How can you maximise your ecommerce sales at Christmas? 

The Christmas season is one of the busiest periods for ecommerce, and each year the online sales figures surpass previous records. This season has become a unique opportunity to attract customers that are willing to spend more, boosted by the festive spirit and the offers launched by companies specifically for this season.

With the boom in the electronics trade, companies that implement a solid strategy for these dates notice their ecommerce sales can rise significantly. In fact, a  study by Deloitte reveals that, in 2024, buyers are planning to increase their spend by 8% in relation to last year. This projected growth represents an opportunity to increase takings for businesses that know how to plan ahead and adapt to customers.   

Taking advantage of this opportunity requires forward planning and a good knowledge of the key elements to make yourself stand out in a saturated market.  Do you want to know how to maximise your sales this Christmas? Keep reading!

Why is selling at Christmas vital for your ecommerce? 

Christmas sales are one of the most decisive times for an ecommerce. Consumer behaviour changes during this time and opportunities to increase sales multiply. Taking advantage of this period not only improves your results financially in the short term, but also establishes a solid base for the future growth of the business.   

Why are they crucial?  

• Sales Growth: Christmas is the time of year with the highest spend on gifts, which can significantly increase sales. 
• Marketing opportunities: It allows for the development of creative and themed campaigns that will attract customers.
• Increased traffic: At this time of year, there is an increase in the traffic of shoppers searching online for gifts.  
• Customer loyalty: Offering an excellent service during this period may increase customer loyalty.

In summary, the Christmas season can represent a significant part of the annual income of an ecommerce, often between 20% and 30% depending on the sector. This increase inspires businesses to plan sales strategies to maximise opportunities during this period.   

How to prepare yourself for the Christmas season  

Preparing yourself for the Christmas season is essential for increasing ecommerce sales, as it is a period of high-demand. A successful Christmas strategy begins with forward and continuous planning using tactics that will capture shoppers’  attention and emotions.

Forward planning for a successful Christmas 

It is important that you plan your Christmas campaign in good time. This will allow you to adjust your stock, as well as to anticipate potential challenges that may arise during the holiday period.   

Forward planning will give you more leeway to define and optimise your marketing campaigns, ensuring that your message reaches consumers at the most opportune time.  

But what should you plan in advance?  

• Special promotions and discounts. An essential action, as discounts have always been a reliable driver of consumer demand.  
• Get your website ready. Optimise your online store for mobile devices and improve SEO with key Christmas words to attract organic traffic.  
• Create Christmas content, such as gift buying guides and advice on decorating, which will help you to attract traffic and generate interest in your products.
• Review shipping costs and offer free shipping, if possible. Also, by making different payment methods available  you will encourage many more purchases from your business.
• Get ahead of the competition, make earlier offers, personalise the content in your messages and offer an improved the shopping experience.   

Exclusive offers for early customers

Reward your earliest customers with exclusive offers that only they will benefit from before the Christmas season.This type of promotion for “early customers” not only increases your early ecommerce sales, but also helps you to manage the demands and lighten the last minute shopping rush.   

• Discounts for early shopping: Offer an exclusive discount for those doing their Christmas shopping before a specific date, encouraging customers to get ahead of the time when there is greater demand. 
• Priority access to trending products: Give early customers access to popular or limited edition products before anyone else and create a sense of exclusivity.  
• Additional shipping benefits: Offer free shipping or guaranteed shipping within a specific time for those who shop before the peak season.

Take advantage of the psychology of urgency

Including the psychology of urgency in your Christmas campaign may be an extremely effective tactic within your strategy.  

By creating a sense of scarcity and limited time, you can motivate customers to act quickly and make impulse purchases. For example, create “flash offers” that are active for just 24-48 hours, or highlight the availability of limited edition products that make perfect Christmas presents.   

This sense of exclusivity and scarcity encourages customers not to let the opportunity pass by.  

Make your product feel indispensable

During the Christmas season, it is essential to position your products as the perfect gift solution. Here are some strategies for selling more on ecommerce that you could apply to your online store:  

• Guides to personalised gifts: Create sections such as “Perfect gifts for him/her” or “For coffee lovers”, where you highlight how your products fit with different person profiles and requirements.  

• Special Christmas packs: Offer attractively priced product combinations, highlighting how these packs are complete and practical gifts, saving time and effort for the customer. 

• Real life stories and uses: Include reviews and images of customers using your products, from the useful to the emotional, showing how they can be a success at Christmas. This helps your customers to imagine their loved ones enjoying the products.  

These strategies not only demonstrate the value of your products, but they also position them as significant and necessary choices for the Christmas season.

Connect with a customer’s Christmas emotions

Christmas time is charged with emotions and memories, and taking advantage of this emotional aspect could make the difference to your marketing strategy.   

