Holiday shoppers are the real gifts that (can) keep giving

Published December 19, 2011 Share

Aside from outlining some great retail strategies to boost holiday sales, Michael Koploy, ERP Analyst for Retail Software Advice, brought up another, sometimes overlooked point in his recent blog post—the holidays are also an opportunity to acquire new, loyal customers.

Every customer you work hard to convert this holiday season—with promotions like free shipping, in-store pickup and enticing discounts—has the potential to become a lifetime customer, if you play your cards right.

So what’s the winning hand?

• Don’t let your marketing suddenly go dormant after the holidays.
  Continue to interact with your customers with promotions, new product launch announcements and, if possible, marketing based on products they purchased over the holidays (e.g. Are you enjoying your new camera. How about a case to protect it?).
• Leverage your increased fan base.
  If you were able to run a holiday promotion that successfully grew your social media following (like the campaigns Michael referenced), keep working the crowd.
• Keep customer service a priority.
  Everyone needs a break after the holiday craziness, but customer service is a department that can’t take the day off (if you want happy customers). Pledge gold-star customer service beyond the holidays.
• Consider free shipping 365-days/year.
  Free shipping is one of the main reasons customers will keep buying from you. And more sales mean more margin dollars, even after you account for shipping costs. Curious about how you can make it work? Check out our free shipping whitepaper.

 

It’s been an amazing holiday sales season so far. We encourage you to keep the momentum going into 2012!