When is St. Patrick's Day and how can my business get involved?

9th March 2022, 8:08am in Lifestyle by Amy Newham

St. Patrick's Day (The Feast of Saint Patrick) marks the anniversary of the patron saint of Ireland's death. Through the years, St. Patrick's Day has evolved into a popular celebration of Irish culture.

Although initially observed in Ireland and Northern Ireland, the day is widely celebrated in the UK, Canada, US, Brazil, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand.

When is St. Patrick's Day?

Celebrated on 17th March annually, the festivity started back in 1631 when the Church established a Feast Day to commemorate the death date of Saint Patrick.

How is St. Patrick's Day celebrated?

Saint Patrick's Day is a holiday in the Republic of Ireland and a bank holiday in Northern Ireland. Celebrations typically involve:

Attending parades and a céilí dance
Drinking Irish beer or whiskey
Wearing green and shamrocks.

In Chicago, the river is traditionally dyed luminous green the morning of Chicago's St. Patrick's parade. For those of you who may be concerned about green water- don't be alarmed! The dye is eco-friendly and typically fades within a week.

How are companies celebrating St. Patrick's Day?

Businesses all around the globe, small and large, love to get involved in annual holidays and festivities and St. Patrick's Day is no exception. Here are some of the ways companies are getting involved:

The Guinness Storehouse in Dublin will be offering Irish music, food, dance and of course, a pint of Guinness or two from 16th-20th March.

Multinational footwear company Nike is set to release their SB Dunk Low St. Patrick's Day trainer in vivid emerald green

Krispy Kreme will freshly deliver their 'St. Patrick's Day dozen' which includes Lucky Sprinkles, Over the Rainbow and The Leprechaun doughnuts

Of course, you don't have to be a large multinational brand to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Even if you're a small seller on online marketplaces like Etsy or eBay, many independent stores sell a range of handmade gifts like shamrock cookie cutters, greeting cards, banners and more!

How can my business participate in St. Patrick's Day?

The worldwide appeal of St. Patrick's Day, like many other holidays, makes it an excellent opportunity to get involved with celebrations and reward your customers.

Bars and restaurants are a natural fit for St. Patrick's Day but there are ways different types of companies can get involved in the holiday celebrations to help boost brand awareness and revenue. Of course, however you wish to participate, it must make sense for your business. Here are a few tips based on the trends of larger companies:

Create an exclusive St. Patrick's Day item

Marketing a limited-edition product colour or design is a great way to create demand for your products and shows your brand is aware of what is happening in the world. For example, you could create a themed food or beverage available for one week only.

Offer a unique online discount code

If you run a website or sell on eCommerce marketplaces, you could offer a limited-time discount code for all of your customers to use - for example, 17% off all items to mark 17th March.

Exclusive post-purchase promotion

Post-purchase promotions can help boost customer retention and encourage repeat purchases. Our Branded Tracking lets you add a personalised promotional banner that you can use to offer exclusive discounts to customers who have already placed an order with you.

Upgrade your product packaging

We all know the importance of creating a unique packaging experience, especially in the eCommerce industry. Adding those extra touches doesn't take much more effort than usual either- think green boxes or tissue paper, handwritten notes and a shamrock repeat print.

Fundraise for charity

Businesses can incorporate charity donations within their sales by donating a portion of their profits. Your company could include a charitable pledge by creating a banner on your website that lets customers choose from a pre-prepared list of products whereby a portion of sales will be donated to the selected cause. Shamrock Love is a non-profit social and fundraising network for the global Irish community, that aims to connect with volunteers and donors who are helping to make a difference to their community and to change the party perception of St. Patrick's Day.

What services are available to send?

With Economy, Express and Timed delivery options to suit all different budgets, we are confident we offer a service for your parcel-sending needs. Pop in your parcel dimensions and weight in our online Quote Tool for an instant list of couriers and prices. As Saint Patrick's Day is a holiday, there will be no deliveries on the 17th March, so it's best to send your goods a little earlier!

If you happen to be sending to Ireland, Landmark Global Economy Drop Off can get your parcel from the UK to Ireland in 5-7 days from £13.30. For a little bit more, Evri International Economy could deliver in 2-5 working days from £14.35. If you require a speedier service for your goods, DPD Ireland aims to deliver in 2 working days from £19.85.

St. Patrick's Day is a great occasion to get involved in and with a few strategies in place, you could see an increase in sales and customer engagement.

If you want more information on the extensive range of shipping services we offer, check out our range of couriers and create a free account with us to see all the business features accessible at your fingertips!

At Interparcel, we want all businesses to access reliable and affordable parcel delivery services! If you have any questions about how we can help you or the services we offer, give our parcel experts a call, email, or live chat message. Our team are always happy to talk parcels and are available from 8 am - 8 pm Monday to Friday and 9 am - 1 pm on weekends!