Captivate your customers this Christmas sales period

8th December 2022, 3:03pm in Business by Amy Newham

Christmas is a valuable time of year for eCommerce sellers. However, it’s also very competitive as everyone wants to retain and entice customers during the holiday season. We’ve discussed how you can get your shipping strategy ready for a peak sales season, but there are other ways to resonate with your customer base.

We’ve put together some tips on how your business can make its festive debut that will rival Father Christmas himself!

Introduce Christmas product bundles

Product bundles or gift sets appeal to many shoppers because it makes buying more manageable and are usually cheaper than buying all the products separately. Product bundling is practical because it can improve your average order value and encourage cross-promotion. We recommend you offer a variety of bundles of different sizes/price bands. You could even include other products that shoppers can’t buy individually for added appeal!

Personalised parcel tracking

Once customers have paid for their order, they will want to be kept in the loop until their parcel reaches their door. Fortunately, when you create an Interparcel account, you can set up your own Branded Tracking portal.

Our tailored tracking pages provide a personalised shipping experience that tell your customers where their parcel is at all times. You can customise the page to match your brand and colour theme, including a promotional banner. Your personalised banner could include a limited-time promotion or discounted shipping code to engage with your customers after the sale.

Give your website/online shop a festive makeover

Festive decorations seem to go up in stores earlier every year, so what about your online store? You can easily change the colour scheme to incorporate traditional red, greens, gold, and silvers! Alternatively, give your logo a festive makeover with a Santa hat or candy cane. Simple changes show your customers that your store is in the festive period and adds familiarity to your brand.

Another helpful addition to your website is a designated gift-guide page to direct customers to specific items or services.

Advertise your last posting dates

You want your customer’s orders to reach them in time for the big day. That’s why you must publish your postal cut-off dates so they know when to order by. We advertise our Christmas last posting dates on our homepage, so it is easily accessible. It’s important to note that cut-off dates vary by courier or service. By using a multi-carrier service like Interparcel, you can offer your buyers a choice of last-minute shipping options like Next Day or Timed services to push sales.

Enable Live Shipping Rates

Instead of worrying about what to charge customers for delivery, you can offer live shipping rates. Live shipping rates allow your online customers to see real-time delivery costs from your selected couriers at checkout. Our Cart Quoting feature is available to all Interparcel customers who have integrated their WooCommerce or Shopify store with our Shipping Manager.

Start a countdown to Christmas Day

You open a new door daily on your advent colour, so why not replicate this idea in a social media campaign? You could promote a new product, offer daily discounts, introduce new shipping options, identify some of your highlights over the year, or a mix of everything!

The countdown also helps your customers keep track of how many days they have left to order from your store, leading us to our next point.

Publish your Christmas operating hours

If your operating hours are slightly different over the Christmas holidays, notify your customers. It’s easy for customers to forget operating hours, so make sure you post about it regularly and update this information across all your shopping platforms.

Add value by offering the option of gift wrap

Not everyone enjoys wrapping; it can be expensive and time-consuming. Therefore, why not offer the option of gift wrap at an additional cost? Get creative with festive fonts, packaging fillers, and handmade touches.

Similarly, personalised gifts are popular at Christmas because they add sentimental value. If you sell a customisable product, why not offer this option during the run-up to Christmas at an extra fee?

Tis’ the season to be giving

Giving is so important at Christmas. Why not reward your customers and run an online Christmas giveaway?

You could giveaway lots of small prizes or one big prize; the point is you are giving back to your customers. Plus, it helps boost brand awareness. We will be running seasonal promotions very soon, so keep an eye out on our voucher codes page.

Another Christmas social media post idea is to showcase your favourite charity or an organisation you’re passionate about. You could collaborate with them or promote their social accounts/website so your customers know how they can support the cause.

Send parcels with reliable couriers

Fast and reliable shipping is essential for a positive customer experience. When you book with Interparcel, you have access to a range of affordable courier services. Whether you prefer to drop off parcels at a local convenience store, or have packages collected straight from your door, we have many options from you to choose from. One of the many benefits of booking through Interparcel is that our long-standing relationship with the parcel delivery companies means we can negotiate cheaper shipping prices- passing these savings on to you!

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Make Christmas delivery stress-free with Interparcel

We hope our advice above will inspire you to make the most of the Yuletide season. Create a free Interparcel Account and benefit from a range of free account features and shipping tools:

Free account set-up

Automatic address correction: no more incorrect addresses

Multi-channel fulfilment: collate orders from multiple eCommerce platforms into one place

'Send Again' and 'Return Parcel' actions: to streamline repeat and return orders

Parcel Presets: save parcel details for speedier sending on future orders

Branded Tracking: customise your own branded tracking portal and obtain a unique URL

Unlimited no-cost printing options: print your 6x4 shipping labels and A4 documents directly to your printer

Customer service: customer support available seven days a week via telephone, email, live chat and social media