Christina Cooper of ManoMano has 3 top tips to help you boost profits this Christmas.
Tip 1: Christmas starts in September
It may seem early but preparing for Christmas well in advance will have a huge impact on your sales potential during the holiday season. Believe it or not, people begin searching for Christmas on Google in summer! According to a study by Linkdex, in the UK between August and September 2015 there are 8.5 million monthly searches for Christmas related items. Moreover, the increase in Google searches corresponds to the growth in sales, with as many as 20% of consumers starting their Christmas shopping in September.
The early start in Christmas shopping has a direct effect on retailers and demonstrates the need to begin communicating well in advance of the 25th December. In a recent survey, ChannelAdvisor found that 42% of retailers start their Christmas push in September and a further 20 percent hope to begin their promotions in August or sooner. As witnessed in the run up to Christmas 2015, Selfridges’ flagship store in London started their Christmas marketing activities on 3rd August, a whole month earlier than their usual September open date. So get ahead of the game during this competitive time of the year and let your clients know that you’re responding to their requests for products relating to the Christmas season.
Tip 2: Create a sense of urgency
The basis of practically every conversion rate optimisation strategy is the following: for urgency to be an effective tactic, you should improve your value proposition, increase clarity and relevance of your offer and reduce distraction. With Christmas promotions, it should be fairly simple to achieve the above. Next comes the “urgency”, a form of persuasion that creates a sense of anxiety within the buyer, making them feel as though they will lose out if they do not act immediately.
Urgency offers can be linked to both time and scarcity/availability. Modifying your copy and adding buttons and countdowns – when a discount is ending soon or inventory on an item is running low – will create an increased desire to buy the product immediately. ManoMano typically applies the urgency countdown tactic in their advertising to successfully increase sales.
Tip 3: Source and deliver internationally for better margins
You could significantly increase your margins by sourcing products from abroad. Markets cater to the buying power of their consumers, so prices can differ greatly between countries. ManoMano, for example, looks to keep prices low for clients while at the same time increasing their margins by sourcing internationally. Through working with leaders in different fields across the world, you can ensure very competitive prices when reselling.
Furthermore, in light of Brexit, there has been an upsurge in international conversion. Take advantage of this increase in visitors and international buying power by offering free international delivery over the Christmas period to see your sales skyrocket.
Christina Cooper is a Brand Manager at ManoMano UK.
Website: manomano.co.uk
Twitter: @ManoMano_UK
References:
https://www.linkdex.com/en-us/resources/share-of-search-report-christmas-2015-uk/
http://www.channeladvisor.co.uk/channeladvisor-study-finds-86-percent-retailers-expect-2014-online-christmas-sales-increase/
http://www.summit.co.uk/its-beginning-to-look-a-lot-like-christmas-when-does-retail-peak-begin/