It was just January, and within the blink of an eye, we are just months away from the holiday season. The year 2020 is like a bad episode we all wish didn’t exist, but guess what, people have already started planning for the holidays though.
Earlier this year, the eCommerce giant Amazon announced its expansion of the central network in India. It is instituting quantity limits for product shipments from third-party sellers that use its U.S. warehouses. It will ensure sellers have enough space to store their goods during the holiday buying season. All of this just to maintain what they are famous for – Timely deliveries!
So, have you started preparing your holiday marketing strategies yet?
As a Print company, the very first point goes without saying:
Get your Print Business Online
Now is the high time you take your print store online. Even though you have your printing infrastructure offline, having a virtual store will help you all-year-around.
Remember, “When you invest in providing the digital shopping experience your buyers expect, you empower your business with better assets.”
While the COVID-19 vaccine is under trial phase, people will want to look for online alternatives to avoid shopping offline as a precautionary measure even in the future. The online option enables you to target a global audience, conduct glitch-free deliveries that add delight to your customers’ experience. Also, with the drop-shipping model, you can get started without worrying about your inventory.
Now you must be thinking about how this may take months to get the right platform, details and finally make your website live. However, working with industry professionals will help you get your website ready, maybe even less than a week.
Embrace personalization to stand out!
Holiday means greeting cards, creating photo albums, and sending gifts to loved ones. While you can offer curated collections, one crucial thing to make sure is that your products and offers should complement the “new normal.” This year, when the big celebrations are likely to be on hold, holiday athleisure or tacky sweaters may experience better sales than party dresses.
And this is not something new; every business will try to offer these things. So, try and offer items in an innovative way. How about having a web-to-print store where your customers can design their sweatshirts to order? They add their favorite holiday graphic elements, give it a personal touch by adding their family names, etc. They’ll look forward to embracing it on holiday more!
That’s the kind of experience personalized offerings can provide to your customers. And that’s not limited to just sweatshirts. It can be applied to a variety of products like gifting products, photo albums, mugs, and whatnot! To see how it would work with your store, click the link below!
Creative and contextual promotions
When developing your promotional strategy, it is vital to craft strategy in accordance with the current state. Think in the context of trends and themes of the current market. For example, currently, you may see the spike in the purchase of gift items like photo albums, soft pillows, photo frames, etc. (here you can target consumers that look for small gifts to surprise friends and family they cannot visit.)
Apart from what you offer on your store, you can also try out these innovative promotional ideas:
– Buy now, pay and ship later
– Easy-to-ship items
– Overstock after-season sale
– Home and self-care
– Promos and shipping discounts
If you sell non-essential items and want to stick to your offerings, you can try offering extra loyalty points, offer a more flexible shipping schedule, revise return policy. All these changes will encourage your customers to buy!
Focus on attracting and not selling
Put relationship building first! You need to focus on building awareness of your brand. This is the era of DIYs and tutorial videos, so create content using your products. That way you promote knowledge sharing, and your content speaks for itself. So, cut back on the urge to SELL and start building relationships.
For example, how about making a video that explains how using your web-to-print store customers can prepare their products easily! Interesting? Try it by yourself!
Your copy NEEDS to be neutral and subtle
It is now almost six months since COVID-19 affected and engulfed the entire world; hence, your brand should sound more serious than you want to be. Even if it does not align with your image, your copy should convey the message in an appropriate tone. For example, instead of “Hurry! Limited Offer!” you could use “Let us help you get your best deals this holiday season 2020”. The second one offers respect and sanity in a situation of chaos.
Happy Holidays!
The current situation shows us how fickle life is! Many of us dreamt of spending the summer on our favorite beach and with our toes buried in sand, and during the winter holidays partying with friends or maybe having a family trip. However, as a business, you need to remind yourself, your team, that you influence your customers. And it is in your hands to help them have this holiday in the best possible way. I hope this post helped you to navigate through this holiday season! On behalf of PrintXpand team, I wish you all a successful holiday season. In case you need more help, you can always get in touch with us!
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