How eCommerce brands can maximise post-Christmas sales on Shopify Plus

Boxing Day and the days that follow used to see queues of people outside shopfronts waiting to get their hands on the best offers. But post-Christmas sales footfall has been declining.

That’s not to say post-Christmas spending has though.

It’s estimated that half the adults in the UK (27 million people) take part in Boxing Day sales. And Shopify conducted a global research survey which found that 77% of millennials are more likely to shop the sales to get the most for their money.

Despite the pinch of the current economic climate, two thirds (67%) of shoppers still plan to treat themselves each month.

And after all the spending on others through Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the run up to Christmas, consumers are looking to buy for themselves on Boxing Day. They’re hunting for those things that they hoped to find wrapped up under the tree but didn’t receive, whilst also looking to snag a deal. And let’s not forget about all those gift cards and cash-filled envelopes!

So it seems that people are abandoning the cold queues in favour of shopping in front of the fire, from the comfort of their own home. Which is of course great news for ecommerce brands.

In this article, we give top Shopify Plus agency tips on driving traffic to your post-Christmas sales, and the website design considerations to bear in mind.

Here are some digital marketing tips for eCommerce brands looking to drive traffic to Boxing Day sales pages.

GOOGLE SHOPPING

Ensure you have well-optimised product listings on Google Shopping. Make sure your titles include crucial product information so they are search-relevant.

PAID ADVERTISING

Invest in paid social advertising on the right channels to drive appropriate traffic through to your site.

EMAIL MARKETING

Your customers’ inboxes are likely to be bursting at the seams with offer emails, so make sure you invest in good copywriting, especially for your email titles and subtitles – this may be the only thing your customers see! Set up last minute reminders to create a sense of urgency with time limited offers. Also set up an abandoned cart campaign – if a user puts an item in their basket and doesn’t convert, send an email a few days later with an additional discount offer.

SEO

Make sure your offers are visible on search engines by updating your keywords and search terms (these may well be different from the rest of the year), writing comprehensive product descriptions, and ensuring your meta descriptions include target keywords.

ON SITE

When a user lands on your site, your sales should be prominently displayed. Include website banners to promote your sale and clear calls to action to drive customers to where you want them.

COMMUNICATE URGENCY AND RARITY

Create a sense of FOMO and urgency on your sales pages. Show a countdown for when a deal will expire or the stock that is available at that price. You can also use a tool like Taggstar to show how many people are currently viewing a product,

TRUST AND SECURITY

Some of your post-Christmas customers may be new. They may have been gifted a voucher for Christmas to spend in your online store, for example. So you should treat all sales customers as you would any completely new user. Include reviews and other forms of social proof at every touchpoint.

TAP INTO EMOTIONS

There will be a lot of noise during the post-Christmas period. So stand out by focusing on the benefits of your products, not just the savings.

Take down the Christmas decorations on your site and give it a fresh new look. Shoppers may well have browsed your site before so changing the atmosphere can persuade them to look around more.

Make sure your post-Christmas sales creative is consistent across all of your channels.

And keep the user experience simple. Use familiar steps that put visitors at ease. Think about the minimum information you need to display on product pages to persuade them to make a purchase. If needs be, reveal more information as the user progresses on the purchase journey. It’s the same with what you’re asking the user to do. For example, they don’t need to log in until later down the funnel.

Take a look at more of our UX design tips here.

If you’ve promoted your post-Christmas sales well, you are hopefully expecting a spike in traffic. Make sure you understand the impact an increased number of visitors will have on your servers. Remember, 40% of people will abandon a website entirely if it takes more than 3 seconds to load.So plan for it. For example, do you need to temporarily budget for bigger and better servers? Do you need to optimise your code to perform better? Could you pause some of your site’s non-time-sensitive functionality for later processing?

TREAT YOUR LOYAL CUSTOMERS

Grant early access to your post-Christmas sales for your most loyal customers, starting on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. It’ll make them feel special, and it’s easier to market to your current customers than gain new ones.

HOLD A FLASH SALE

A flash sale is a discount that lasts a limited amount of time. And going back to our earlier point about creating a sense of urgency, they are a great way to get customers clicking! Especially if it features some of your more premium products.

REWARD USER GENERATED CONTENT

Offer existing customers a gift, discount code, or chance to win a prize if they share a photo of their products. This is a great way to re-engage those who may have received gifts from your brand for Christmas presents, as well as get people spending in your sale.

SAVE ROOM FOR CONTINGENCIES

Identify the types of quick changes you can make if your initial sales strategy doesn’t work, or if your competition does something better. Know in advance how far you are willing to go with promotions so that you can make quick decisions.

It may feel like once the rush of Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas is over, you can take a breather. But don’t forget about the all-important post-Christmas sales. Whilst people are less likely to be queuing down the street on Boxing Day to bag the best deals, they will still be hovering their thumbs over their smartphones.

Propeller is a Shopify Plus agency partner who design and build digital spaces utilising the best technology to immerse customers in an exceptional ecommerce experience. If you want to talk about how we can transform your strategic objectives into commercial success, get in touch.