% and you can immediately see why Amazon is a “must consider” for your online business this year.

20% of the earth’s Internet population (that’s 1 in 5 people between the ages of 15-85) shopped an Amazon site in 2011. And that number will only continue to grow. Amazon is the #1 retailer online and

65%+ 3rd Party Merchant Growth

In last week’s earnings release Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos revealed “Our millions of third-party sellers had a tremendous 2011 holiday season with 65% unit growth and now represent 36% of total units sold.”

If you sold on Amazon during the 2011 holiday selling season, you experienced this first-hand.

But if you aren’t there yet, you haven’t missed the boat.

Amazon is actively looking to grow their 3rd party merchant sales this year. And they’re investing time, money and effort into making sure that happens…

• Amazon currently has over 2 million seller accounts. But with the rapid increase in sales, growth on Amazon is not a problem.

• These 3rd party merchants represent 36% of all products sold on Amazon (up from 32% in 2010). The percentage of 3rd party sales on Amazon will only continue to grow.

• Amazon has publicly stated and continues to demonstrate they’re investment in growing their 3rd party merchant business

• Amazon added 17 global fulfillment centers in 2011. These fulfillment centers directly support the growth of 3rd party merchants who use Amazon leverage Amazon FBA (Fulfillment By Amazon) to ship their orders. With more fulfillment centers to come in 2012, online sellers will have no problem getting out of the business of shipping and into the business of selling and making money on Amazon.com

And while the numbers are certainly impressive, the bottom line is “Is there opportunity for YOU on Amazon this year?”

The answer to this is a resounding “Yes!”

In fact for the past several years I’ve been working with students and clients to help them establish an Amazon sales channel.

During this time, I’ve shared with them that they were smart to get in now, because there would come a point where Amazon would gain so much market share, that anyone who doesn’t have an Amazon channel would be missing out on customers they couldn’t get any other way.

That day has come.

In one of the most shocking Amazon statistics to date, in a December 2011 article, the Wall Street Journal (subscription) and ComScore revealed that Amazon consistently has between three to four times as many product-related searches on its site as Google does through Google Product Search.

The bottom line on this is startling… shoppers are BYPASSING Google and going directly to Amazon to shop.

For sellers of consumer goods, this means that potentially 75-80% of buyers are missing your products if they aren’t represented on Amazon.

If you’re looking for a strong, growth oriented marketplace to sell in, this year is the to integrate Amazon into your business model!

And while the window of opportunity won’t be closing anytime soon. Why delay selling your products on the world’s fastest growing marketplace?

-Lisa

While Punxsutawney Phil may have seen his shadow on Groundhog Day, February 2, 2012, on the other side of the country in Seattle, WA ‘Ecommerce Phil’ popped his head out to see a very bright and sunny spring selling season online ahead!

Rather than burrowing back underground, Ecommerce Phil is busily out sourcing new products to sell during the spring and summer season.

Fueled by robust 2011 online holiday sales and a stellar 65% Q4 for 3rd party merchants on Amazon, Ecommerce Phil knows he needs to get his best spring and summer merchandise online fast!

So what products is Ecommerce Phil planning to sell online this spring and summer?

Well to plan his inventory strategy, he first took a look at his Online Marketing Calendar to see what the upcoming Spring and Summer selling seasons are.  And this is what he found:

February

• Valentines Day
• Black History Month
• National Weddings Month
• Superbowl Sunday
• Mardi Gras
• Oscar Night
• Pre-gardening season

March

• Saint Patrick’s Day
• National Craft Month
• First Day of Spring

April:

• International Guitar month
• Lawn and Garden month
• Easter
• Earth Day
• Spring Break

Products to Source:

• 1. Solar power walkway and garden lights
  2. Composters
  3. Greenhouses
  4. Houseplants
  5. Seeds
  6. Flower Bulbs
  7. Planters
  8. Raised Beds
  9. Supplies
  10. Gardening Tools
  11. Yard & Deck products
  12. Sheds
  13. Area rugs
  14. Firepits
  15. Ceiling fans
  16. Grills
  17. Hammocks
  18. Hose Carts/Reels
  19. Outdoor Storage
  20. Solar Lights
  21. Pest Control
  22. Bicycles/Accessories
  23. Kites
  24. Blinds/shades/curtains/hardware
  25. Neon colored clothes, shoes, accessories for women and kids
  26. Cosmetics in new spring colors
  27. Handbags in spring colors and styles
  28. Perfume
  29. Big ride on toys for kids
  30. Swimwear
  31. Sunglasses
  32. Soccer cleats/clothes
  33. Baby gear
  34. Wedding favors
  35. Bridal shower supplies
  36. Bridal accessories
  37. Home spa products
  38. Footbaths
  39. Aromatherapy machines
  40. Super Bowl related football jersey/memorabilia
  41. Mardi-Gras party decorations
  42. Saint Patrick’s Day decorations
  43. Home decor in bright, spring colors
  44. Car care and maintenance products
  45. Luggage
  46. Walking/jogging clothes and accessories
  47. Spray on tan products
  48. Easter candy
  49. Easter decorations
  50. Easter costumes
  51. Easter books
  52. Eco-friendly clothing
  53. Eco-friendly furniture
  54. Eco-friendly cosmetics
  55. Eco-friendly health and beauty products
  56. Solar batteries
  57. BPA Free food containers
  58. Snowboards (source on clearance)
  59. Skiing products (source on clearance)
  60. Winter clothes/boots/accessories (source on clearance)

This is just a sampling of products that Ecommerce Phil is out sourcing!

Think about what products are new for spring and summer in your niche! Check with your wholesale suppliers.  Look through your supplier catalogs.

Whether sourcing products wholesale to sell on Amazon or using arbitrage sourcing to fuel the pipeline.

It’s a fresh new selling season and online shoppers are looking for fresh new products!

What new products will you bring to the marketplace this season?

-Lisa

Think Halloween products only sell in the month’s before October 31st? Not if you sell online!

In the online world, Halloween themed products sell all year long.

Whether for kid’s dress-up play, a themed costume party, a local school drama club production or the Halloween collectibles shopper, the only place you can off-season Halloween products is online.

Seasonal Halloween sales are a $7 billion dollar industry, reports  the National Retail Federation.

But off-season sales are strong all year long.

According to Terapeak Research, more than $2 million dollars worth of Halloween products were sold on eBay between Nov 1, 2010 and January 31, 2011.

Another 1.9 million in Halloween product sales happened on eBay between Feb 1, 2011 and April 30th.

And because most people don’t think about selling Halloween themed products throughout the year, if you’re one of the lucky sellers in this niche, you can have a strong foothold in this market.

Sourcing Halloween Products at Rock Bottom Prices

So what’s the best way to source great inventory for this multi-billion dollar niche?

Get started on Halloween of course!

October 31st (and often before) marks the date that offline retailers start taking deep discounts on their Halloween products. Unlike online merchants, brick-and-mortar stores can’t display Halloween merchandise all year long.

Beginning the week before Halloween and continuing until the last scary pumpkin is sold off the shelf, scour your local stores for great deals on Halloween products.

Here is a list of products to look for:

• Kids costumes
• Adult costumes
• Face makeup
• Wigs
• Dept 56 and other collectible Halloween houses

• Halloween nutcrackers
• Halloween candy
• Pet costumes
• Large/life sized Halloween decor (used for drama productions, set designs, themed parties)

Even Halloween candy! Already bags of Autumn Mix candy are selling on eBay for up to six times what you can buy them  for at local stores.  (One bag sold for $45!)

And don’t forget:

• Limited edition Halloween themed items

• Halloween themed jewelry

• Halloween bedding and towels

• Halloween colored light bulbs

• Halloween CDs and DVDs

Even Halloween board games!

If you’re looking for ideas about what to source, head over to eBay or Amazon and using the keyword “halloween” do some research and see what’s selling!  You’ll be surprised at the plethora of different products that make up this $7 billion dollar niche.

Then, armed with Terapeak for eBay and FBAScout for Amazon, head to your local store and scout the deals, looking for items that are selling for pennies on the dollar.  Don’t delay though, the best deals sell out early… so get some sourcing time in today.

And don’t forget about wholesale suppliers, if you find this is a niche you like, go to a trade show or do locate a wholesale supplier so that you can source and sell Halloween themed inventory all year long!

PS: Looking for a hot niche? Think Zombies.  This new MSNBC article reveals that Zombie related product sales are worth over $5 billion dollars to the economy.

So don’t less this multi-billion dollar opportunity pass you by! The products make be scary, but the profits are a treat!

Happy Halloween!

-Lisa

PS: Just two days left on the 3-pay option for my brand new series “How to Integrate Amazon Into Your Business Model”.  If you haven’t yet joined the Amazon Revolution, find out why you should today.