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December 6, 2024
Enhancing Customer Loyalty Through Exceptional Shipping Experiences
How Shipping Insurance Can Help SMBs Compete in the Age of E-commerce
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The holiday season is upon us, and nothing says “Happy Holidays!” quite like gifts and shopping. While it’s true that the season is more than just material things, eMarketer found that retail eCommerce sales are bound to reach $271.58 billion this year. That’s about 9.5% higher than the previous year!
However, with great shopping activity comes great shipping responsibility. But fear not – we’ll share tried-and-tested tips on how you can tackle it confidently.
Thanksgiving and Christmas are two of the biggest gift-giving holidays of the year. In fact, the average American spends at least $920 on holiday gifts. That’s a good enough reason to get your stores holiday-ready!
Besides, early holiday shopping doesn’t just benefit customers. It benefits your business, too. Here’s how:
Early holiday promotions and initiatives spread the demand for your products over an extended period instead of one huge rush from last-minute shoppers.
A perfect contrast to this is scarcity marketing. It’s known to create a sense of urgency by offering a product in limited quantities or time. While this strategy can drive quick sales, it often results in a sudden surge of demand. This can overwhelm your business, leading to logistical challenges and even missed opportunities.
While there is no denying that scarcity marketing is effective, it also doesn’t offer the same steady and manageable flow of sales an early holiday promotion can provide.
When you launch your holiday promotions early, you can manage stocks more effectively. You can identify:
Implementing early holiday shopping deals and promotions can help you avoid shortages and even restocking. It gives you the insights you need to create a more targeted strategy based on product performance. This can maximize your sales potential until the holiday season ends.
Let’s get straight to the point: the sooner you start your holiday promotions, the sooner you generate revenue, and the sooner you ship them! This early boost in sales improves your cash flow. Plus, it helps smooth out operational pressures by spreading out order fulfillment over a longer period.
Encouraging early holiday shopping allows you to experiment with different marketing campaigns. This maximizes your reach and impact throughout the season. It also helps you pinpoint which products are performing well so you can tailor your marketing strategies more effectively.
The best part? You get to engage with your current and potential customers. You learn what they like and what they don’t, which gives you ideas on what additional offers and promotions can complement or enhance your existing ones.
The earlier people order, the more time they have to tell their friends and family about your products. Today’s consumers highly value authentic reviews, so genuine word-of-mouth (WOM) can boost your brand’s visibility. In fact, it can result in 5x more sales than paid media!
With satisfied customers spreading the word about the awesome deal they got from your business, you’ll benefit from more referrals and gain advocates for your products. It’s also one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies you can use.
Now that we’ve covered why pre-holiday shopping initiatives work, here are effective ways to get those early orders in!
Did you know that 16% of American consumers begin shopping for the holidays as early as June? TechRadar even noted that retailers pushed their sales earlier to create a safer shopping experience and avoid shipping delays.
Running sales early not only encourages customers to shop ahead of time. It also ensures their items will arrive on time. It’s a win-win-win for retailers, carriers, and shoppers!
You can try:
And many more!
Customers might be holding out until the last minute for a product launch or to snag the hottest items you have. However, keeping them waiting may backfire. You might risk losing sales and potentially making your brand forgettable.
To avoid this, consider moving up your product launches and sidestep the holiday rush. This way, you can keep your customers engaged and satisfied (and even help them avoid the last-minute scramble).
Holiday gift guides are a great way to attract customers and encourage them to make a purchase. Tailored guides offer unique shopping experiences, helping simplify your customers’ decision-making. How do you create a holiday gift guide that works? You can organize it by interests, budget, or even your bestsellers!
Limited-time offers create a sense of urgency for holiday shoppers, but it's important to use this tactic responsibly. Set the time frame within the holiday season to ensure it feels reasonable and not overly rushed. Giving your audience ample time to consider your offer increases the chances of them taking action rather than dismissing it.
With material shortages, overseas shipping timelines, and general delays, some of your items may not be restocked in time. If that is the case, be upfront with your customers. Use notifications like “selling fast” or “only 5 left in stock” to keep them informed.
An informed customer is better than a customer left in the dark. Besides, you can also use this opportunity to offer similar alternative product suggestions. This way, you can keep your customers engaged and reduce the chance they’ll look elsewhere.
With a flexible return policy, your customers are more likely to try your products. Why? You reduce their worry of not liking the product and being unable to return it. Think of it as guaranteeing they can return the product (in unused condition, of course!) if it doesn’t meet their expectations.
Plus, flexible policies reassure early shoppers during the holidays. They can confidently purchase gifts in advance, knowing if the gift doesn’t work out with the recipient, they can easily exchange or return it.
When you share a deadline, two outcomes are possible: creating a sense of urgency or fostering complacency. However, holiday shipping deadlines should be approached differently.
With billions of mail and packages in transit during this busy time, you must emphasize potential delays to your customers. Being transparent about possible shipping issues and their impact manages customer expectations. It also enhances your reputation for honesty and reliability.
Keep your brand on top of your customers’ minds with a simple reminder. Timely notifications about your holiday deals, promotions, and delivery schedules can encourage them to buy sooner rather than later.
Besides, this can reduce the chances of your customers getting disappointed with the delays they experience. It can also alleviate the burden carriers have during these busy times.
Aside from emails and text messages, you can also use website banners and social media updates. With everyone informed, you set clear expectations, allowing customers to plan their holiday shopping as early as possible.
Encouraging early holiday shopping drives more sales for your business and provides value to your customers. And with the help of a logistics partner like iDrive, you can ensure timely fulfillment of orders ahead of the peak season.
Since 2008, iDrive Logistics has empowered hundreds of eCommerce brands and manufacturers, big and small, to handle their shipping and fulfillment processes. We’ve processed over 30 million shipments and expanded to 3 million square feet of warehouse space and counting.
Reach out to us, and we’ll take the stress out of your logistics. Our solutions help you focus on what matters most: shipping those orders and growing your business seamlessly!
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