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Demandware's James Johnson talks tips you need to know for a successful silly season in retail.

As the days get longer and the weather warmer, many Australians are looking forward to a week or two of holidays and a break from work. Yet for retailers, the summer holiday season signals the busiest time of the year. Christmas shopping accounts for up to 60% of annual retail sales for some retailers – all crammed into six hectic weeks.

In 2015, global digital commerce traffic over Christmas grew by 23%, with orders jumping by 28%. These significant increases are predicted to continue this year, so technology that supports your seasonal sales strategies is essential to overall business success. Even better is a unified commerce platform that boosts your pre and post-Christmas campaigns – bringing you into meaningful conversations with your customers and giving you the inside knowledge on what they
really want.

As you gear up for this Christmas, consider adding some of these capabilities to your wish list:

FOMO frenzy

Lure last minute gift-buyers out early by creating fear of missing out with daily flash sales on your website. A calendar countdown generates momentum, and if you grey out the previous days’ offers shoppers will see what they’ve missed for maximum FOMO.

Higher open rates

As the season gets underway, every retailer is vying for the attention of high-value customers. Predictive email that uses the data collected via a unified commerce platform enables you to create truly personal offers, stand out from the crowd, and send emails that your customers will open and read.

Gift guide

Guided selling gift finders, using a series of questions and answers to suggest the perfect gift, can be customised with Christmas cheer.

Higher conversion rates
Digital technology that supports preferred payment methods directly increases your conversion rate, as does the option for shoppers to check out as a guest (85% of checkouts on the Demandware platform are guest).

Delivery tracking

Just when parcel traffic is at its peak, the margin for error virtually disappears as your customers’ expectations skyrocket. Transparency speaks volumes, so providing real-time delivery tracking and SMS alerts gives you a real edge.

Last minute wonder

Drive last minute shoppers in-store with incentives, once shipping deadlines have passed. Create in-store events targeted at the time-poor customer, with store assistants at the ready to rescue Christmas and help them find the perfect gift.
Perhaps the biggest challenge this Christmas is in the palm of your customers’ hands. Globally, almost half the traffic tracked in the Q1 Demandware Shopping Index was on mobile, and accounted for 25% of orders. Christmas 2016 will be the first truly mobile peak shopping season, demanding that retailers create an online environment that welcomes easily distracted and impatient shoppers on the move.

This means reducing friction at the start and end of the buying process: making search boxes large and visible at the top of your site, using large clear buttons for each ordering and payment step, and capturing abandoned carts (or allowing guest shoppers to email it to themselves).

Take advantage of geolocation by using it to personalise your customers’ mobile shopping experience. This enables you to display the closest store (and that store’s real-time promotions), offer ship-to-store or pickup-in-store as available, highlight delivery options and target specific promotions to regional preferences.

Of course, top of everyone’s wish list is a bumper season. Make your brand a bigger part of the festivities by linking your digital shopfront to your customers’ social networks. Integrated commerce technology delivering a seamless omnichannel experience, enabling shoppers to upload their photos and share the excitement of gift-giving. Smiles all round.

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