Although it feels a little strange to be thinking about Christmas in August, this is actually the perfect time to start planning for the festive season. After a tough time dealing with the global pandemic, many businesses are relying on Christmas sales to keep them in red. In fact, 83% of businesses believe Christmas 2021 will be key to their survival following the effects of the pandemic.
Often known as Christmas in July by retailers, thinking ahead to the festive season during the summer months will help you prepare properly and take away the stress when it comes to crunch time.
Learn from the past
To prepare for the future you need to learn from the past. Look at your data from last Christmas to spot trends in your customers behaviour, from buying patterns to product searches you’ll be able to get a glimpse into their thought processes. You can also use Google’s keyword planner and trends tool to find popular seasonal keywords.
While looking at your past data, try to spot things you did last year that were successful. For example, did a specific promotion take off? Did you notice a product selling better than the others? By acknowledging the elements that worked well, you can build in that success this year.
Once you’ve got enough detail, you can plan your marketing campaigns and tweak your website to get the best results
Plan logistically
As an ecommerce website you’ll need to plan ahead and ensure you’re fully stocked for the festive season. Some suppliers might need extra time to fulfil orders as it gets closer to Christmas, so always check with them first.
Shipping carriers and postal services like Royal Mail are also busier during this time of year too. This is another thing you’ll need to consider if you want your customers to receive their orders in time. You could try promoting free shipping or offers to reduce shipping costs before the busy period starts. It’s also wise to alert your customers of the potential for delays the longer they wait to order.
Prepare your website
Just like a physical store making sure you’ve got enough products in stock before the festive rush starts should be a priority. Especially best-sellers and seasonal stock that your customers will be shopping for.
While you are updating your stock it’s a good time to check over things like your imagery and product descriptions. Are the images current and relevant? Can you tweak the descriptions to match seasonal keywords?
If you plan to run special offers or sales, like a Black Friday promotion for example, now is the perfect time to start designing your landing pages. Work on the content, imagery and promotional campaigns so everything is in place when its time to launch.
Plan your marketing campaigns
So that you’re ready to promote your seasonal products and sales, it’s time to start working on your Christmas marketing campaigns. While it might feel strange writing about Christmas in July, you’ll definitely thank yourself when its time to launch your promotions. Getting the work out of the way now, will cover you for any unforeseen events that might take up your time closer to Christmas.
If you need help preparing your website for the festive season, drop us an email and we’ll get back to you!
