How Marketers & Retailers Can Navigate A Tricky Christmas Season

In this guest post, Tunc Bolluk (pictured below), VP APAC at Validity offers tips to Aussie marketers and retailer worried about the pending Christmas season…
Often referred to as the ‘Golden Quarter’, the holiday season is one of the busiest and most lucrative times of the year for retailers. And after what has been a tumultuous and economically tough year, the final push to boost holiday revenue is more important than ever.
With many consumers feeling overwhelmed by the thought of holiday shopping, businesses need to take a considered approach to marketing and improving the customer experience to keep customers engaged.
Here are some ways that retailers can meet customers’ needs and navigate a tricky holiday season.
Rely on data
We live in a world where everything can be captured and stored as valuable data — from a customer’s personal information including their name and DOB, down to their preferences such as the size clothing they wear, favourite colours, and styles.
Having important information about your customers at your fingertips means you can personalise their shopping experience based on their precise interests, needs, and behaviours – making gift buying an easier and more enjoyable experience for them.
It’s generally considered best practice to capture, store, and manage customer data in a CRM system. However, even when a retailer has CRM system in place, this doesn’t mean that the data in it is always accurate. In fact, Validity ’s report The State of CRM Data Management found the single biggest data quality issue for organisations (including retail) is missing/incomplete data, with 69% of respondents reporting this problem.
With that in mind, retailers should convey the importance of correctly inputting data as much data as the customer is willing to offer into the CRM system to floor staff and marketing administrators in the lead up to Christmas. This data is vital when it comes to tailoring customer experience, as well as managing things like inventory.
Prioritise email
With so much noise to compete with around holiday season, retailers would do well to prioritise their email marketing strategies in order to stand out from the crowd. According to DMA’s Marketing Email Tracker 2020 report, email generates an ROI of $35 for every $1 spent — making it the most cost effective channel to communicate and market to shoppers come Christmas time.
Keep in mind though that mailbox providers – and consumers for that fact – have to deal with far higher than average quantities of inbound mail around holiday season. Therefore, businesses need to hold their communications to an even higher standard than usual to ensure they are prioritised by mailbox providers and opened by recipients.
Here are some ways that retailers can give their email program an edge:
- Personalise emails. Simply addressing the subscriber by name can boost open rates by 2%, and personalising further by providing discount codes that are relevant to the recipient’s needs and interests, or making helpful suggestions can increase open rates by anywhere from 11% to 55%.
- Pick your timing. Interestingly, email traffic tends to spike on the hour so retailers can try and avoid the hourly traffic jam by scheduling emails to be sent out at less competitive times e.g., 11.15am, 2.45pm, etc.
- Subject lines are important. There is a strong correlation between subject lines and click-rates, which interestingly increases as subject lines get longer. This is thought to be because subsribers have more information about the officers they will be viewing and are therefore more primed to act.
- Avoid overkill. Only communicate to your customers when you have something valuable to say or offer them. The last thing you want is for your customers to unsubscribe because they feel harassed by too much contact. Beyond emailing customers with special holiday deals or offers, other times it is appropriate to email them include sharing important details like adjusted opening hours for stores and COVID protocols that they truly need to know about.
- Be mobile friendly. Over half of consumers report they have unsubscribed from a brand’s emails because they weren’t optimised for mobile. Avoid being another statistic by using a simple responsive email template – these take the guesswork out of preparing and optimising emails for mobile.
Draw on loyalty
In the lead up to the holiday season, make sure your subscribers know the value of signing up to your loyalty program to receive special insights and exclusive deals. Getting consumers on board with loyalty programs early can help to generate repeat sales and increase the value of orders over the holiday season.
By promoting your loyalty program via your email campaign now, you’re less likely to be competing with the onslaught of marketing emails that signal the peak holiday season.
Provide options
Giving customers options and convenience when it comes to what type of content they want to receive and how frequently will be most imperative for keeping customers on side this holiday season. Having already made so many adjustments to their lives as a result of COVID-19, many consumers are likely to feel overwhelmed by the prospect of holiday shopping. Give customers options to shop how they want, when they want. This includes giving them an option to ‘snooze’ the email program if it’s not necessarily something they’re thinking about over holiday season.
Furthermore, offering a variety of ways for consumers to receive their goods, for example, click and collect, curbside pick-up, and free shipping, caters for people’s different needs and comfort levels. You can personalise the subscriber experience further by including a function within the email to locate their closest store.
Manage your operations
There’s nothing more frustrating for customers when it comes to holiday shopping than when the item they want is out of stock, the website they’re trying to buy from crashes, their delivery is late or goes missing, or when they can’t get through to the customer service centre – all of these things are very possible and even common when it comes to holiday season.
With that, be sure to be prepared for all of these scenarios in advance. For instance, knowing that website traffic over the holiday season will be significantly higher, make sure that products are available online are sufficiently stocked, or go a step further and contract some additional customer service team members to assist over the busier period. You might even want to consider holding back stock and managing slow releases, so products don’t sell out immediately which gives consumers more opportunities to shop your brand. If you do sell out of a product, sending a ‘back in stock’ email is a great way to prompt another sale and create a positive brand experience when it’s available again.
The stakes are high for retailers this holiday season, but by taking a considered and strategic approach to engaging customers by using these strategies, retailers will stand to reap the rewards of a successful holiday period.
Please login with linkedin to comment
Tunc BollukLatest News

