Recent surveys show that many super-early Christmas shoppers get a head start by shopping online.  That�s why smart online retailers are a step ahead of the bricks and mortar stores in getting ready for the holiday season.  Industry experts predict a more than 20 percent increase in online holiday sales, but warn that online businesses, especially smaller ones, need to be prepared for the rush.  Rich Riley, Vice President of Yahoo! Small Business which hosts one in eight online stores, has this advice:

�Well, now is not the time to make a huge overhaul to your site, but you should definitely make holiday shopping as simple and as easy as possible for your customer by doing things like adding holiday graphics to your site, prominently showcasing your best gift ideas and making it clear when the gifts will be delivered.  We�ve also seen a lot of success with promotions and in particular, free shipping.  In offering online gift certificates to give shoppers a fast option to complete their holiday shopping is always a good idea.�

It�s not too late to open your online store for the holidays, simply go to small-business-dot-yahoo-dot com for more information.  That�s small-business-dot-yahoo-dot com.