8 Tips For Launching A Successful Holiday Sale

Launching a successful holiday sale is a great way to end the year with a bang in sales. Consumers are eager to shop, and honestly its one of the most competitive times of the year. Successful holiday sales come down to careful placement, pricing and marketing, and we’re here to help.

Christmas is around the corner. 2020 has been an interesting year, but you’ve managed to maintain business-wise, and you’re looking to go out with a bang in sales with holiday sales. If you’re anything like us, as a business owner, you’ve been preparing for the holidays and brainstorming how to get and manage holiday sales. Not only that, but due to COVID-19, there’s an increase in online shopping. Holiday sales account for close to 20% of annual sales. The number of purchases people make online has continued to grow every year. 

The holidays are a great time to appeal to both new and old customers as well as get rid of inventory before entering Q1. Launching a successful holiday sale is 110% percent necessary and possible, even for the newest of business owners. Overwhelming maybe, but possible. Follow this guide for successful tips on launching a holiday sale.

Set A Goal

Be it for holiday sales or just another day in the office, it is always important to set a goal. Holiday sales shouldn’t be a shot in the dark. Set a goal for how many products you need to sell to break even and profit from any holiday marketing expenses. Think through different strategies to reach your goal. Strategize different ways to still make the minimum sales goal even if sales are low. 

Plan Your Deals

Don’t just have a sale on a whim. Making your entire site 20% or some other blanket sale sounds tempting, but thoughtless promotions don’t provoke buyers. Study your repeat customers and Target Audience and think about what products you have and how you can create value around a deal. Think about what products people purchase most and maybe what you’re not selling. Consider maybe offering a bundle with your top seller and lowest seller. That was you move stagnant products off of your shelves while still giving people who purchase a valuable deal they want.

It is very important to determine the right price point for your items. Consider the lowest amount you can sell a good or service and still be able to turn a profit. Know the lowest markdown you can go on an item. It’s smart to set several different price ranges. That way if you need to compete with your competitors or if products aren’t selling, it gives you the breathing room to do additional markdowns. 

The Logistics

And I can’t stress it enough. Get the logistics in order. Logistics refers to the functionality of the business and how that affects customer experience and ease of going from shopping to purchase, to payment to shipping, receiving, and enjoying their product. Focus on making this process as seamless as possible for your customers. Oder extra products. While everyone wants to sell out, you don’t want to lose money or customers by running out of a product too fast. Especially if this is not your first holiday season. Forecast your sales based on last holiday season, what you currently sell, and buzz around advertised sales. Order up so you can reach as many customers as possible without having too much overstock. Look into the shipping. At UPS, from right before Thanksgiving until just after New Year is called peak season. Mail courier services are swamped with packages. They get lost, delayed, jammed in equipment for days at a time…be prepared for shipping to take extra time and prepare customers for the delay. Have a plan in action for how to address customer questions, concerns, and complaints promptly. 

Give Your Website A Facelift

Automate, update, test, repeat. Think of it as if you have family coming for the holidays. You clean like the Queen of England is coming, prepare the extra room, and make sure you have some of their favorite snacks, etc. Consider this same hospitality on your website for holiday shoppers. The thing about the holidays is people are looking to spend their money. It’s the one time of year that people want to willingly spend their hard-earned disposable income. 

Personalize your content and copy with holiday messages. Many businesses may want to avoid holiday specific phrases like “Merry Christmas” because not everyone celebrates Christmas, which is fair, but still, allude to some type of holiday messaging. Update your website’s copy to include the proper SEO keywords and phrases. 

Prepare Fresh Marketing Content

The holidays are one occasion when it is okay to deviate from your regular color pallet. It’s the time of year for buying and people are specifically looking for holiday material. Update your content. Revised product descriptions, gift guides, product comparisons are great channels to give buyers additional information. Remember the purpose of marketing is to walk consumers through every phase from brand awareness to purchase. Content like gift guides and product comparisons are great because they display product details in an easy to read format that buyers can scan and use to make quick purchase decisions. 

Use The Proper Popups

 Strategically design, time, and place popups throughout your website. The good thing about popups is you can use them to convey a wide range of messages. Popups should always have a purpose, whether mentioning a BOGO product or offering an additional percentage off, don’t be the website that has a million useless popups that make it hard to shop. All of that being said, popups are a good way to grow your email list and create future customers. Consider offering an additional percentage off for new subscribers who join your email list.

Get Tech and Mobile Friendly

Mobile responsive websites are a pillar of web design. With the increase in online shopping, this time of year it’s extremely important. Again, almost 20% of your annual sales are dependent upon holiday sales. While many online shoppers will be sitting in front of the computers shopping away drinking a cup of coffee, other shoppers will be in the stores browsing and Googling to find better prices and read product reviews. Updating your SEO is a must for this reason, however even outside of that, making sure your site is mobile responsive decreases the chances of potential buyers getting impatient with your site, and buying elsewhere. Even if you offer a better price point or product, a non-responsive website makes people question your credibility and could result in a loss of sales.

Market, market, market.

Start walking potential buyers through the sales funnel as soon as possible. The process of taking buyers who know nothing about your brand from awareness to purchase is a sales funnel. The goal of your marketing is to walk buyers through the funnel and get the sale. It’s important to start your marketing as early in the season as possible. Send out emails, mailers, coupons when permitted, and overall keep customers engaged. Marketing can get overwhelming, For those unfamiliar with the process it can be like running on a hamster wheel; constantly posting and advertising but no increase in sales. Take some time to think through your content strategy. Communicate in a way that engages your target audience. If you’re unsure, hire a professional.

The holidays can be a great time for business owners. Not only does this time of year allow you to get rid of excess product and make space for new inventory, but it’s a great time to snag new, lifelong customers. Successful holiday sales are possible. With the right positioning, any business can successfully sell out. There are many different methods to structure sales and attract attention to products. Depending on the type of product or services you provide will determine how to navigate marketing and sales for your particular niche. These basic tips are universal and will help businesses across the board.