Christmas is just around the corner and guess what? There’s still time to add some magic to your online store! Don’t buy into the myth that it’s too late to make an impact – we’ve got quick and effective last-minute tips to boost your sales.
We have already covered a bunch of other tips for the holiday season, check out those as well! Now we understand. Not everyone has the luxury of planning a big marketing strategy months in advance. But fear not!
We support you with ideas that are not only very effective but also easy to implement. These tips are designed to increase your income in the blink of an eye. But first – who are we targeting here with last-minute holiday shopping?
Meet the last-minute shoppers
Picture this: Christmas is just a few days away and there are a lot of people out there who haven’t even started thinking about their gifts yet. Who are they?
If you’re scratching your head wondering who these people are, let me tell you:
- Spontaneous people: those who thrive on spontaneity and live off the last-minute hustle.
- Impulse buyers: have you ever met someone who can’t resist a good deal or eye-catching offer? That and our target audience exists!
- Busy bees: people with busy schedules run like headless chickens – they need quick and easy solutions!
- Bargain hunters: great Bargain Hunters! If you get a discount, they are there like hair on a tree.
- Urgent needs: people who suddenly realize they need the perfect gift like yesterday.
Now that we know who it is, let’s dive into the fun part – some last-minute marketing ideas to up your online store’s holiday game!
Best last-minute tips for Christmas
In this part, I will try to present you the tips, which are a little different from what you can read in other online blog articles. It’s because I tried to take two simple things into consideration when I created these opportunities.
- Financial reasons: I tried to be aware that most of you have limited budget resources, so implementing one of these tips won’t mean that you need to spend half of your budget
- Tailored to the last-minute shoppers: These last-minute Christmas tips must target the last-minute shoppers, so we must be aware of what they want, to make them smile and buy our products. I think these tips accomplish this requirement
Let’s start with introducing the tips!
1. Promotional Countdowns
The most efficient marketers have always known the power of countdowns in the online scene since the appearance of the internet.
However, in the last couple of years, many law cases were all about using this feature inappropriately, and dangerously. It’s one thing when you try to influence your potential buyers to buy something from you, and it’s another when you generate a negative feeling inside them, stimulating a fear of missing out in their brains.
So avoid counting for that purpose to show how many goods you still have in your inventory, and showing fewer and fewer numbers on the screen. Not just because it is very unethical, but it is against the law in many countries.
Instead, indicate the remaining days before Christmas on your E-commerce store. It will also generate questions in the heads of your customers, who will clearly think out again whether they have already bought gifts for anybody, or not.
You can do this in two ways:
- Pop-up ad: surprise your visitors with a cheerful pop-up showing a countdown.
- Top of Site Display: keep it classy by adding a countdown to the top of your site. Remember, it’s about spreading the joy, not the fear of missing out!
Either can be excellent, but there are some different rules around them. Take care of those!
2. Express Shipping Promotions
Have you ever panicked at the last minute when you found the perfect gift but the delivery date played Grinch? Don’t let your customers face this problem!
Many people procrastinate and it is a common human trait to do things at the eleventh hour. Be their hero with express shipping offers.
Application Tips
- Negotiate contracts: try to negotiate better shipping contracts with shipping companies.
- Invest your own funds: dip into your own pocket if negotiations fail. Fund express shipping deals with your own money – think of it as an investment in long-term customer satisfaction.
Sure, you might see a temporary dip in profits, but the holiday cheer you spread will pay off in the long run. After all, a happy customer is a loyal customer!
3. Extended Customer Support Hours
First, we need to categorize what customer support is exactly. Since it isn’t just defining one thing most of the time, as it is a so-called “umbrella term”.
Customer support means that people can get the answer from you via:
- phone call
- live chat
- tweet
or just one of these options. This activity includes more or less a core problem solving, and answering specific questions.
Most of the time E-commerce websites nowadays have customer support, but because of financial reasons, these are not working night and day. They only set specific time intervals, mostly throughout the day when you, as a customer, can call them or live chat with them.
But what if you want to increase sales in the Christmas period, but you don’t know how to be highlighted amongst your competitors? Let’s meet with the expression “unique selling proposition”, also called USP. USP’s meaning includes all the unique products or services that your business can provide, and its competitors are not.
