Holiday eCommerce strategy - Tips to maximize revenue

Creating a winning holiday eCommerce strategy is not just about posting your 20% off sitewide promo. It takes a meticulously crafted customer experience, topped with creativity and multichannel reach. 

If you also think this is the most wonderful time of the year, you can also make it the most lucrative time for your business. 

However, you can’t rest on your laurels or rely on customer goodwill; you need to have a holiday eCommerce strategy in place, and that’s where Core dna can help.

Over the past years, Core dna has rolled up its sleeve to assist its clients in their eCommerce holiday strategy, from black friday to cyber monday and Christmas and now we’re sharing it with you. 

Based on extensive experience, Core dna has created a guide filled with steps to ensure your eCommerce holiday marketing season sales give you the best returns. 

You’ll learn how to optimize your online store, create the most impactful campaigns and give your customers the best experience ever: one that will make them return year on year.  

Seasonal Sales Planning – Embrace the Evolving Holiday Period

Blink, and you’ll miss another addition or change to the ever-evolving holiday shopping season. Your holiday eCommerce strategy must be ready to pivot to meet the extended holiday season. Be ready; after all, it’s a time of intense activity spreading over days, weeks and more.

Sales Periods that Keep Growing

Remember when Black Friday was just Friday? What was once a one-off event has now grown to mean a period ranging from four days to far longer. Confusingly, Black Friday often starts at the beginning of a week to incorporate the OG Friday and more.

Not content with the traditional sales, brands are adopting early bird prices that herald the start of ‘Cyber Week’. At the other end of the week, what was once Cyber Monday now rolls seamlessly into Christmas promotions and beyond. 

It would be fair to say that there are ample opportunities to create revenue-driven opportunities during the biggest eCommerce holiday marketing season.

Shopping Behaviors – Omnichannel Retail

Today’s shopper is a savvy beast. The trend for omnichannel shopping means that customers might browse products in-store to get the ‘look and feel’ of items before heading home empty-handed. When they get home, they complete their transactions online as the ultimate convenience. 

Studies show eCommerce sales during the weekend sandwiched between Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions keeps growing 5.8% year over year. 

Creating FOMO in Holiday Sales

There’s nothing like creating a sense of urgency to turn browsers into shoppers.  

Your holiday eCommerce strategy should include product drops and promotions to boost anticipation and engagement. One of our must-use Black Friday sales tips is to include wording such as ‘ends tonight’ to drive sales. 

Scarcity sells and no matter how savvy as shoppers are, they do not enjoy the feeling of missing out, which is why a good dollop of FOMO is just the thing to boost sales.

We recommend that you create a strategy that can pivot to meet evolving sales days and add FOMO-inducing CTAs and regular product drops. All these tips will help you to stand out from the crowd

How to Prepare Your Store for High Traffic

While you have the product/service to sell, your site must be set up to cope with anticipated demand.  Check that your website can accommodate an influx of visitors by assessing the following…  

1. Is your Website Scalable?

A massive uptake in traffic to your site can cause slow load times, outages and just enough inconvenience to make customers dump their baskets and ditch your site. Black Friday weekends and Cyber Monday promotions must be backed up with robust housing solutions and content delivery networks (CDNs).

 There are several steps to put in place to ensure your site can handle the spikes during the holiday season. You can access detailed actionable tips here for making your website scalable.

2. Is your Site Optimized for Mobile?

So many customers rely on their mobile phones for their online shopping. In 2024, mobile  shopping 70% of all online spending worldwide during Cyber Week. This reinforces the importance of mobile optimization for holiday sales. 

You can expect a significant drop-off rate if your site is not optimized for mobile. Your mobile-optimized site needs to be user-friendly, have good navigation, an easy-to-use checkout function, and fit various screen sizes. Checkout our article about the best CMS for mobile apps and mobile optimized websites. 

3. Is your Site Simple to Navigate?

Your site needs to be as quick and easy to navigate as possible. Set up your homepage so users can easily see your offerings, special deals and promotions. 

Let’s face it: at the best of times, users demand easy-to-navigate sites; however, over the holiday season, people are more time-poor than ever, and the slightest hold-up can quickly turn into an abandoned cart. Nordstrom always has a clear slideshow showing all the sale events going on for the season allowing online shoppers to go straight to their preferred category. 

Creating the Best Holiday Marketing Campaign EVER

You want your holiday marketing campaign to stand out. With plenty of tough competition, a well-planned strategy and planning will make all the difference.

First, Start Early

If Starbucks can  start selling pumpkin spice lattes in before the end of summer, then you can definitely start building up momentum weeks ahead of the key holiday season sales dates. Getting people excited and filling up their wish carts can work in your benefit when the sales kick in, reducing browsing time and increasing conversion. One great way to do this is to create teaser campaigns where loyal customers can sign up to be first in the queue. 

It is no surprise that  Apple is always leading the marketing game. This year, they used a clever Black Friday strategy offering people gift cards after making a purchase. This strategy ensures that customers will be spending even more with Apple when they use their gift cards. Clever, Clever! 

