It’s normal for eCommerce businesses to experience fluctuations throughout the year as the seasonal demand for their products and services expands and diminishes. For example: A store that sells camping equipment can expect to see more business during the summertime. Shops that sell gift items are nearly guaranteed to see a boost in sales during the holiday season. However, many businesses find their numbers go down in January, when people are reviewing their finances and tightening their belts after the holiday season. A good eCommerce business strategy studies these fluctuations and makes sure to account for them, instead of expecting sales to remain consistent throughout the year.

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But, the first thing you want to do is differentiate between seasonal economic fluctuations, which follow a consistent pattern from year to year, and fluctuations that might be more accurately attributed to other causes. What other types of fluctuations exist?

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Cyclical Fluctuations

Cyclical Fluctuations are less dependent on seasonal factors and more based upon the normal patterns of an emerging business. These short-term fluctuations can happen when setbacks occur, staff is hired or let go, processes and policies evolve and emerge, technology grows, industry trends fluctuate, momentum shifts, customer preferences change, and operating expenses develop. The normal fluctuations businesses experience have been separated out into the following cycles: recession, recovery, growth, and decline. While these stages can last for different lengths of time, they have a tendency to occur in this order.

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Irregular Fluctuations

Irregular Fluctuations tend to be impacted by outside forces, such as natural disasters or national economic uncertainty. Strikes, terrorism and civil strife can also be factors that impact the sales of an eCommerce business. These are difficult to predict and happen outside the normal life cycle of a store.

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What Now?

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