Christmas is coming and with it, the purchases for Christmas. The biggest expenditure item is of course gifts, which accounts for 65% of the budget. However this year, the situation will be special. Unlike in normal years, this year many people will visit e-commerce sites to do every sort of Christmas shopping, even those who usually buy things from malls and shops.
Therefore, this situation has created a new online challenge for the sellers to achieve sales goals amid high competition.
In this article, we will share 10 strategies that will help you boost your online Christmas sales.
Outlook for Christmas 2020: figures, estimates, industries
All over the world including India, people tend to spend a lot during Christmas, and this year due to the pandemic people will spend a lot on e-commerce. The holiday season is worth millions of rupees for e-commerce.
According to Goldman Sachs, year on year, e-commerce in India has seen a 27% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) and is expected to reach $99 billion in size by 2024. During Dussehra and Diwali, e-commerce has witnessed 20 – 25% growth than in the same period in 2019. We can owe this growth to the lockdown and pandemic and even during Christmas e-commerce can expect much higher sales and growth than last year.
When will the Indians devote themselves to their Christmas shopping?
Some dates are to remember to prepare well for the holiday season and have your e-commerce site ready for the occasion.
According to the reports, 51% of Indian people will start shopping for Christmas as early as mid-December. But you can expect high sales for Christmas this month on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which will take place from Friday, November 27 to Monday, November 30.
The majority of the sales will happen between 12th and 13th December and from 19th to 20th December. This is what the reports are saying on the basis of assumption. But considering the situation, we can expect the highest ever online sales growth during some days before Christmas.
On the basis of estimation, 23rd and 24th December will be important days for sales, for mainly intangible goods that do not require delivery. They are expected to account for about 30% of transactions this year.
What are the most available products?
The Indian online seller has listed out the most popular niches which are as follows:
- Electronics
- Apparel and Accessories
- Books
- Beauty and Personal Care
- Home and Furnishing
- Healthcare
- Baby Care
One thing is for sure, this Christmas is no exception to the rule of gifts. With an average budget of Rs 15000 per person reserved for this amid a potentially extended containment, brands will invest first on their e-commerce sites.
The 10 Strategies to Make Your Christmas 2020 Online Sales Successful
Christmas will definitely resist all crises because it is a celebration based on mainly emotions.
We offer you 10 strategies to put in place to succeed in your online Christmas sales.
Get into the Christmas colors
The majority of consumers make their purchases in December. During this period, the magic of the holidays is everywhere: from street decorations to your tv with Christmas TV movies, you can’t miss it.
It must be the same as your website. Your customers expect to find that atmosphere when they get on it. So use images that recall December 25, change the colors of your site to correspond to a more Christmas atmosphere.
In addition, this will guide your visitors, whose eyes will be more easily attracted to the categories.
Focus on your social networks
Social networks are the new showcase of brands. Consumers follow them to find out what’s new, what’s good… Capitalizing on this communication channel generates traffic to your e-commerce site. To do this, animate it and interact with your community. Create special campaigns, make contests, ask your community to relay a specific message or ‘, highlight your selection of gifts.
Also, remember to welcome visitors from your social networks with a personalized message.
Let’s use the example above. One user clicks on the Smartbox campaign and lands on their site. A message will be displayed welcoming him and asking him which box, among the selection presented, interested him. More like sports? More like Wellness? More like a romantic weekend? Thanks to the visitor’s response, Smartbox will redirect it to the universe that pleases him the most. New boxes (not necessarily presented in the campaign) will be offered to him. By personalizing this user, Smartbox will have created a special relationship with him and will have managed in one click to attract him to a category/product page.
Inspire your visitors and offer them gift ideas
43% of e-buyers expect brands to be an inspiration. They want to be provided with tips, ideas, and tutorials. There are many formats available to you on this subject:
- Write articles that will have the dual benefit of attracting traffic to your site and advising your visitors. Focus them on seasonal topics and offer products that can meet the needs. If you are a sports equipment brand and write an article about “running in wintertime: how to equip yourself?”, suggest adding a headlamp or gloves to the basket.
By setting up a shopping assistant on your site, you can make these recommendations based on the behavior of each reader. For example, after x minutes of reading time, you can open a discussion and suggest the visitor help him in his search for a running article. - Offer a selection of gifts, by type of buyer or budget. The Nature brand and discoveries cut out its gifts by the highlight of the year (Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Father’s Day/Mothers’ Day…) and by age or even budget category.
- Offer special Christmas tutorials. This will give visitors ideas and guide them to your product pages. Cultura proposes to create either its advent calendar, via simple steps. Each is linked to product pages to make them happen.
Gift courses of thunder
Some send their list to Santa Claus and others want to be surprised. For them, finding them a gift can sometimes be a real headache. What to offer him? Is he going to like it?