Carry On Campaigning

Rather than one big hit, maintain momentum throughout the sales period with ongoing promotions. Holiday-themed product drops throughout the Black Friday period keep your product front of mind. Keep your visitors on their toes by introducing different deals each day.

FOMO will sell 

There’s nothing like FOMO to put a spring in a purchaser’s step. Putting forward the offers CTAs with ‘ends tonight,’ ‘1 left in stock’, or ‘last chance for 50% off’ triggers action. You can push it further with widgets showing a countdown timer or how many products are left to sell will make the FOMO crowd act.

OmniChannel Approach

Meet your audience wherever they are by amplifying your reach across all marketing channels: emails, social media, and influencing channels. 

Use email to reach segmented audiences with targeted offers, social media, and influencers for an awareness campaign, retargeting across all channels. It is a numbers’ game and so using a variety of channels means you can reach more people and you stay top of mind. 

Don't know if you agree, but for us the best christmas campaigns are undoubtedly British and this year doesn't disappoint. Mark and Spencer had taken all channels by storm with their ads, showing us what christmas spirit and good marketing look like online. With ads across all channels and even their own Chritsmas magazine.

Big screen ad

Instagram ad

Tiktok UGC

Create the Ultimate in Gifting Experiences 

The holiday season is all about gifts; your eCommerce gifting options should reflect this. Offering extra wrapping or unique gifting add-ons such as engraving or personalized notes and gift cards can be a game changer in your eCommerce experience. 

If you opt for offering gifting add-ons, ensure that your site can offer a seamless experience as pleasurable as the gift itself. At a time of year when everyone is under pressure, feedback from customers to their family and friends about an excellent experience goes a long way. 

Dyptique is the perfect example of an online store pefect gifting experience. They offer multiple options for their customers making the experience luxurious for the gift giver and the received. See below all the Dyptique gift wrapping options. 

Add the Personalized Touch with Custom Gift Messages

Nobody wants to receive a present with an invoice or comp slip. Instead, give customers the opportunity to add a personal touch with gift messages, monograms, special add-ons to enhance the experience or even a last minute free sample. 

Simplify Gift Giving

Creating curated list of gifts within your website will make the experience easier for shoppers and will help them navigate your website with purpose. Also highlight your gifting options in your homepage and streamline the checkout process and procedures by offering gift receipts. Doing so puts your buyer at ease as they know any invoices or pricing will be omitted.

You can help by designing dedicated areas for deals, bestsellers, and holiday gifts. Make shopping a breeze by making your deals accessible from your homepage and via menus. Create categories and collections for easy navigation with handy lists of items ‘under $50 and $100’ or ‘gifts for him or her’.

How to Build Anticipation and Engagement

Building an engaged and excited audience during holiday season sales is essential. Your holiday eCommerce strategy needs to see your customers poised for the moment that your sale begins. Try these tips:

Offer Sneak Peeks

Early bird offers and previews for loyal customers are a great way to make them feel rewarded and valued.  A sneak peek event or code will create a sense of exclusivity and promote brand loyalty.  

Social Media Teasers

Use your social media strategically to include countdowns, limited-time reveals, or behind-the-scenes content. Tease your audience about new releases, limited discounts or availability and bonus add-ons.

Refine Strategies using Analytics

Data-driven holiday strategies are your friend. Analyze data from your previous campaigns and existing channels to hone your messaging.

The Holiday Season Sales Goes Beyond November

Don’t give up on a good thing. The holiday sales season goes from one day to another to another. Ensure you’ve stepped out every milestone so you don’t lose momentum. A holiday period that used to end in November now carries on well into late December.

Transition Through the Holiday Cycle

Think of the holiday season as being the name of a train line. The next station stop after Black Friday is Cyber Monday, and then from there, it’s onto Christmas Day, etc. Prepare to transition from Cyber Week to Christmas without losing traction. Adjust your messaging and bundles to speak to Cyber Week and Christmas.

Deal or No Deal?

Time-poor customers love an offer or discount, but it needs to be transparent. Ditch the confusing and misleading deals and instead offer clear pricing strategies. Include product benefits and other information to remain as transparent as possible.

Use Cross-Channel Strategies

As mentioned earlier, eCommerce is not only about your online shop but about building an omnichannel strategy that tailors your brand experiences to the channel and audience. Enhancing customer experience through in-store events, curbside pick-ups, social media posts, and newsletter campaigns ensures all audiences see your offers.  

Amazon 2024 holiday campaign is one of the most innovative approach to holiday campaigns with the Amazon 5-Star Theater. This campaign promotes products with humor, highlighting user reviews and embracing the eCommerce spirit. 

Enhancing Customer Experience

Consistency is key for customers to trust and build loyalty. Customers who shop with you online should feel and enjoy the same brand recognition and experience regardless of where they engage with you. 

Having an eCommerce platform that can support your omnichannel efforts is crucial to ensure success.

Help and Support Your Customers

Do everything in your power to assist your precious shoppers. A prominent help button, FAQs, live chat, chatbots, and email all help. A chatbot can easily handle everyday queries such as order status or availability. Live agents can deal with more complex questions or situations.  