Doritos Champions Infamous Orange Dust In New Campaign Via VaynerMedia, TRIO & Mango Communications
There's three absolute givens at any B&T bash - the Jatz, the Dorito and the fruity lexia.

Alan Jones (AKA Gloria) Threatens To Sue Nine Papers Over Indecent Assault Allegations
Why does B&T get the feeling that Alan might actually enjoy a stint in an all-male prison?

Adobe: Calming Rhythms, Nostalgia & Wonder & Joy Set To Dominate Creativity
Be first to read the Adobe Creative Trends 2024 Report here. And there's sparse news for fans of the knickerbocker.

Archibald Williams Wins NBA Digital, Activation & Fan Engagement Accounts For APAC
Independent brand and digital agency, Archibald Williams (AW) has been appointed to lead the NBA account across the APAC region. The NBA is one of the most prestigious sporting leagues in the world and basketball is one of the fastest-growing sports in Australia. Effective immediately, AW said it was “excited” to work across all digital, […]

Tennis Bad Boy Nick Kyrgios To Create New Athlete Content On OnlyFans
Tennis brat takes time off from embarrassing the nation to reveal new social media initiative.

Before Adland: The Media Store’s Sam Cousin’s Journey From Parisienne Nanny To Chief Strategy Officer
B&T's shining a light on industry folk prior to adland. Preference given to anyone purporting actual UFO abduction.

Thursday TV Ratings: Seven’s Big Bash Debuts To Sluggish 318K
The fact that it's December, meteorologically confirms summer is officially here. Cricket just gives it a nudge along.

Spotify CFO Walks As Problems Grow For Streaming Giant
Spotify CFO heads for the Spotify exits. Has requested "Don't You Forget About Me" as preferred leaving song.

TV Reporter Gives Withering Takedown After Being Fat Shamed Live On Air
Haven't yelled "you go, girl" for some time now? Clear the throat and ready the fist pumps with this overnight news.

BBC Presenter Left Red-Faced After Sticking Middle Finger Up LIVE-ON-AIR!
B&T warns this article contains gesticulations readers may find offensive. Yet, nothing you don't see driving every day.

QMS Champions Creativity As First Most Contagious APAC 2023 Sponsor
Leading digital outdoor company QMS has announced it is the first-ever inaugural partner for Most Contagious APAC, the landmark London event by creative and strategic intelligence company Contagious, which will be showcased in Australia on Tuesday, 12 December in Sydney and Wednesday, 13 December in Melbourne. Most Contagious is an event that delivers key advertising […]

OMG’s Annalect First To Get Meta’s Advanced Analytics
Omnicom’s data and analytics division Annalect has partnered with Meta, giving it access to Advanced Analytics (AA) – one of Meta’s privacy-focused measurement solutions – to provide Omnicom’s clients with future-proof, next-level measurement. Omnicom is the first holding company to have access to AA. AA allows advertisers to combine their first-party data with Meta’s ads […]

Foxtel Wins Exclusive Multi-Year Rights Extension With International Cricket Boards
Are you such a weird cricket tragic you even watch games when NOT played in Australia? Foxtel has exciting news for you.

News Corp Launches One-Off Taylor Swift Mag Ahead Of Aussie Tour
Thought we'd reached peak Tay Tay overload? News Corp declares "f@ck that" with a new print iteration.

It’s Quiz Time: Team B&T Got 100% – Can You?
Take B&T's Friday trivia, outrageously cheat, & go into the draw to win a $100 booze voucher! Alcohol & con artistry!

AKQA Launches Eco-Conscious AI DIY Assistant Encouraging People To Gift More Sustainably
WPP’s AKQA has launched Fixmas.gift, an environmentally conscious AI-powered DIY assistant, affectionately known as Fixie, for a one-stop solution for all things repair. Fixmas.gift hosts an array of guides and inspiration to empower people to prolong the lives of their belongings or purchase pre-owned items that need a little love and care. Fixie can: Help […]

wildbean cafe Launches Cheesy New Campaign Via Ogilvy
B&T feels like we're cheating on our barista with this news. And, for that, we'd like to apologise to 7-Eleven too.

