6 Must-Have Promotions This Holiday Season
This blog was contributed by Justuno
As we head into the busiest week of the year for ecommerce retailers—it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that there’s still a whole month left in the year, and plenty of consumers are still shopping!
Make the most of this time by setting up these six must-have onsite messaging and promotions that help drive sales and convert more visitors into customers.
- Shipping Deadlines
We’re putting this one first since it’s one of the MOST important promotions you can have on your website during this time. We all know that gifts need to arrive by a certain time, and being up-front about the cut-off dates for guaranteed delivery sets expectations from the start and build trust with those new to your brand.
We suggest using a banner to start—it’s less interruptive, and you can put a countdown timer on it so shoppers know how long they have left to order.
As you get closer to the holidays and cut-off dates get closer or require expedited service—create a center pop-up so that customers know immediately they’ll need to pay for 2-day or next-day delivery to make the cut-off.
- Post-Purchase Page SMS Opt-Ins
Since SMS is a more personal and intimate channel (that’s part of its inherent value), it can make some consumers wary of opting in. If you find that to be the case among your target audience, take a value-first approach and wait until after they’ve made a purchase. This way you’ve been able to demonstrate value for them before asking for something as personal as their phone number, which builds trust and increases their contact’s engagement and long-term value.
Use the order thank you page here with an in-page promotion so that it appears native to your website or via a pop-up to collect SMS opt-ins. This is great for order information like tracking notifications so they can know precisely when their purchase will arrive. (No porch pirates please and thank you!)
- In-Cart/Upon Adding to Cart Recommendations
Product recommendations are a great addition to your website all year long, but during the holiday season, they become even more important. Whether it’s first-time visitors that are shopping for loved ones on your site or a long-lost customer returning, shoppers will appreciate personalized recommendations to make sure they get just the right gift. Whether it’s a cross-sell for a related product that will improve their product experience (think boots socks to go with cowboy boots) or a small impulse add-on to their order as a “just in case gift” or even a free product to keep for themselves! Newer traffic will welcome the guidance and veteran customers will appreciate the personalization—a win-win!
- BNPL/Payment Options
As we all know inflation is sky-high and many consumer’s wallets are feeling the pinch this holiday season. Make sure that shoppers are aware of your BNPL options from the start with a banner on your home page so they can confidently shop. Another effective placement for BNPL messages is in a cart abandonment offer to combat sticker shock and let consumers know they can in fact afford the items in their cart. But even beyond the current economic uncertainty, we’re feeling, these services have had a steadily growing popularity amongst consumers that have turned them into almost a conversion funnel of their own. 31% of BNPL users would abandon their cart if it wasn’t an option and that’s all year round—during the holiday season they’re likely even more decisive!
In addition, the streamlined and flexible checkout process that BNPL and other one-click checkouts provide is crucial during busy times. People are shopping a lot for the holidays and as time goes on and the purchases stack up, filling out checkout pages can feel long and complicated as they re-enter the same info over and over again. Keep holiday shoppers locked in and seamlessly moving down the funnel—removing the need to get up for their wallet or take the time to enter billing/shipping information!
- Returns Policy Tab
A common reason for abandoned carts and hesitancy in general for holiday shoppers is the “what if they don’t like it” voice they hear in their heads when picking out gifts. Make it easy to find your returns/exchange policy on-site using a tab for easy access. These are great onsite promotions to use since they’re non-interruptive and give the shopper the choice of how/when to engage with them. Transparency with returns/exchanges is a great way to build trust with first-time shoppers and brand loyalty.
- Gamification/ Themed Holiday Promotions
We don’t advocate running lead captures during BFCM itself but afterwards make sure to turn those promotions back on but with an added punch. If it’s in line with your branding style create a gamified promotion like a spin-to-win to engage visitors immediately and provide a more fun opt-in experience. Customize them even further with other games like mystery prizes, slot machines, scratch-offs, etc. to make it a more branded experience.
If gamification isn’t your style, simply lean into the reason for the season with holiday-specific or winter-themed promotions. This adds some fun and flair to your website, which goes a long way with consumers this time of year—even if the messaging on these promotions is the same as it is at other times of the year!
The holiday shopping season is long and only getting longer, there are plenty of sales to be made after the big BFCM weekend. A strong onsite strategy during the final month of the year can help you close out Q4 strong, make a good impression on holiday shoppers, and set you up for 2023 success!
Interested in seeing what an optimized onsite experience can do for your business? Start a free 14-day trial to see what Justuno can do for you or reach out to our team of conversion experts for a free audit to help you kick off 2023 with a bang!