With AI-powered 

Uniform Experiences Across Channels

Your online and offline shopping channels should work cohesively. Extend your offerings with services like in-store pickup or real-time inventory checks. Stick to consistent messaging on promotions and deals to avoid any confusion.

One of the aims of your holiday eCommerce strategy is to create a seamless experience. Enhanced navigation and various options to support customers will boost satisfaction levels.  As you know, a satisfied customer will likely be a returning customer and share positive feedback with friends and family.

Use Social Proof to Drive Confidence

Authentic testimonials and user-generated content (UGC) build trust in your brand and your products. Incorporate genuine reviews and UGC on your homepage and product pages. 

Rent the runway has done a great job at using its community to create UGC that also doubles down as social proof. Their business model is based on the same outfits being rented multiple times. Having the" How Others Wore It" within each product page allows online shoppers to see real-life photos of how others styled and wore the outfits. This allows them to be inspired, be more confident with their rental  and increases satisfaction. 

Display Product Ratings

Help time-poor customers by pinpointing the top-selling or favorite items. Customers will likely feel more confident in their buying decisions when they know an item is popular. Pin your product ratings in prominent areas such as the homepage, checkouts and product pages.  

The Checkout Process of Your Dreams

Online shopping should never be stressful. Help your customers by making the checkout process as pain-free as possible. Editable carts are a must for ease and efficiency. Stand back and enjoy, as the best carts can dramatically improve conversions. 

Guests Most Welcome

Time-poor shoppers might be reluctant to waste their minutes inputting personal details and needing to verify email addresses. Instead, allow guest checkout for a quick and easy purchase. 

Use after purchases or when you ask for feedback to encourage sign-ups by offering discounts and exclusive deals for signed-up customers.

Clear Policies

Be as straightforward as possible regarding additional fees, shipping timelines, returns policies, and extras. Use prominent areas of your site to promote free shipping, stating if there is a price limit, e.g. “Free Shipping Over $50” or ‘Free 3-day delivery service’.

Payment Options A-Plenty

While one person might prefer Apple Pay, another might favour PayPay. Make purchasing easy by offering a variety of payment methods. These include credit cards, digital wallets (e.g., PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay), and buy-now-pay-later options like Afterpay or Klarna.

Every step of the buying process must be convenient for your customer. Clear, consistent, and transparent messaging gives your customers every reason to trust you and want to shop with you.

What Black Friday Sales Have Taught Us …

Of course, the key findings from Core dna’s clients can be applied at any time throughout the year and used for significant events, holidays and specials. Use this helpful guide as a template to ensure every peak shopping campaign is a winner.

Here are three key reminders:

Anticipation is the Name of the Game

Forget about Day 1; start your strategy well before Black Friday. Don’t be shy about building anticipation by using teasers, social media posts, and sign-up opportunities for exclusive opportunities to dominate sales. 

And, once the season starts, don’t drop off the marketing. Instead, keep it going by transitioning through key dates, rolling from Black Friday to Cyber Monday to Christmas and beyond.

Analytics are Your Friend

You have a mountain of analytic information at your fingertips – use it. Data-driven holiday strategies involve drilling into your segment groups, strategizing target communications and focusing on the specific deals your audience desires. 

Adjust your inventory and timing of any promotions to what the analytics tell you. The holiday season is not the season for guesswork.

Be Mobile-Minded – Mobile Optimization for Holiday Sales

Mobile shopping dominates the holiday browsing and shopping season. You’d be foolish not to optimize your site for mobiles and other-size screens. Be sure to incorporate intuitive design, fast-loading pages, and streamlined mobile checkouts to keep customers happy.

Customer behaviors, preferences and trends are easy to understand if you take the time to study and respond. 

Preparing your site for a high volume of traffic and checking that your customer's experience on your site is seamless and consistent will help you both in the holiday season and the future when customers return to stores after a great experience. 

Of course, social proof, customer recommendations and ratings are excellent sources of marketing and loyalty building.

A Final Word from Core dna

By understanding key consumer behaviors, such as early shopping trends and cross-channel purchasing, you can tailor your approach to meet customer needs. 

Preparing your store for high traffic, mobile optimization for holiday sales, usability, and streamlining the checkout process ensures a seamless shopping experience that minimizes friction and encourages conversions.

Early planning and thoughtful marketing campaigns build anticipation, create engagement and leverage social proof to keep your brand top-of-mind during the year's busiest shopping season. They’ll also help you to feel confident and in control.

Think Beyond Black Friday and Cyber Monday, extending promotions into the holiday season and maintaining consistency across channels, further solidifies your position as a trusted retailer.

Your business can transform opportunities into sustained growth and loyal customer relationships with proper seasonal sales planning and an enterprise eCommerce platform that can support your business. 

It only happens once a year, so your holiday eCommerce strategy must be sound. Now, you have the guidelines to build a successful strategy that will see you through the holiday season and the flexibility to adapt and incorporate it to meet other key shopping and sales events and holidays throughout the year.