Get Your Holiday Sales off to a Sane Start
Okay, so it’s October, and Halloween is almost upon us, which means Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and then OMG the holidays and the busiest time of the year are almost here. If you’re a Shopify store owner selling, well almost anything, getting ahead of the holiday tsunami will help your bottom line and your peace of mind. Here’s a quick list of things to get nailed down now and a free gift from me to make it easier.
Sales strategy
Unless you only sell Halloween costumes and Thanksgiving decorations, you don’t need to be having a sale. I know, I know, all the big stores are having sales and you will be killed if you don’t. Take a deep breath and consider if you can really compete on price, online, against the big box stores… If you can—then sale away! If you’re a niche boutique then think about the overall landscape before you offer up margin. Here are some things to try before resorting to sales. My general position on sales is they are the best way to get rid of unsold merchandise after the holiday, but should only be use sparingly, if at all, before the holiday.
Compete as a small business
Small Business Saturday is November 25th this year. Reach out to your customer base and remind them how great they will feel supporting a small or local business. Have a special event either in your store or online. It can be interviews with experts, meet the team, or help with the problem you solve for your customers. It can be as simple as how to find the prefect gift, or outfit, or how to spice up the holiday. Everyone is looking for tips and ways to make their loved ones feel appreciated. They want to connect, and engage, and feel the magic of the season.
Pricing
Shoppers are especially price conscious around the holidays, but not always on the low end. Everyone has a list of people they buy for and the gift they give needs to fit the level of appreciation/love they feel for the recipient. Let’s say you need to get a gift for your child’s teacher, it will probably fall in the under $20 range. Your spouse would probably feel unappreciated with a $20 gift. A big client might warrant a gift costing over $200, but a small one might only need a token. This is why making categories based on price works so well during the holidays. Gifts under $30 is a great price point, so is gifts under $50. Gifts over $100 can also work.
Does Your Site Do This?
It can with Stylaquin! Stylaquin is the easy to add Shopify app that transforms your website. Stylaquin makes shopping faster, more engaging, and more fun. Stylaquin shoppers stay longer, view over 85% more products, come back more often, and buy more when they do. Find us in the Shopify App Store.
Get attention without discounting
Hammacher Schlemmer always has one item that is insanely expensive. Think $250,000 for a personal submarine. They don’t expect to sell many (or any), but it gets attention. Think about how your store can get attention without discounting. Do you have a unique item with a story? Can you create an offer that’s unique? Can you start a challenge? Can you do something that makes your store stand out? (Hint: Stylaquin is absolutely bomb for that.)
Make a collection for sale items rather than the whole store
If you feel you simply MUST have a sale, rather than have a sale on everything, why not make a collection of sale items and call it Santa’s Bargain Bin. That way shoppers who are out looking for discounts get what they want without devaluing the rest of your merchandise.
Stocking stuffers and table gifts
If you have items that are under $20, or a high end customer base that lets you go higher, think about creating collections of stocking stuffers and table gifts. Teaching your audience how to make the holidays special is about surprising and delighting them with things they haven’t thought of. Tell stories about the most special gift you have received, or the most surprising gift you’ve received. How can the merchandise you sell surprise and delight your customers and new visitors? Selling bath products? How about a dirty Santa bath set. I have no idea what it would be, but I would look at it if you had one. Kids’ gift collections and pet gift collections are great for blog posts and social media.
Add a Styling Board and a Wishlist!
The Stylaquin Idea Board keeps customers engaged in two ways: it’s an interactive styling board where shoppers can collect and curate all the things that interest them; and it also acts as a wishlist that shoppers can return to. Find us in the Shopify App Store.
Collections are an underused tool
Every Shopify store has collections, and there is a myth that the collections need to be in the top nav. You can make collections for anything and just use them for emails. Color collections, hidden collections, magic collections, surprise collections can all exist on your store and be part of an email campaign without being in your nav. You could make a Shopify collection of products that have the most meaning to you personally and share that with your customers. Johanna Gaines would totally do that, you can too.
Put a bow on it!
I’m including a download for my simple Holiday Bow image as my holiday gift to you.
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Add it to any product image and voila—It’s a gift! Slap in on your home page from November 1st to December 31st. The classic holiday bow hasn’t changed in a very, very long time. Sometimes the easiest things are the things that just work.
