Australian online shopping reached its highest peak ever in July 2021, with 5.6 million households making purchases online. So it’s no surprise that the holiday rush is coming early this year.
With all those deliveries heading to consumers, you’ll need to plan some extra time into your sales calendar to get them there on schedule.
Getting Ahead of The Holiday Delivery Rush
Help People Shop Early
Discounting and special sales don’t always have to be your first option. Get clever about how you can help your customers buy what they want, when they want, and get it delivered when they need it.
1. Payment Plans
Afterpay and ZipPay have become staple payment methods for many ecommerce stores. You can take this a step further and offer your own payment plan that suits your customers finances and help them plan their holiday purchases with ease.
Tools like Partial.ly allow you to seamlessly automate payment plans, enabling buyers to structure a plan that suits their financial situation.
These are particularly helpful for increasing cart value, and providing a way for customers to budget their holiday shopping better.
2. Pre-Orders
Streamline your sales and shipping time by making good use of pre-orders.
We know that you’re probably waiting on some of your holiday stock to arrive, then there’s the turnaround time to get it to market. Shave off that delay and start taking pre-orders for your most popular products so they can be shipped before they hit the shelves. (Shopify has a great app for pre-orders)
Pre-orders are more than just a great way to determine a product’s popularity, it’s also an opportunity to promote the scarcity of the item and encourage people to get in early.
3. Packaging
This is the moment for your customer service team to shine.
We’re all ordering gifts for friends and family to be delivered this year, and that’s a great opportunity to offer something a bit extra.
Here’s our top tips:
- Include a section on your shipping labels that has a “Don’t open until date” to help keep the holiday surprise.
- Offer your customers the option to have their invoice sent by email only so that the recipient doesn’t get the paperwork.
- Offer the option to include a message with the gift. Have your design team create cool branded postcards that can be printed with the message.
- Include a referral bonus like a voucher for 10% off the recipient’s next order with your store.
- Include easy returns or exchange options, just in case the socks don’t fit.
Get Your Marketing Machine Going
4. Email
Now you’ve got your store ready for those early orders, it’s time to let the people know.
Tried and true, a good email campaign never goes out of style. Keep your customers updated with early order options on your best sellers and seasonal favorites.
If you’ve set up pre-orders, clearly communicate expected delivery windows and how you’ll keep them informed of where their order is at.
Highlight your new payment plans and gift packaging options. Imagine how much more relaxed the season will feel with all those deliveries squared away and the budget under control.
This is a great opportunity to make sure that email list is up to date and filled with people who want to hear from you (we’ll use that later).
5. On-Site Highlights
Don’t let your brilliant new initiatives languish, announce them for all to see!
Using Hello Bar, Optin Monster, Sumo Smart Bar or other eye-catching notification bars is a must.
This is a great place to highlight pre-order cut off dates, your new payment plans and your super special holiday packaging offer.
6. Ads
Yes, ads.
Here is where that clean and shiny email list is going to come in handy.
Before social feeds are filled with holiday specials and ad costs go up, get ahead of the pack with your message and beat Black Friday.
Reach your customers on Facebook and Instagram by importing your customer list and targeting them specifically.
Simply prepare your email list (you’ll need more than 1000 people for this option to be available to you) and upload it as a custom audience.
This is your opportunity to make great creative showcasing your products, highlighting your new offers, sharing testimonials and building that rapport with the customer who is looking at you to solve their holiday shopping dilemmas.
7. Shipping Made Simple
If you want to make shipping even easier for your customers, you can help them get the best shipping for the best rate using the Transdirect ecommerce integration.
Simply pre-select your preferred couriers to provide the service that best suits your product. Then once they’re at check out, the seamless integration let’s them pick which courier, delivery type and rate that suits their needs.
Start your holiday sales off right and open a free members account today!
