As the new year begins, it’s time to start planning for upcoming holidays and sprucing up your online store. Gift giving has always been tied to holidays, and implementing season-specific marketing strategies is one of the most reliable ways to increase sales on your e-store. However, simply offering discounts or promotions for your products is no longer enough. With the rapid expansion of e-commerce, you need to have some strong cards in your hand to make an impression before the holiday rush.
One way to do this is by pruning your website specifically for the gifting perspective, rather than just marketing the gift-worthiness of your products. Selling gifts instead of simply selling products has the potential to bring two customers to your store instead of one. The first is the gifter, who has browsed your e-store and found the perfect gift to give. The second is the giftee who receives the gift, is blown away by the thoughtfulness and visits your e-store to check out the other interesting gifts they can gift in turn.
So, how can you make your e-commerce store gift-season ready? Here are some key tips:
1. Plan Out Holiday Promotions & Events
The first step is to pull out your calendar and take note of the upcoming holidays you want to target. Think about which holidays make sense for your store to specifically create gifts centered around. For example, Valentine’s Day is probably a day you won’t want to miss. On the other hand, unless you’re a brewery or a store that imports Irish products, there’s a good chance St Patrick’s Day is one you can skip.
2. Integrate Gifts Into Site Navigation
Make it easy for your audience to find gifts on your website. Adding your current gift promotions where they’re accessible in your menu makes it easier for buyers to quickly find what they are looking for and make a purchase. Simply create gifting categories and add them to your main menu. To make the search even more user-friendly, you can even sort the gifts into specific categories such as by recipient, occasion, age, brand, price range, offers, etc.
3. Set up Dedicated Gift Pages
If you don’t want a sticky banner looming over your homepage advertising your gifts, you can always opt for the more subtle but equally effective way of setting up dedicated gift pages. These can be fixtures on your site per the occasion and can be accessed by shoppers all round the year. The categories we discussed above can be applicable here as well. In addition, you can even consider setting up a dedicated page for your seasonal offers on product bundles with gift packages for various occasions.
4. Promote Personalized Bundles
One way to make gift shopping easier is by creating gift bundles in advance for specific individuals. You can take the current trends and popular products trending in the market and add them to the bundle making it attractive. In addition, a personalized touch, based on who the gift is for, goes a long way in clinching the deal. Undertake some market surveys to get a clearer picture of the generic preferences and affordability before you create personalized bundles by age or occasion.
5. Create Gift Cards
Gift cards are a great option for those difficult-to-shop-for individuals. With the free YITH Gift Card WooCommerce add-on, you can easily add gift cards to your store. This plugin adds a new product type to your WooCommerce store so you can create cards for various amounts. When a customer orders a gift card, they’ll have the option to add the recipient’s email address for quick delivery. The gift amount is then applied via a coupon code at checkout.
6. Offer Gift Wrap at Checkout
One of the best gifting up-sells you can add to your store is gift wrap. Try the free WooCommerce Gift Wrapper plugin – it adds easy options for wrapping types and gift message at checkout. These are a simple way to add a personal touch and turn any purchase into a gift.
7. Create a Newsletter for Special Offers
Lastly, create a newsletter! A newsletter is a great way to stay in touch with past customers throughout the year, share new gifts, notify them of holiday promotions or even send them personalized offers based on past purchases. We recommend MailChimp (which is FREE for newsletters up to 2,000 subscribers) because it is easy to use and there are tons of free integration options like WooCommerce MailChimp to add a newsletter to your store.
In conclusion, there are many ways to prep your online store for the year, but offering easy-to-find gift pages, bundles, gift wrapping, and more are tried and tested strategies to target the gifting market. By implementing these tips, you can make your e-store gift-season ready and attract more customers.
