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The holiday sales don’t end with Christmas. Even though there are only six more days left in the year, there are plenty of sales that you can continue running. Buyers are still in the mood to buy, you may just need to get creative with the sales. These sales can include creative discounts, contests, boxing day specials, and New Year’s deals. Ensuring that you’re taking advantage of these opportunities can increase your revenue.
The day after Christmas is known as “Boxing Day” in the United Kingdom. Boxing day traditionally was a day when the employers distributed food, clothing, money and other goods to their employees.
The term, “Christmas Box” in Britain referred to a Christmas present. Boxing day was a day off for servants. They would receive a “Christmas Box” from their master. The servants would also give boxes to their families.
Boxing Day is a fun time. Online businesses can take advantage of the social media excitement that comes from sharing the Christmas gifts received. They can create photo competitions and have customers share photos of their gift-recipients using their goods. Offer a % off on Boxing day to anyone who shares a Christmas photo.
Another great marketing strategy is to further the discounts during the sale to anyone who took part in the campaign. It gets the word of mouth marketing going!
Kwanzaa is a secular festival observed by many African Americans from December 26 to January 1 as a celebration of their cultural heritage and traditional values. Kwanzaa culminates in a feast and gift-giving. Kwanzaa derives its name from the Swahili word for “first fruits.” It is based on the harvest festivals. Each day a candle is lit and gifts are exchanged.
Online stores can tailor their sales to include Kwanzaa themed products. These can be brightly colored shirts, mugs, and candles. Woolworth’s kicked off last year’s Kwanzaa celebration by offering African themed books, cards, and art.
Stamping Up also took advantage of the Kwanzaa holiday and created Kwanzaa cards as well.
In the United States, many stores simply refer to the post-Christmas sales as “After Christmas Sales.” They often offer huge discounts in order to move the products and get in the new products for the new year.
These discounts can be a percentage off, Buy One Get One deals or you can even get free items during these after Christmas sales. There are a wide variety of promotions that are effective.
Shoppers will still be enticed to buy one and get another item for a good cause even though the season of giving is winding down. Offering a “buy one, give one” special that delivers an article of clothing or household item to a known charity can inspire shoppers to be generous and spend more.
Toms.com is a great example of this “buy one, give one.” They allow you to provide a pair of shoes for a needy child all year. After-Christmas shoppers tend to be in a very giving spirit. They want to help national charities like the Salvation Army, and the United Way.
The sale is an opportunity to reduce inventory and gain tax benefits. It is possible to co-market with a well-known not-for-profit organization that has a large email list.
During Black Friday and Cyber Monday, shoppers were enticed with deep discounts and large percentages off their purchases. It is very refreshing when a store offers a simple discount, such as $25 off a $50 purchase or $50 off a $100 purchase. People tend to like whole numbers when it comes to getting a discount. They also don’t want to pull out their calculator to figure out the cost.
Williams-Sonoma offered $50 off their all-clad slow cookers in 2017. That is a pretty big portion of the cost. The All-Clad Slow cookers are items that are also very popular and get a lot of use around the holidays. Therefore, the sale drew in a lot of people.
Shoppers tend to be very depleted once the New Year rolls around. Offering a payment plan of “buy now, pay later,” can stimulate some shoppers to make a purchase. They won’t have to pay immediately, but the store will realize the full profit.
It is better to have payment plans than slow-moving inventory. You should check out PayPal’s Bill Me Later or a similar service for this type of offer to work.
Overstock makes use of this technique. Since furniture purchases can be overwhelming for many consumers, it can be easier to break up the price into monthly payments. With the Bill Me Later feature, customers can avoid paying interest if they pay in full within the first six months.
People are suckers when it comes to getting items free. Consider giving away a free product with their next purchase. This could be a t-shirt, hat, mug, gift card or something similar. Better yet, make it a product that has your logo on it so you can get additional advertising when they wear it.
You can give away an overstocked product or custom item that you ordered back at the beginning of December. The idea is to reward the customer for their loyalty and give them something extra.
The excellence of a gift lies in its appropriateness rather than in its value. – Charles Dudley Warner
New Year’s Day is a great opportunity to promote your store and brand new products that will kick off the New Year. The products that do really well around New Year’s are ones that focus on accomplishing goals. Weight loss products, self-help books, personal development, and improvement programs are the biggest sellers.
For New Year’s Amazon features products that promote better health, fitness, organization, and money management. These are areas in which many people tend to want to turn over a new leaf in the new year.
Looking for more ways to enhance your sales all year? Try adding a referral program to your eCommerce store and take a look at some of the best referral program examples for inspiration.
Melinda is a blogger at ReferralCandy. She loves learning about internet marketing and maintaining her own fitness blog. She enjoys running, swimming, dancing and Pilates.
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