The holiday shopping season may be over, but December sales offer more than a quick hit of revenue. They also offer a treasure trove of new customers, data and insights that can inform new campaigns and deliver added momentum in 2020.
Whether you tried a “Dry January” pledge or a resolve to hit the gym, there is one resolution that is easy to get right in 2020. Retailers can use Q1 to capitalize on shopper insights collected in December.
The holiday shopping season might be in the rear view mirror, but it’s not time to say goodbye entirely. December sales offer more than a quick hit of revenue, they also offer a treasure trove of new customers, data and insights that can inform new campaigns and deliver added momentum in 2020.
Kibo Commerce’s research shows that the holiday shopper comes back the next year and converts much higher than the average, even compared to loyal regular shoppers, yet few marketers create a separate year long campaign just for this valuable bunch.
This is the opportunity to start new relationships and understand unique shopper differences that can inform more personalized campaigns.
For new customers, brands can set up loyalty offers that will give them a direct relationship after the holidays.
For example, brick and mortar brand REI offers shoppers the chance to spend $20 for a lifetime membership to the REI co-op, giving them access to classes, product info and special promotions.
Brands that don’t have loyalty programs, but that are able to increase email list opt-in during the retail season see the payoff later in the year.
This is also an opportunity for brands to use data to dig deeper for new segment opportunities or insights.
For example, TicketNetwork, a site that sells a wide range of tickets for live events, combines event-specific pageview data with their internal sales data to create automated alerts and personalized messaging based on trends that they see.
Segmentation can go beyond loyalty customers and “other.” For any holiday retailer, there will be discernible differences between December’s browsers, one time buyers and heavy spenders. Each of these groups should see very different messages come January, which will help brands further segment.
Don’t forget to formally welcome new customers. The answer shouldn’t always be promotions; engagement can be even more impactful at this time of year.
Environmentally conscious grocery startup Imperfect Produce used the New Year’s resolution theme to ask new customers to make and track goals for reducing waste. They will then be able to analyze who sticks to their goals and who falls off to kick off two more engaging campaigns.
As is often the case, holiday customers often are buying gifts for someone else. Brands need to dig deeper to see if they can understand this group better, but at the very least this is a potential segment ripe for upside.
For example, look for people who requested a gift box, message or receipt with their purchase, or who sent a purchase to a different address. Rather than assume that they’ll continue to want more cookbooks or hiking gear, give them a broader spectrum of products to peruse to expose them to things they might prefer for themselves.
Brands can segment regular shoppers who didn’t appear over the holiday and plan a win-back campaign. Return Path found that three quarters of lapsed customers respond to win-back campaigns, but it can take weeks or even months to get people reengaged. Planning for a win-back series now will ensure that customers start coming back throughout the new year.
Perhaps some brands can identify shoppers who are “spent out.” They have no use for sales if they aren’t going to spend, and would do better with more info about how to care about their new products, or Insta-curated content of other happy customers enjoying their gifts.
In addition to shopper segmentation, brands should be planning to use added data for more accurate marketing. Location targeting, product-based targeting and store-proximity targeting are all examples of data that can be used to deliver personalized messaging to customers come January.
Considering more contextual customer data can ensure a smooth transition from new customer to loyal customer. Just because someone bought a winter coat over the holidays doesn’t mean that they will be looking to buy more winter gear come April.
Remember, a shopper has a holiday hangover just like exhausted marketers everywhere. Everyone appreciates a thoughtful message in January. By creating moments to connect with customers and by collecting valuable insights now, marketers get an opportunity to create positive momentum that can last through to the next holiday season.
Andrew Koperwas is the Senior Director of Product Marketing and Client Marketing at Kibo Commerce where he is responsible for leading product marketing and client marketing across major offerings for ecommerce, order management and personalization. Previously, Andrew was the Senior Director of Product Marketing at Monetate, which was acquired by Kibo Commerce in 2019. Before Monetate, Andrew held product roles at Adobe and several major consumer brands.