Chris Freel Announces Departure From UnLtd
UnLtd boss, Chris Feel, announces departure after six years. Says he won't miss those shithouse industry cricket games.

Marc Collister: AI & Automation Set To Revolutionise Creativity In 2024
Marc Collister (pictured) of P2 Content Creators spills the beans on his 2024 predictions drawing from two decades of experience in the advertising, film and television industry. I’m certain it will come as no surprise that in 2024, we can expect our industry to move at breakneck speed again. With even more rapid shifts in […]

Reddit Recap Reveals That Aussies Went Nuts For The Tillies, Eurovision And, Erm, Finance
Reddit reveals its hits and its misses for 2023. Oddly, Meghan strangely absent from either list.

Zeno Group Australia Bolsters Client Offerings With An Expanded Creative Services Portfolio & New Senior Leader
Zeno Australia has announced expanded creative design capabilities and the appointment of Jim Michell (lead image) to its senior leadership team. The new moves support strong growth in the region. Zeno Australia’s clients, including Abano Healthcare, Motorola and Yorkshire Tea, can now tap into a suite of creative design services to augment the agency’s work […]

Spikes Asia Announces Its 2024 Jury Line-Up
This is a wake-up call to start planning your 2024. Even more so if 2023 turned out a badly planned disaster.

Assembled Media Inks TikTok Creator Campaign for BIC
Assembled Media, is drawing upon the creative power of TikTok Creator Marketplace to help generate unique, impactful content for iconic stationery brand, BIC. The social activation campaign titled ‘A Pen for Every Side of You’ promotes the flexibility of BIC’s 4 Colours pen and is active nationwide on the BIC Stationery TikTok account. The campaign […]

Wednesday TV Ratings: Aussies Sign Up For Taronga Zoo
With animals proving a ratings winner for the networks yet again, we're expecting odd marsupial cooking mash-ups soon.

If You Can’t Beat The System, Cheat The System: Hardhat Launches ‘Cheat Codes For Challenger Brands’.
Independent creative and CX agency Hardhat has launched an Australian-first suite of growth accelerators; ‘Cheat Codes for Challenger Brands’.

Melinda Petrunoff: Pinterest Predicts Is A “Cheat Sheet” For 2024
Pinterest reckons jellyfish & moody cowboys will be big in 2024. Refused to be drawn on the return of shoulder pads.

IAB Launches Fourth Module In Its Marketing Measurement Innovation Series
IAB Australia has launched ‘Evolution in Market Mix Modelling’, the fourth module in its Marketing Measurement Innovation Series, which has been developed by IAB Australia’s Ad Effectiveness Council. The module explores what is driving the increased use of MMM and how the technique is evolving with advances in computing power and machine learning to provide […]

Scope3 Expands Carbon Measurement Capabilities To Include DOOH Advertising
Scope3, the collaborative sustainability platform leading the decarbonisation of media and advertising, announced the addition of digital out-of-home (DOOH) to its emissions measurement. With DOOH ad spending predicted to grow from $17B in 2023 to nearly $24B by 2028, measuring this channel brings us one step closer to understanding the total impact of digital advertising […]

VOZ Enters Final Phase Of Total TV Viewing
This headline can be made so much more appealing by reading it with a Darth Vader-like inflection.

Selfies! Swipes! Scrolling! It’s The Best Of The Best Social Media Directors, Presented By Finecast, Part Of GroupM Nexus
Social media's far more than faffing about with videos of the office dog, as these digital maestros attest.

Thinkerbell Unveils Pringles “Shoot From The Chip” After Winning Competitive Pitch
Other than heroin, nicotine and Sex In The City re-runs, is there anything more addictive than the Pringle chip?

Now Open For Registration – NRF 2024: Retail’s Big Show Asia Pacific
NRF 2024: Retail’s Big Show Asia Pacific, is now open for online registrations for the main conference. Jointly organized by the National Retail Federation and Comexposium, Retail’s Big Show Asia Pacific will take place from 11 – 13 June, 2024 at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore and is expected to draw thousands […]

“He Cannot Die Without People Knowing What He’s Done”: Alan Jones Accused Of Indecently Assaulting Young Men
As sad as it is to say about these unsavoury allegations, why does it not come as any real surprise?

B&T TV – Jasmin Bedir On Why Trade Media Needs To “Drop The Shade”
Much like the arrival of tequila shots, you know you're in for a rollicking good time when Jasmin Bedir gets involved.

Kmart Does Christmas Via Dentsu Creative
Kmart is always B&T's one-stop shop at Christmas. Particularly for people we don't overly like.

Wavemaker Promotes James Boardman To Chief Strategy Officer
James Boardman amps up his Dungeons & Dragons creds as he's named Wavemaker's chief strategy officer.