Preparing For The Holiday Season: What eCommerce Marketers Should Know And Tips To Get Ready

holiday season ecommerce marketing

The holiday season is right around the corner and let’s face it, as the online shoppers gear up to spend a lot on gifts, your store too is preparing for them in every possible way. But here’s a fact, everybody else in the eCommerce industry is doing the same. So how do you expect your target customers are going to remain loyal to you during the sales?

Think like a customer for once. You see a product you really like on sale in one store, but you know you’re going to shop more so you end up checking the price of the same product at another store too. Why? Well, a little bit of saving never hurts!

So before it’s late already, it’s time to get your online store ready for the holiday season and attract all those customers to you before anyone else.

Shopping always starts early

The consumers of today are smart when it comes to planning and no one likes to leave things for the last minute. That’s exactly why they begin their shopping early. According to a research by creditcards.com, most amount of online shopping is done before the end of September.

Yes, all those New Year and Christmas gifts you get are purchased way before they are presented to you!

What’s more? The study also states that the above form only a segment of the online shoppers. The remaining begin their shopping spree from the end of September and carry on till the actual sales start to kick in.

Don’t believe it?

Well, another survey says that most people get their holiday shopping done by Halloween itself to avoid rushed purchases later.

Fretting that you’re a little too late already? Well, here’s some good news.

There are also a number of shoppers who wait till the holiday season months to begin their shopping. Their motive being only one thing – bagging better deals on products they plan on purchasing for themselves or as gifts.

While we ask you not to fret, we recommend you don’t waste another day and give your competitors a chance to get more sales before you can even try!

eCommerce Holiday Season Marketing Tips 

So here are a few holiday season eCommerce marketing tips that will get you back in the game with a bang.

1. Understand their psychology

The number one thing that can drive conversions for any business is understanding their target market and what they want. When you know their needs and what they respond to the most, you’ll be able to create campaigns that are highly relevant and hence, converting.

During the holiday season though, there’s one psychology that takes the center stage – the need to save money on purchases. Yes, almost 56% of shoppers expect online stores to offer discounts on majority of their products. In fact, there are also 13% shoppers who have their fingers crossed for bagging a deal on an expensive item they have been planning to purchase.

So make sure that your campaign is all about how the shopper is going to save big on making the purchase from your store. Be it online rewards, a special discount or more, remember to make him feel like he’s being added value to.

Also read: How to use psychology to get more conversions

2. Create an omni channel marketing campaign

Alright, we’re not going to mince words here one bit. The digital landscape is literally endless and your ideal customer could be anywhere – watching puppy videos on social media, browsing through his email, binge watching a TV show or simply switching between apps on his mobile device.

The only way to reach out to all of them, is to create an omni channel marketing strategy. There are about 15% of shoppers who seek to retailer websites to check deals, the remaining bank on emails, mobile notifications and other media to be notified of the sale.

So no matter what you do, take a deeper look into where your online store visitors are majorly coming from. Create a strategy where you’re touching base with your customer before anyone else with the same message that he might come across on other digital platforms.

For instance, if your social media ad says the store is offering a 50% off, make sure that the mail this shopper receives says the same thing or you’ll lose out on their trust – and their eventual purchase.

Also read: How to personalize omni channel marketing for success in just 5 steps

3. Re-engage your existing customers

While you’re trying to bag new sales, don’t forget that your existing customers fall in the same category as the other shoppers. They too will begin their holiday shopping soon and need to be engaged before they stumble upon a deal offered by your competitor.

Create loyalty programs for your existing customers during the holiday season. Send out a special discount to them over the already on sale products. You could also tie this discount with completing an action such as sharing your sales in his circles.

Send out an email, push out a notification or display new loyalty points as soon as he visits your online store again. But remember to engage your customers at the right time, with the right message via the right channel.

For instance, whenever there is a sale, Jabong definitely sends out an email to me with a special code that draws me back to their store to make another purchase.

Also read: 9 smart ways to win at eCommerce customer retention

4. Make mobile marketing a priority

Most of your ideal shoppers are going to be shopping on the go. This means, you’ll need to be prepared to get traffic and sales from mobile devices. But if you don’t include a mobile marketing strategy in the holiday season plan, you’re probably not going to bag any sales!

While we understand that not every eCommerce store can have an app of its own, make sure that you do have a mobile website ready. Implementing Wigzo push notifications, you can create a campaign to touch base with your mobile shoppers on a timely basis. Let them of the sale you’re running or one that they should totally look forward to!

Also read: The complete guide to using push notifications for eCommerce: Web and Mobile

5. Get into the festive groove

Alright we might sound a little silly here, but you need to join in their excitement and show them you’re as human during the holiday season! Give yourself a little overhauling across social media channels to get into the festive mood.

A simple change of cover photos, a little tweak to your profile picture and a few posts every now and then to build up till the holiday season sale and keep your audience engaged, could go a really long way!

Also read: How your online store can become the next Amazon 

6. Optimize the purchase process

Here are two things you want to keep in mind to be able to optimize conversions on your online store – people are in a hurry to make their purchases so they actively seek an easy checkout and there are shoppers who will add items to their cart but not complete the purchase before leaving. In both the cases, almost 50% of your holiday season sales are at stake!

So make sure that your checkout processes are easy. If there’s a code you have been promoting, make sure that the shopper is able to apply the same before he is moved to the payment step of the purchase. Keep every little aspect in mind while optimizing your checkout process – think like the shopper. Another wise idea to avoid shoppers from shying away to complete a sign up on your store, is to offer a guest checkout!

Secondly, you absolutely need to address all those shoppers who are leaving behind their cart items to look for better deals. You could be offering the best of discounts, but there will always be that one store offering 1% extra leading to you losing the sale.

Using an exit intent campaign, hold back your leaving shoppers and nudge them towards making a purchase that very day by offering an extra discount or creating a sense of urgency around the product. Yes, the idea is to prevent him from checking the holiday sales of your competitor store.

Also read: The latest cart abandonment fixes your eCommerce store needs to try

7. Channel the salesperson in you

Holiday season is your best bet at getting higher order values. Your audience is already looking for products they have been planning to purchase and gifts for those in their circles, which makes them more responsive to product recommendations.

So bring out the hidden salesperson in you and create cross selling, up selling and product recommendation campaigns to target your online store visitors. The higher your level of personalization in terms of what the shopper has shown interest in, the greater will be your sales and the higher would be the order value.

Think of the last time you ended up buying a t-shirt because the salesman nudged you to try it with the jeans you had planned to purchase. Yes, you went for a jeans and came back with two items. That’s exactly what you want from your customers!

And of course,

8. Don’t skip advertising

A business that ignores advertising, is one that is trying to hit the target in the dark. The one way to ensure you’re certainly reaching your target market, is to run advertisements about the holiday sale your store is going to run.

Make sure you start these advertisements timely to avoid getting lost in all those that your competitors start to. A smart move here would be to begin early and set filters that help you tap into your competitor store’s following as well!

Also implement retargeting ad campaigns for all those shoppers who click through your promotional advertisement and land on your online store. If they have shown interest in making a purchase once, they are most likely to convert with a slight nudge.

The holiday season will surely add to the competition your eCommerce store is already facing. So be sure you make the preps beforehand and don’t get left behind, trying to wait for the right moment to come!

Vanhishikha Bhargava

Vanhishikha Bhargava

A Content Marketer found trying to create compelling copies for blogs and digital campaigns, keeping a watch on what's happening on social media and ranting on Twitter. At all other times, not found.

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