Almost every retailer will see an increase in sales towards the end of the year, especially in the direct to consumer market. From skincare and cosmetics to clothing, and from children’s toys to electronics, sales have a marked uptick from October onwards and every retailer will have at least started to implement their plans for commercial events such as Black Friday and, of course, Christmas.
Any smart retailer will have planned for these events early in the year, but there are always things that can be done at the last minute to help boost your seasonal sales. These tips and tricks are aimed at small to medium sized businesses, though there is no reason why they can’t be adopted by any kind of business, from sole traders to enterprises.
Think about switching up your packaging
Festive packaging is a simple swap you can make to give your products a more seasonal vibe. Many brands will change their packaging at this time of year, but it’s important to keep in mind that these changes to your packaging design may be costly. It can be more cost effective to change something simple such as your colour scheme, and add subtle graphic design additions. It is more of a challenge to completely change the shape, size and specifications of your packaging, but by doing so you can offer your customers limited editions of their favourites.
Not only can packaging be used to give your products a different look, it can also make it more desirable for buyers. If a customer is looking to buy a particular product as a gift for Christmas, the chances are they will be more interested in choosing a seasonal edition that looks more eye-catching and special than the standard version. You can also package different products together to create a gift edition. For example, a skincare brand might package products together to make a skincare regime kit or a luxury food maker might put their bestsellers together in a gift box.
Something that has become very popular in recent years are subscription packages that fit certain themes. You can get subscription boxes for almost anything including outdoors equipment, plants and flowers, makeup and skincare products, food, collectors items and even pet products. These make great gifts and luckily come pre-packed in attractive bags and boxes to make things even simpler for the customer. Packaging for these boxes can be made more festive, luxurious or otherwise different to the usual offering to make them more appealing as readymade gifts.
Provide discounts on giftware multibuys
When someone is shopping online for a gift, the chances are high that, though they may visit a website with a particular product in mind, they are probably in the market for more than one gift. If you can place additional products in front of the buyer at the right moment then you may be able to secure a larger sale. Using skincare products as an example again, if your buyer is looking for a luxury skincare product for a female friend knowing that they also need to choose something from elsewhere for her friend’s husband she will probably search for the specific product and not spend time looking for other gifts.
If you can feature related products somewhere on the page such as men’s skincare, the buyer may decide to choose a gift for someone else on their list from this exposure. This effect is even stronger if you offer a special purchase or multibuy discount. You could create a category on your website and fill it with gift items up to a certain value and create a ‘buy 2 get 1 free’ sale or similar.
People love a bargain and hate to feel that they are missing out, and if you can find a way to communicate that they only need to top up their basket by a certain amount or only need to choose one more item to take advantage of a multibuy offer, the chances are they will spend the extra time and money needed to use the promotion. You can make this even more tempting by throwing in guaranteed delivery dates, free delivery, and even designated day delivery, something your customers might appreciate a lot in the hectic run up to Christmas.