I can probably say that I’m speaking for quite a few people when I say that for me, my Christmas spirit usually starts on the same day each year. This day has moved earlier and earlier over recent years but there has always been something to welcome me into the holidays. This, of course, is the first day that Starbucks brings in their Christmas cups.
Retailers have seen an increase in holiday shopping year after year and have continued to push the dates up for their Christmas season’s to begin. What was once a time left almost exclusively for December, it is now quite common to see November 1st as the first week that holiday campaigns come into effect for most companies, leaving not even a day in transition time from Halloween to Christmas. In fact, according to statistics from Shop.org, over 20% of retailers planned to launch their online campaigns in the first week of October or earlier.
The increase in E-Commerce in recent years has greatly changed the way marketers should approach the holiday season, as it is estimated that over 40% of companies generate the majority of their holiday sales on the web, with estimates of US retailers will earn $54.47 billion online during November and December this year, up 16.8% over online holiday season sales in 2011. The challenge that most companies are faced with is when is the right time to launch your holiday campaign. It’s tough to say, as on hand you do not want to fall behind your competition, however on the other hand, you must not draw it out too long and have customers become uninterested come Late November and early December when your campaign is no longer attractive to them, even though Christmas is still a full month away.
Another issue is that some smaller companies can reach the holiday season unprepared for what is to come. Here are 5 very brief tips in preparing for the holiday season:
1) Optimize your shopping cart/checkout page
2) Give customers advance notice
- It’s important for your customers to know when to expect your holiday line to begin, so that they can budget and plan accordingly
3) Mobile/Tablet friendly Website
- Offering electronic catalogs is great way to attract tablet users, as well as making sure your company is able to accept and process online coupons, especially for mobile users
4) Give the customer’s the voice
- Create platforms for your customers to do the talking about what they want this holiday season
5) Launch a Email Marketing Campaign
- According to marketers surveyed by Experian Marketing Services, email marketing trumped all other tactics as the most successful initiative during the 2011 holiday season
It’s tough for companies to understand when the best time is to launch their winter campaigns, but if history is any indication, one thing we can count on is that as consumer spending continues to rise each year, more and more companies will start their campaigns earlier in the year.