Earn Your Pot of Gold: Maximize St. Patrick’s Day Sales!

When you think of big consumer holidays, a few probably come to mind: Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Mother’s Day are some of the holidays that people are willing to splurge on to honor people they love.

It may surprise you to learn that every year, American consumers spend about $4.5 billion celebrating March 17th — better known as St. Patrick’s Day.

There are a few reasons for this:

• Almost 40 million Americans count themselves as having Irish heritage. For reference, the population of Ireland is only 4.6 million.
• There are many ways to celebrate the holiday, including cooking special meals, buying novelty decorations, clothes, and accessories, having parties, and of course, having a pint or two of Guinness!
• St. Patrick’s Day is just plain fun!

Many people celebrate the holiday by going out to a bar or restaurant, but there is plenty of room to increase online sales leading up to the holiday as well. Almost 7% of adults who celebrate the holiday plan to make their St. Patrick’s Day purchases online. With 125 million American adults planning to celebrate, and an average planned spending of over $35 per person, there are plenty of opportunities to increase your eCommerce profits leading up to this annual day of revelry!

Maximizing your sales will take more than just the luck of the Irish; it will take planning! Here are a few ways to earn your pot (or maybe even a few pots) of gold this year:

Go Green

Of those who celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, a staggering 82% do so by wearing green. Sure, bars and restaurants may take in the most money during this holiday, but the vast majority of their customers (and those going to private parties) will be wearing green clothing that they purchased elsewhere!

Whatever you sell, make sure you have plenty of green inventory! To get a leg up on your competition, consider offering discounts or free shipping on green products in the weeks leading up the holiday.

Chocolate Gold is Worth Some Serious Coin

Almost everyone loves chocolate no matter what time of year it is, which is what makes it such a great gift. People don’t typically give lavish gifts on St. Patrick’s Day, but it is common to give chocolate gold coins to teachers, students, co-workers, bosses, friends, and significant others for the holidays. These small gifts symbolize luck and wealth for the recipient.

Chocolate gold coins are a great add-on item that will appeal to people who are shopping your online store for larger holiday items. In addition, bubble gum gold coins have also become popular in recent years. Stock both options if you can!

Pass the Corned Beef!

Okay, you’re probably not going to sell corned beef in your online store, but here’s something you should know: more than 30% of Americans celebrating St. Patrick’s Day plan to do so by cooking a special meal in honor of the occasion.

Offering holiday-inspired cookware, plates, napkins, table settings, centerpieces, or aprons might help you reach these consumers who might otherwise spend all of their cash at the grocery store.

Knowing that corned beef and cabbage is the traditional meal of St. Patrick’s Day (at least here in the United States) may help you break into this market. One way to engage potential customers is to share some tips and recipes for the famous meal on your social media channels.

Explore Decor

St. Patrick’s Day is all about being festive. Even those who don’t go all-out with parties, special meals, and all-green ensembles might consider adding some small holiday-appropriate items to their shopping cart. In fact, nearly 23% of people who celebrate the day will add some type of decoration to their home or office.

Adding some “Happy St. Patrick’s Day!” signage, maps of Ireland, and leprechaun or beer imagery to your offerings might give your sales an extra boost. [Add this line and link if possible: ShipStation has created some free St. Patrick’s Day eCommerce images for you. You can get them here.]

Offering your customers items to help them celebrate one of the most popular annual holidays is an excellent strategy for increasing your sales and your bottom line. Use these tips to maximize your profits and even gain new customers.

Erin go Braugh!