CAPITALIZE ON LAST MINUTE HOLIDAY SHOPPERS
The last days leading up the holidays are no joke, friends. Malls, retail shops, and more are teeming with last minute shoppers who stepped off of Procrastination Station and into the world of Buy Buy Buy. Let’s talk about a few strategies you and your business can implement and generate some solid year-end sales numbers. Let’s get started!
Create A Gift Guide
A gift guide is a brief, picturesque and simplified guide that is delivered via websites as well as any social media channels that provides recommendations on an individual or combinations of products that could be fitting gifts for Mom, Dad, or that special someone. Create a simple graphic using programs like Canva to create a collage of these products for you to include in marketing posts and even in your newsletter, should you offer one. Offering a gift guide to your users makes shopping three times as easy, creating an opportunity for your shoppers to purchase more in half the time. Note: This can also extend to service-based businesses! Don’t hesitate to get creative with your offerings, like 20% off services or a free included item or added benefit when you mention a specific social media post or code word. That exclusivity can work wonders for you and your sales influx.
Offer Free Shipping
Though offering free shipping may only speak to our retail and e-commerce readers, we find it necessary to reiterate the power of free shipping. Many users are flocking to online sales for the sake of ultimate convenience. With countless platforms from which to shop including Amazon and Etsy, why not make the decision easiest for the consumer by offering a little incentive like free shipping? The cost of shipping can make or break a user purchase. In Deloitte’s annual holiday survey, 88 percent of respondents said free shipping was more important than getting their packages quickly. This holiday season, give the free offering a try, with a guaranteed delivery date by Christmas Eve aka December 24th, and watch the orders fly in.
Flash Sales
Flash sales are single-day offerings that are used to generate instant excitement around an individual product or line of products. This can be inventory you are trying to clear out, a new line you may want to promote, or an end-of-year service that needs a little push to help motivate both your employees and customers to experience the new offering. We strongly recommend that you limit this offering to a 24-hour time frame, surrounding it with several social media posts and alerts on your website and in emails as well, if possible. Use enticing marketing tools such as clever imagery, or even a quick video if possible. Since the sale is only available for such a small time frame, it is up to you as a business to ensure users are aware of your offering to the best of your ability. Note: be prepared to be met with disgruntled users who were late to the game. Should this occur, we recommend offering a consolation prize, such as half of the discount you originally offered, or a “rain check” coupon code that can be used at a later time.
Social Media Giveaways
The power of social media is truly undermined when it comes to ROI - we talk about its power in this article here. To grow both your social media presence and snag those last-minute shoppers hook, line, and sinker, create an exclusive, social media-only sale or discount. These offerings can be as simple as “mention this promotion at the register and receive 25% off” or ‘use “GSATiSocial” at checkout to receive 20% off the entire store when you shop online!” Depending on the nature of your business, you will want to adapt your offering to the easiest route for a user to follow once they have seen your promotion. Using social media as a promotional tool, especially during this holiday season, can help generate not only new sales but new followers as well, which can lead to overall positive customer retention. It’s also an opportunity to raise awareness of your business so people remember you and your offerings year-round!
Promote Gift Cards
The gift card, whether it be physical or virtual, is truly the last-minute shopper's dream. It’s quick, it’s easy, and it relinquishes any and all power from the purchaser to the gift recipient, as it allows said recipient to wield their purchasing power however they choose. If you and your business fit within the realm of sensibly benefitting from offering gift cards, make it a moment for you and the purchaser! We recommend using creative promotional ploys such as offering a cute and creative packaging for the gift card to attract the buyer’s attention. Send out special emails to notify your loyal guests that the gift card offering is available. Take it even a step further and offer discounts on the value of the credit card, such as $20 gift cards available for purchase at $10 instead. However, it works best for you and your business.
Upcoming Special Sales Days
Check out these last two widely practiced “special sales days” that we recommend you take advantage of when sharing about your upcoming sales.
December 14: Free Shipping Day. Started in 2008, free shipping day is a one-day promotional event in which more than 1,000 participating online retailers agree to offer free shipping, with no minimum order and delivery guaranteed by Christmas Eve.
December 21: Super Saturday. Otherwise known as Panic Saturday, Super Saturday takes place the last Saturday before Christmas and is primarily an in-store event, though shoppers who are unable to make it to a store or who can take advantage of fast shipping or pick-up-in-store options do still shop online.
Conclusion
Holiday shopping may not be your neck of the woods when it comes to promoting your business. However, these sales tactics and creative opportunities can be applied to any holiday, or frankly, any time of year so long as it is well framed and pertinent to your industry. Try out one or two of these strategies and see how they work for you, then try try again until you’ve determined what your users like best. Happy shopping and Happy Holidays!