In order to help hesitant Internet users, you can offer them a gift course that accompanies them in their search. This will create a new experience on your e-commerce site and, on the other hand, take visitors to the product pages with just a few clicks.
Start a conversation with them. With simple questions, locate their needs By integrating a shopping assistant into your site, you can understand their research, advise them, and recommend products that can match.
Of course, many gift paths can be created, such as:
- Accompany the visitor in creating a personalized box, for a unique gift;
- Suggest trendy looks, to avoid fashion faux pas;
- Offer the best-selling games, to make sure you don’t get it wrong;
Set up special campaigns
You won’t be the only one to set up commercial actions for Christmas. Competition is fierce during this period.
Christmas specials are one of the best working strategies. They create a sense of scarcity and encourage buying. The product only exists for a certain period of time. If the visitor does not buy it now, he will not be able to do so.
For the occasion, L’Occitane creates special Christmas boxes at very low prices bringing together its Christmas products. A great way to win new customers with its entry-level.
Promotions are an effective way to sell your stock or highlight a category. For example, Fnac offers a selection of games and toys at -30% on its website. Here, half of the selection is reserved for subscribers. It can therefore be a strategy to boost their membership offer.
Product packs also allow you to sell your inventory. Choose the products that sell best and combine them with less well-sold complementary products. You can place enticing offers to add a sense of urgency. This is the case of Cultura, which mixes purchased product/product offered and promotion to highlight its range of stationery.
The options are endless: Special Christmas promotions, promo codes, discount vouchers, offered delivery, flash sales… Ideas abound. The challenge here is to communicate well, but especially at the right time.
By implementing a conversational strategy on your e-commerce site, you will be able to detect the behavior of your visitors and trigger at the right time scenarios offering him an offer that corresponds to what he is looking for.
Let’s take the example of Fnac and its promotion of a selection of toys. The non-member visitor clicks and arrives at the page. He then goes to the “Barbie toys” page. The offer of 2 Barbies purchased, the 3rd offered is only reserved for members. After visiting several product pages, he goes on the FAQ section to become a member. He leaves her without doing anything and goes to visit a whole different ray. There is a good chance that the visitor will not buy a Barbie toy. In order to avoid this, Fnac can then intervene and offer him a discount or promo code on the 3rd Barbie toy he orders. It will feel like a winner and the Fnac will have won at the exchange on the 3rd Barbie bought.
Product card and recommendation optimization
The product listing must have it purchased. During Christmas, when the majority of purchases are made for others, she has to convince a buyer to make the right choice for someone else.
For example, by using a shopping assistant, you can highlight the best customer reviews about the product or the gains it brings.
Adapt the wording of your description to the holiday season. The ideal time to work on your cross-selling. Suggest product assemblies. Sephora offers two categories. One whose products are similar to the one sought and one whose products are complementary to the one sought. This allows presenting other categories produced and therefore cross-sell.
Time-limited offer
Flash sales are usually reserved for the last two weeks before Christmas. They aim to create a sense of urgency that encourages visitors to hurry if they want to enjoy it.
For example, you can set a countdown to the New Year’s Eve date, highlight the last days when you need to order in order to be delivered on time, view the number of items left.
Holiday Special FAQs
The Christmas period, especially this year, is special. The requests are going to be more different than usual. Updating your FAQ allows you to respond to them.
Among the main requests from buyers are:
- Delivery: Express or not, visitors want to be guaranteed to be delivered before Christmas
- Opening hours: This is all the more important with the Covid-19 and the containment. Your physical store may be closed or open at different times.
- The conditions of exchange and return: the risk with a gift is that it does not please.
You can also highlight the most requested questions on your e-commerce site with a Digital Assistant shopper that answers your customers’ questions.
Don’t forget your current customers
Some of your customers may return to your site to offer others what they like. Don’t forget them! This will help you fight basket abandonment. If a customer who has abandoned their shopping cart returns, offer to return when they arrive on your site.
You can also offer products similar to what he has already purchased, or start a conversation with him.
- Is this for you? Yes/no
- Do you want to offer products similar to what you like? Yes/no
You will be able to guide him more easily in his search for a gift.
Think of the post-Christmas
Once the gifts are offered, what do you do?
The post-Christmas phase is just as interesting for your business because it allows you to retain and acquire new customers. How? Thanks to returns or gift cards.
Several scenarios are possible.
A visitor comes to exchange his gift because the size does not match. That same visitor didn’t know your brand. Make life as easy as possible, offer him a welcome offer, an easy exchange. If the experience is good, he can potentially come back.
These strategies work very well for Christmas, but not that! Apply them to the other occasions of the year. We change the look, we aim for New Year’s Eve, the winter sales and we create new campaigns.
