The silly – I mean festive – season is here! We know you are probably full steam ahead fulfilling all those Thanksgiving weekend orders, but there is still time to also convert last-minute Christmas shoppers.
In this post we will show you how to convert last-minute shoppers with these 8 holiday tips!
1. Send Loyal Customers a Holiday Greeting
It’s the festive season, so why not be a little festive? Sending your loyal customers a personal greeting through Social, email or even sms to thank them and wish them a happy holiday. Showing your appreciation can go a long way to forming long-lasting relationships with customers. Plus, it puts your store front and center in their minds when they are doing their last-minute shopping. You can also create a unique promo code designed for your very best customers and add it to your personal message as a special holiday ‘gift’ just for them.
Here’s a video on how to add promo codes to your Shopify store to get you started:
2. Give Promo Codes Some Holiday Cheer
When creating promo codes for loyal customers as above or for general promotions, adding some holiday cheer can attract customers. Seasonal codes like Tree40 or FreeChristmasShipping are festive and easy to remember. Don’t forget you can use your promo codes to grow your email lists or social following with special holiday-themed site pop ups which you can set up in minutes with apps like Coupon Pop.
3. Pick Up the Pace
It is crunch time and to make last-minute sales you need to keep up the pace. This is on all aspects of your sales funnel from answering queries swiftly, to displaying product bundles that make gift choosing on your site easy.
Make sure you extend your available hours for yourself and your freelancers to reply to those queries and process sales ASAP. Last-minute shoppers are frantic to find gifts, picking up the pace will help you keep up.
4. Highlight Gift Card Promotion
According to Gift Card Granny, gift card total sales projections for 2018 could reach a whopping $160 billion. Gift cards are a big win for last-minute shoppers and by promoting them on your online store you could be cashing in on holiday sales to the very last minute. There are apps and plugins that can help you get your gift cards on your site easily.
For the holiday season you will want to push gift cards in marketing promotions, emailers, in related projects and banners on your site to ensure shoppers know you are offering them for the holiday season.
5. Implement Last-Minute Remarketing Promotions
Last-minute shoppers are in a rush and may not think of your store, even though they have bought from you before. Implementing remarketing promotions specifically targeted for your last-minute shopper can help you convert last-minute sales. These can be done with AdWords, email and Facebook remarketing promotions and campaigns.
6. Include Free Gift-Wrapping
Another way to entice those last-minute shoppers is to offer a free gift-wrapping promotion. Getting items fully wrapped means less hassle for the rushed shopper and saves them on wrapping costs. If you’re a dropshipper who can’t offer this service, using wrapping tips in your content plan can go a long way in using the season to grow your online following and get attention during the busiest time of the year. You can share someone else’s video like the post below, or create a video series of your own.
7. Offer Shipping Deals
The key to last-minute shoppers is urgency, and faster shipping can have a big impact on your sales. For the 7 days leading to Christmas why not upsell express shipping? As we learned from our Is Free Shipping Really as Profitable as We Think post, shoppers will pay for faster delivery, and during panicked last-minute shopping they are even more likely to do so.
8. Create a Sense of Urgency
Last-minute shoppers don’t have time – they are looking for gifts and need to find a gift for friends as quickly as possible within the budget they are looking in. No matter which direction you go or what promotion you run, urgency is key. Last-minute shoppers are in a rush and therefore convert much quicker than an average shopper. Take advantage of this by using urgency in your promotions and campaigns. Here’s a good example from West Elm.
You may not have time for that now, but what about a 5 days of deal specials from December 10 – 15 or limited one day holiday offers on gifts for specific people. Such as ‘Deals on gifts for mom one day only.’ This helps create urgency and answers the ‘what to buy for…’ buying pain point.
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That’s it, converting last-minute Christmas shoppers is within your grasp. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions of your own, post them in the comments below.