It’s the most wonderful time of the year - it’s also the busiest. With 60% of US shoppers purchasing their holiday gifts online, the internet is now more crowded than the malls when it comes to holiday shopping. To stand out from those crowds, you need to plan how to reach different holiday shoppers this quarter.
Bargain hunters are out in force during the holidays, looking for ways to check off their shopping list while staying within their budget. Luckily, these shoppers are quite happy to deviate from their usual online marketplaces, giving you plenty of opportunities to reach them through:
Bargain hunters shop around, and multi-channel selling ensures that you’re everywhere they’re looking. This not only boosts brand awareness and reaches different audiences, but it also creates what is known as the mere exposure effect - increasing trust and favoritism towards your brand the more times they see your brand.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that bargain hunters are only motivated by price. While your prices should be competitive, it’s easier to create perceived value by offering free shipping, bundled items, and generous return policies. Even better, value helps you to attract customers while making a profit.
Loss aversion is a huge driver for bargain hunters. This causes many Amazon Prime members to buy from Prime sellers only, so they do not miss out on perks they’ve already paid for. If you’re not using Fulfillment by Amazon, you can still reach these sellers using Seller Fulfilled Prime to get your Prime badge.
No matter how long present purchasing has been on the calendar, there will always be shoppers who wait until the very last minute. These shoppers are your final attempt to boost your Q4 sales and attract customers away from your competitors. To do this, use:
The problem with leaving Christmas shopping to the last minute is that everything is sold out. Bring Christmas cheer to these shoppers by using inventory management software to project demand and maintain healthy stock levels.
With limited time remaining, these shoppers don’t have time to scour your store for shipping times and rates. Prevent cart abandonment by using fast shipping programs to display fast shipping badges across your Shopify store and throughout your marketplace listings.
Further reading: Find out how Shopify fast shipping tags doubled Chassis’ conversions.
Countdown timers visually display how much time a visitor has left to purchase in order to receive a benefit such as a discount or fast shipping. These are really useful for late shoppers and can create an increased sense of urgency that drives them through the checkout process.
The countdown timer above is part of Deliverr’s 2-day delivery program for Shopify, and shows how soon a customer has to order something to get it within 2 days.
To reach holiday shoppers who haven’t yet found the perfect gift, you need to put the perfect gift in front of them. Achieve this through:
Advertise on Amazon, eBay, and Walmart to get your products at the top of the search results, into product category pages, and even onto affiliate websites. These advertisements will appear during a shopper’s relevant search, encouraging them to click through to your listings. If you’re running promotions during the holiday period, then use Walmart promotions to highlight the savings to be had.
SEO is good practice all year round, but especially during the holidays time. As shoppers use Google for gift inspiration, you can use SEO to target longtail keywords that they might be searching for to get your website in front of them. If you are using Shopify, it’s also a good idea to pick a theme that allows you to categorize your products by gift recipient and price range - helping their search even further.
Inspiration seeking shoppers can also be quite indecisive, worrying about finding the right gift, receiving the delivery on time, and buying from the right seller. Overcome these fears by reducing the risks involved for online shoppers. For example, offer an extended Christmas returns policy, compensation for late deliveries, and tracking information throughout the shipping process.
Holiday shoppers who want an easy life will find a marketplace and stick to it for all of their Christmas shopping. To reach these customers, you need:
If you’re not already selling on multiple sales channels, then it’s time to get started. Having your brand on multiple channels exposes you more frequently to shoppers, and can provide shoppers the reassurance that you’re a verified and known seller.
Once you’re on multiple marketplaces, it’s a good idea to sign up for their fast shipping programs. These programs increase your visibility in the search results, boost your chances of winning the buy box, and include you in relevant filtered search queries.
If you choose not to sign up for a fast shipping program, then it’s still a good idea to offer customers free 2-day delivery. Free and fast shipping are the top online purchase drivers and something that marketplace shoppers have come to expect as standard.
If you’re not comfortable with meeting marketplace delivery times during such a busy period, consider outsourcing your fulfillment over the holidays.
Happy holidays!
This is a guest post from Michael Krakaris. Michael is one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30 and the co-founder of Deliverr. Deliverr provides fast and affordable fulfillment for your Shopify, Walmart, Amazon, and eBay stores, helping to boost sales through programs like 2-day delivery for Shopify, Walmart 2-day delivery, Seller Fulfilled Prime, and eBay Fast n’ Free.
Deliverr’s FBA-like multi-channel fulfillment comes with clear pricing, easy on-boarding and a hassle free experience so you can focus on growing your eCommerce business.