Create campaigns that highlight emotions of happiness, generosity and being connected, such as promotions inviting customers to share special moments with their loved ones.  

Demonstrate how your products could make these times more memorable, through gifts that communicate love or shared experiences. This will help to create a deeper connection with your customers and foster loyalty towards your brand. 

What are the key dates for the 2024 Christmas campaign?

Here is a calendar with the most relevant dates to help you gain the most advantage from the Christmas season:  

• Black Friday (29 November): The starting gun for Christmas shopping, with huge offers.  
• Cyber Monday (2 December) Ideal for online promotions, particularly for ecommerce. 
• Shopping week before Christmas (16-22 December): Take advantage of last minute demand with attractive promotions. 
• Christmas (24-25 December): Offer last minute products to those who leave everything to the last minute.  

These dates are fundamental for planning your strategy and maximising the impact of your promotions. But you can also complement them with different activities between the 2^nd and 16^th of December, such as having a free shipping day or adding a small gift to orders made between two dates.   

Strategies for increasing your ecommerce sales 

As we have mentioned several times before, the Christmas season is undoubtedly a key time for boosting your ecommerce sales.   

During these times, consumers are more willing to buy, which creates a unique opportunity for showcasing your brand.   

However, to make the most of this time, you need to keep in mind a number of factors that have a direct impact on the decision to buy. Below, we explore different ways to improve your strategy in order to  maximise the performance of your online store during the Christmas season.

How do you alter online advertising campaigns for Christmas? 

To alter your online advertising campaigns for the Christmas season, start by segmenting your audience based on their behaviour and specific needs during this time.

It is also vital that you personalise the message, highlighting products that fit in with the most searched-for gifts, or develop limited offers to create a sense of urgency.

Also keep your timing in mind:  adjust your advertising so that it can be launched before the key dates that we mentioned earlier.  

In summary, you should alter three aspects within your advertising campaigns: audience, creativity and text, and publication dates.

Christmas email marketing campaigns 

As with any other marketing campaign, email marketing plays an essential role during the Christmas season. It is an essential tool for capturing the attention of your subscribers and customers and is used to inform them first-hand about your offers and the products you have available for Christmas shopping.

You need to have a really solid plan for the emails you are going to send through your email marketing strategy. 

To plan an effective Christmas email marketing campaign:  

• Segment your list of subscribers according to their purchasing behaviour and preferences.   
• Create a series of scheduled posts with attractive and relevant content, such as exclusive promotions, last minute offers and products that are recommended as gifts.   
• Personalise the messages so that they resonate with the spirit of Christmas, using festive language and creativity that evokes emotions.   
• Ensure that you include clear calls to action and that you send the posts at strategic times, such as just before Black Friday or during the week before Christmas.

Improve the user experience in your online store 

To ensure an exceptional conversion rate during your Christmas campaign, you need to pay attention to the user experience in your online store:   

• Intuitive browsing: Organise your menu simply and clearly. Group products into easy-to-understand categories and use effective search filters so that users can quickly find what they are looking for.
• Responsive design: As many shoppers browse on their mobile phones, make sure that your store can be viewed properly on mobile devices. An optimised design for all devices improves the experience and reduces abandonment.
• Simplified checkout: Minimise the number of steps in the purchasing process. Offer a guest payment option, include several payment methods and highlight shipment costs from the start to avoid surprises at the end.  

BigBuy products: The ideal choice for boosting your Christmas sales  

We have talked about how important it is to offer products that are tailored to this season and thanks to our catalogue of +400,000 items, you will find the perfect products for your ecommerce at BigBuy.  
 
Ideal products for the Christmas season with the possibility of adding these products to your store quickly and easily, thereby improving your ecommerce offer to attract more customers and optimise sales.   
See our  catalogue for yourself and find the perfect categories, such as computing, electronics, cosmetics and perfumes, which are some of the categories with the highest sales during this season.   

Additionally, here is a selection of  Winning Products that are ideal for your Christmas campaigns.

Be mindful of customer service during the Christmas season 

At Christmas, customer service plays a vital role in customer loyalty and satisfaction. Personalisation is key, as it offers a service tailored to the specific needs of each customer and creates a more memorable experience.  Automation, such as the use of chatbots, allows you to reply quickly to common questions by maintaining a constant and efficient service.

A quick response and the personalisation of the service with each interaction increases trust and the likelihood of conversion. 

To recap, strategies for increasing ecommerce sales that are vital for maximising your sales during Christmas include forward planning of campaigns, personalised offers for customers, and the effective use of the psychology of urgency.

An improved user experience in your online store and an excellent customer service are also vital factors for promoting conversions.  If you implement these strategies accurately and at the right time, you will not only be able to benefit from increased seasonal sales but you will also enhance your customer loyalty. Get ready to make the most of this Christmas season!