After the Black Friday and Cyber Monday frenzy, Christmas is the next marketing challenge. Fortunately, there are some great eCommerce tips to maximize your Christmas sales.
Plan and optimize in advance
Before you actually get into the usual Christmas craziness, you should start planning your marketing actions and optimizing your website and media:
- Strategize offers, promotions and sales
- Review website and blog content
- Make sure your website, blog or shop is mobile optimized
- Think about mailing campaigns and segments you’re going to target
- Build a detailed plan of social media activities, advertising and PPC campaigns
- Make sure advertising materials such as banners and landing pages are ready on time
- Make sure that your online strategy is in line with your offline plan
Give your media a Christmas look
There are many Christmas templates that you could use to give your website, online shop or blog a fantastic Christmas look. It could just be some cool digital Christmas decoration!
The other thing that you should do, apart from temporarily changing your site’s theme, is to modify all your resources to be more Christmassy: banners, social media channels, etc.
Offer free delivery
Shipping costs can dissuade users from buying from you or even from buying online. In fact, according to Walker & Sands, 79% of people state that free delivery impacts their decision to buy online.
Free delivery will make it easier for your potential customers to buy online, but it will also help you get more attention and win extra engagement points .
Improve your return policy to increase your Christmas sales
Customers will definitely prefer a shop with an easy return policy over the rest – not just because it’s easy, but also because it’s a question of trust.
A clear policy, free returns, and quick refunds – that’s all you need to skyrocket your Christmas sales and make your customers return to your shop.
Add Christmas cheer to your packaging!
Think about the moment when everyone is looking forward to finally opening their gifts. Everything is red and white. Santa has just visited your home and you open your present to find . . . a boring, brown box. Not very Christmassy, right? A box that could have been made by Santa himself would be much nicer and more exciting.
The present-opening experience is important, as you can see in all of the “unboxing” videos on Youtube.
Offer gift-wrapping options
Some people are really good at planning everything ahead and have already bought their presents on Black Friday or Cyber Monday. But not everyone is like that.
Some people do everything at the last minute, are always really busy or are not just very good at wrapping presents – so why not offer that option? If you already have it available, highlight it.
Don’t forget gift cards
Present, packaging, and wrapping are all essential. But don’t forget the gift cards – a great option for customers who don’t want to buy the wrong present. Recipients of gift cards usually spend 40% more than the card’s value.
Also, gift cards are a great way to reach more potential customers and to increase your email database. Some people will redeem their cards after Christmas, so the seasonal impact may last a bit longer.
Have you bundled items?
Bundling some of your most popular items together is a great way to guide your customers through your catalog and also to help them buy the perfect gift. Like almost everything in marketing, there is a psychological factor here because when products are bundled together, people often perceive the whole thing as a bargain.
Multiple payment options will improve your Christmas sales
Removing friction is key to improving conversion rates. That’s why offering payment possibilities that spare the long and boring process of filling in card details is a MUST. Paypal or other mobile digital wallets such as Apple Pay, for instance, will simplify things at a critical stage of the process.
Whether you were already thinking about optimizing your checkout or you were assuming that it was OK, you should know that now is the right time to improve it. Implement multiple, easy payment methods. It will pay off not just now, but the rest of the year, too.
Don’t focus only on Christmas sales
Christmas is an opportunity to sell more throughout the entire year. Because:
- Doing a great job now will reinforce the positive perception of your company and increase engagement and customer loyalty
- It is a great chance to work on customer acquisition
- You can offer gift cards, vouchers and coupons that people can redeem next time they shop or in a few weeks or months.
How can brands prepare for Christmas?
It’s really important to plan your sales strategy ahead of the big day. That’s why you need to make sure that your website is optimized, create promotion strategies and a social media plan, have banners and landing pages ready and detail what segments you’re going to target in advance.
What are some tips to have a successful Christmas campaign?
Focusing on details such as improving your return policy, packaging, offering gift cards and wrapping options, as well as different payment options can make a difference and make you stand out from your competitors.
