7 Effective Holiday Marketing Tips for eCommerce Stores

Christmas is just around the corner! During these days, plenty of people are desperately searching where to buy gifts, home decor, and groceries. So what does this magical time of year mean for eCommerce store owners? A unique opportunity to multiply profits!

However, if you want to make as much money as possible during the holiday season, you need to prepare your store in advance. Don’t be lazy to turn it into a real magic box of wonders for your customers (your efforts will pay off)!

Today we’re sharing 7 essential tips you can use as you prepare your eCommerce store for Christmas and New Year festivities. Read on about how to win the hearts of your clients during the holiday season.

7 Secrets to Boosting Your Sales During the Holiday Season

According to statistics, in 2021, the profits from eCommerce sales in the U.S. will be up to $207 billion. As you can see from the chart below, every year the amount is increasing. So do not miss the chance to get the maximum income in this period for your store as well.

To begin with, it is worth mentioning that before you start promoting a Christmas theme in your online store, you need to optimize it as much as possible in advance. You have to make sure that your store is user-friendly, glitch-free, displays correctly on all devices, and is capable of handling the increased traffic.

For example, if you have long wanted to migrate to a Magento headless commerce solution (or some other modern CMS), it is worth making the transition before the holidays. In this case, you will be well prepared for the “hottest” season.

So, what can you do to encourage your target audience to purchase? We’ll share some valuable tips with you.

1. Offer Discounts for Those Who Buy Gifts

One of the effective ways to stimulate sales during the pre-Christmas period is to offer discounts to those who buy gifts. For example, the screenshot below shows how Estée Lauder stimulates sales and increases the average check.

During the holiday season, the brand is offering 20% off for orders of $75-$149 and 25% off for orders over $150. The offer is valid only for online shopping and a limited period. In addition, the company is offering free shipping to customers who are stocking up on gifts before Christmas. This will increase the number of clients before the holidays.

Don’t be afraid that discounts will lower your average check. Discounting will inspire customers to buy more goods to reach the minimum amount at which the price is reduced. This tactic is especially relevant during the pre-holiday period.

Don’t forget to advertise relevant products, including those difficult to sell at other times.

2. Help with Gift Selection

Choosing gifts is often a difficult task, especially at Christmas, when everyone needs to get many presents. So help your customers, be sure to make thematic selections to guide them through the gift selection process.

Recommendations can be divided into categories, for example, as The Body Shop did. Prepare guidelines for choosing gifts, such as “for him”, “for her”, “for kids”, and so on.

In addition to general recommendations, be sure to offer suggestions for gifts from your assortment with direct links to the products. In this way, customers will be able to buy many gifts for different people during a single visit to your store. So that will undoubtedly lead to an increase in your profits.

3. Make the Holiday Theme Stand Out on Your Site

Your customers shouldn’t miss your hot Christmas offers. Make the holiday concept stand out on the website. Every visitor should immediately see that you have a great selection of gifts.

Don’t be lazy to make a Christmas banner, and add a gift category prominently on your menu. Attract users’ attention with catchy headlines, bright pictures, and useful information.

For example, let’s look at how Clinique organized its site for the holidays. As soon as the user opens the site, he sees a cool “Very merry gifts” banner, from which he can visit the gift catalog via a call to action button. They also linked “Holiday Shop” in the site’s header.

Such a neat and original design draws the user’s attention to the right categories and sells more.

When designing your online store’s holiday update, it is important not to overload it with information. You should stick to stylish but laconic minimalism. Remember that the design should not distract the visitor from your products.

It is also essential to make sure that your design looks equally good on a PC, tablet, and smartphone.

4. Update the Top Menu for the Holidays

Provide your users with seamless navigation to simplify the challenging process of selecting gifts.

It’s worth adding a special Christmas section to the menu on the home page, with sub-sections that meet your customers’ needs.

In this way, it will be easier for clients to choose presents, and you’ll soon see an increase in the number of orders.

For example, Bed Bath & Beyond put two categories on the menu: Gifting and Holiday. In the first category, you can choose gifts according to several parameters:

• By recipient;
• By price;
• By interest;
• All gifts;
• All personalized gifts;
• Gift cards.

The second category contains all the items that may be handy when preparing for the holidays. There is a call to action in both categories with the text “get holiday-ready”.

Such techniques can help you get the most out of the celebration season.

5. Make a Holiday-Relatable Special Offer

You can also make your customers a special offer to increase the average bill. For example, to buy some product at a special price for a certain amount of purchase, get something as a gift, and so on.

For example, Bloomingdale offers to buy a diamond pendant at a special price when placing any order for women’s goods. There are 3 pendant options to choose from, including a Christmas-themed snowflake. This will be a great gift idea for your clients and a source of extra profit for you!

Another bonus offer of this store is the invitation to donate for children, which is a great initiative.

6. Consider Gift Sets and Combos

Another important tip is to have a pre-made set of gifts. Again, this will help distress your customers because they will not have to worry about what to get for their friends and relatives. Just combine a few items into a special set and offer it at a better price.

That’s what the Philosophy brand did, for example. To make customers see that it’s more profitable for their wallet to buy certain items in a set, next to its price, they also indicate the total cost of goods when ordering individually ($X value).

Gift sets as a marketing strategy have long been proven to be effective. For customers, it’s beneficial both because they don’t have to assemble a gift on their own and save money.

For you, it means an opportunity to sell items that are not in demand, along with those that are popular, as well as ensuring a pre-Christmas sales boost.

7. Suggest Gift Wrapping

And last but not least. Relieve your clients of the need to find where and how to wrap a gift they’ve bought from you. Give them the option of ordering personalized packaging directly in your store.

Such a gesture kills two birds with one stone:

• Help increase customer loyalty and raise the chances that they will come back to you again;
• Maximize the possibility that your care will help you get recommended by your clients to other people.

In addition to the nice packaging, offer the opportunity to include a personalized message. Also, don’t forget to place your brand’s logo on the packaging.

See how Charles Tyrwhitt makes life easier for their customers by offering them a gift box at checkout.

To Sum Up

So there you have it: 7 effective techniques that you can apply to your online store during the holiday season. Of course, these are not all the tips you can use. We have introduced you to the essential ones:

1. Provide a certain discount on gifts;
2. Offer help with gift selection;
3. Highlight the holiday topic on your website;
4. Update the main menu accordingly;
5. Come up with some special offer;
6. Assemble attractive gift sets at reasonable prices;
7. Offer festive wrapping.

A comprehensive approach to developing a marketing strategy will allow you to achieve the best results. That is why it is crucial to think in advance which marketing moves you will use during the celebration period.

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About the Author

Kate Parish 

Kate Parish, chief marketing officer at Onilab with 8+ years of experience in Digital Marketing and website promotion. Kate always strives to stay in pace with the ever-advancing online world. Her expertise includes in-depth knowledge of SEO, branding, PPC, SMM, and the field of online sales in general.