Holiday sales are the biggest revenue makers and biggest gambles for retailers. With some of the largest sales opportunities revolving around big deal-focused days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, customers are looking for deals earlier than before and are placing their orders before the holiday season has officially begun.
Only 9% of shoppers start to look for deals the day before, making it vital for retailers to market early and think creatively to attract customers with money to spend.
For retailers, the traditional method of slashing prices and creating endless promotions to attract holiday customers in Q4 might not be enough for sustainable and steady trading. Companies that purely depend on Q4 sales for yearlong survival shouldn’t rely on this as one concentrated and calendar-focused source of revenue.
With intense pressure placed on Q4, crunch abetting can be a common mistake. Retailers should be aware of simple mistakes that can often make or break a campaign. Examples include failing to know or understand customer wants, an absence of holiday branding on digital platforms, unclear website navigation for holiday offers, incorrect discounting and savings information and overlooking content ideas like gift guides that can inspire customers and drive sales. Similarly, a lack of targeted holiday advertising can pose a danger to the potential of a company’s Q4 before it has even begun.
And even before the crunch is over, companies must consider how to maximize sales and visibility in the post-holiday spending period. While still having a digital presence, companies could look at reducing general advertising spend, focusing instead on shifting post-sale stock to release assets and generate extra sales. Similarly, companies could consider discounting stock by holding flash sales and exclusive access for the most loyal customers.
But how can companies be sustainable throughout the other 11 months of the year?
Preparing for the holiday crunch should be part of the long-term strategy, with companies focused on meeting clear deadlines with a firm structure linked to key shopping dates, product releases and data-driven analysis from recent holiday spending.
Brands should critically analyze data from previous holiday periods and campaigns to help plot and shape Q4. On a smaller scale, looking at every part of Easter and Valentine’s Day spending, for example, can help to critically determine what does and doesn’t work. Similarly, retailers should look at targeting niche holiday and celebration days to test out campaign ideas as well as spreading spending and diversity.
Retailers should also look at scaling their budget to maximize exposure and reach customers on multi-platforms. This includes investing in the important techniques of paid search, display ads, email marketing and paid and organic social media.
Bundle packaging is another strategy that retailers can deploy. Attractive to customers, bundle packaging deals have a higher perceived value and is an effective tool to attract buyers away from competitors. Techniques include offering free gifts, discounted items with a mandatory spend or a percentage off the final bill based on a number of items purchased. This technique can help retailers shift stock and promote new products while increasing average customer spending and building brand loyalty and trust.
Another powerful technique is the concept of a pop-up shop. Effective in cementing a physical space and generating brand excitement, many online retailers have turned to the pop-up shop to offer special, location-only offers and merchandise. Brands like Goop, for example, capitalized on the concept with a New York City store stocked with themed items, an exclusive Valentino capsule collection and affordable goods under $100. Target also opened a pop-up shop in the city, using the concept to test new technology-driven features for shoppers. Customers were able to purchase items with a special tag and used the interactive holiday-themed displays to test out a new, differentiated shopping experience.
When considering a strategy for the whole year, retailers need to revolutionize their approach to how customers shop in a truly digital age. Working with marketers, companies need to rethink the timeframe leading up to high traffic periods, revisiting the key holiday shopping dates to spread the wealth. To be successful and sustainable, businesses should make sure they are:
• Investing in building an audience base: This could include looking at longer lead times to create targeted communications, reaching those who are actively searching over a longer period of time for their holiday shopping. This can then be used to incentivize site visitors and learn more about their habits.
• Testing: Test email messages, product pages and searches to investigate the highest levels of customer demand.
• Tracking the search volume of keywords: Investigate and enable effective and targeted PPC and social media campaigns.
• Understanding shipping deadlines and psychological calendar dates: When are customers starting to search for holiday gifts? This is when offers should begin.
• Enabling pre-registration: Allowing customers to pre-register for an event or holiday shopping previews will create exclusivity and reward customer loyalty.
• Utilizing omnichannel campaigns: Investing in multi-platform is an important strategy to reach customers who shop around and use social media for their spending research.
With average orders increasing by 30% during the holiday period, retailers need to be smart in their attempts to attract customers and generate sales. By learning from the mistakes of previous holiday campaigns and using valuable data and smart social media planning, retailers can have a successful pre-and post-approach to holiday sales — and a lucrative Q4.
by Lindsey Carnett