If you make a well-researched competitor analysis, and they don’t invest enough energy and money in creating all-day customer support, it is your chance to present it to your customers for the holiday season. It will definitely enhance the customer’s intention to buy some of your products.
4. Giveaway on Social Media
Social media is one of the deadliest weapons an E-commerce shop can have during the holiday season. I hope you have already found this way to communicate with your potential buyers, and have developed it to a strong level. It is crucial to implement this tip successfully.
How to build social media giveaway during the Christmas season?
There is a little long, but very effective process from the beginning of the campaign to the very end. I will try to present it to you in a shorter version.
STEP 1 – Determine your goals
First, it seems easy to determine that you want to increase sales, which is obviously true. But how can you reach that? By directing more potential buyers to your site? Or by engaging your loyal customers? Either one can generate more sales, but only if you have clear and obvious goals.
STEP 2 – Determine the platform(s)
Well, I am really sure you know about the different demographic characteristics each social media has. For example, 50% of TikTok users are between 18-34 years old. These segmentations can consist of demographics about age, gender, education, and income.
STEP 3 – Create the entry method and the prizes
An effective giveaway is nothing without a well-built entry method and prices. An entry method is usually a way, both you and your customers can win something. For example, they need to fill out a form to achieve an entry ticket, which results you can later use for detailed market research. Now, let’s move on to the prizes. Don’t forget: the price range of these prizes must depend on the actual products you sell and the financial situation of your target groups
STEP 4 – Decide how you will choose the winners, and write a legal guideline
Do not let your customers be suspicious about the whole contest. Try to present them every possible time that it is not a scam, they can only win if they enter the giveaway
STEP 5 – Launch and promote your giveaway
To do this you need to somehow get your audience’s attention. This step will include publishing some creative ads throughout your social media platform and your website
STEP 6 – Name the winner(s)
It can also include some interviews with the winner about how this whole giveaway changed the winner’s Christmas.
STEP 7 – Check your goals
It is time to analyze how many visitors have you earned during the whole campaign, how many visitors clicked on your site, and how many of them actually bought something. You can even optimize your site via these new clients’ data.
Optimize your product page with website analytics
Capturly, one of the most in-depth data analytics companies can help you achieve the last objective. Capturly’s heatmap, session recording, and conversion funnel service will all help you to understand your new customers even more, and tailor your site to their specific needs!
If you follow this step-by-step guide about implementing a very effective giveaway, you will definitely end up getting better conversions, and revenue.
+1. Free Refund System
There is nothing worse than waiting for your Christmas gift, and realizing at the very last minute that it is not what you imagined, and you spent money for nothing. It happened many times with me, but I think most of us have already experienced this feeling.
According to Richpanel’s 2023 article, the average return rate is between 20-30% if we include every E-commerce sector in the world. However, as this is an average number, some sectors have less than this, but there are some sectors where it is more likely to happen.
21% of all the product returns were clothing items, Nosto’s 2021 research has explored that data. 12% were shoes, and 8% were consumer electronics. So the summary is: if you have an E-commerce shop and you sell one of these types of products, introducing this idea might be a little too much.
There are two small negative things that can come up during the implementation of establishing a free refund system.
First, of course, it will cost you some money. For a few industries, it will mean a bunch of money. Just think for a minute, if 3 out of 10 customers return their products to you, and the average value of their buying cart is low, you may end up losing money instead of getting more.
Don’t forget before you end up creating a marketing strategy, first, you must calculate the cost of the whole process. There is less chance that everything goes out of control if you have already figured out how you earn some money.
The other issue can be that some people may take advantage of this situation and try to return everything that a customer possibly can. Because of this, you need to set a maximum returning number to avoid these scenarios.
Conclusion
So I’ve given 5 last-minute shopping tips to fill your holiday pockets. But here’s the deal – not everyone buys days before Christmas. You must know your audience!
These tips are not just about increasing sales; they are like a gift-wrapped shortcut to your customers’ hearts. Remember, this is one of your last chances to shine and sell those goodies. Give your customers a reason to click “Buy” and watch the magic!
It will definitely lead to better conversion rates and sales on your site.
