E-commerce: how to create distinct highlights to boost your Christmas trade
During lockdown, e-commerce gifted record sales to many retailers. How can brands benefits from this trend during this year’s Christmas season? And what strategies can they use to stand out from the competition?
Mobile at the heart of Christmas trade in 2021
As a result of the pandemic causing a shift in customer needs, many consumers are still increasingly favoring online shopping. According to AppsFlyer’s recent report “The state of eCommerce app marketing”, mobile commerce has seen an enormous surge in popularity – and offers a multitude of opportunities for brands to get the most out of the run-up to Christmas. AppsFlyer states that:
Companies wanting to prepare their business for the Christmas season should therefore make mobile apps the focus of their strategy.
Leveraging flash sales and Christmas discount days
In addition to the shift toward mobile commerce, traditional online shopping still makes up a high share of the retail market. Brands can benefit from that by embracing the popular Black Friday and Cyber Monday discount days and complementing the usual discount free-for-alls with fresh ideas. For example, your brand could recommend products via a live shopping channel on these days. By doing so, your company will
- stand out from the competition,
- gain competitive advantages, and
- offer customers memorable digital experiences.
Christmas trade in 2021 – starting early pays off
The Christmas trade was already particularly challenging for many companies last year due to the coronavirus – from supply bottlenecks to technical hurdles. To make sure you’re well organized when this year’s Christmas shopping season kicks off, you need to plan early:
- Replenish your stock in advance and check that you have enough shipping materials.
- To get your Christmas trade off to a successful start, you could attract users to your online store by offering special Christmas deals and discounts.
- It’s also worth promoting bestsellers and popular gift ideas during the Christmas trade. Product bundles or a gift guide are a couple of options to help indecisive consumers decide on what to buy, enabling you to increase the sales of your brand.
- And last but not least: optimize your online store ahead of the Christmas shopping season – for example by improving the loading speed or checkout process.
Christmas is a time for reflection – how to touch hearts with your content
For lots of people, Christmas is mainly about spending time with family and loved ones. You can utilize that in your Christmas trade strategy: content that evokes a familial, warmhearted, and personal ambience can help strengthen your customer relationships. One way of doing that is to have your company’s employees talk about their best Christmas experiences in short video messages. Or you could start a charity campaign via your online store.
It gives customers a positive feeling and boosts your brand image when buying from you equates to doing something good.
Getting your advertising right for the Christmas trade – here’s how
On a final note, you shouldn’t forget about festive ads if you want to give your online sales an extra boost during the Christmas shopping season. Banners and similar formats can really set the cash registers ringing ahead of the holidays. Your brand should also have an active social media presence and ads should ideally be placed there. Especially during the Christmas season, you should also regularly upload currently relevant and festive posts on your social media channels. And another tip: it can pay off to use the shopping features offered by Instagram and other platforms to sell products directly on social media.
Ready for the Christmas trade?
Successful Christmas marketing is about good – and above all early – planning. After all, if you want your online store and content to shine through the Advent magic and sparkle, a well-thought-out strategy is essential. So check your stock levels ahead of time, communicate with customers sincerely and authentically, and also keep up with the latest trends in terms of Christmas shopping on online platforms. That will set you up perfectly for the Christmas trade.
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