5 Tips for a Successful 2020 Holiday Season

2020 has been a tough, long year and yet somehow, the holiday season is already here!

That means we’re well in the craziness that is Q4 and everyone is discussing and researching how this year’s holiday trends are different. What do businesses need to do differently? Has the timeline changed for marketing? What are consumers really looking for this year?

All these questions and more are enough to make a busy Q4 even busier, but we’re here to help. If you’re trying to figure out what your brand needs to do this year compared to last year, look no further.

Here are our top 5 tips for a successful 2020 holiday season:

1. Start Holiday Promotions Now
   Yes, we mean today. Right now. Thanks to Amazon kicking off holiday shopping early this year with Prime Day back on October 13th, many people are already in the holiday mindset. Spruce up your website with some holiday cheer or even add a gift guide. Most are planning on shopping online more than ever, which means that consumers are already thinking of what to buy for their loved ones. So, get in front of them early and make their lives easier.
2. Be Prepared for Added E-commerce Pressure
   While overall holiday spending is expected to be similar to last year, more orders than ever will occur online. This means that there will be more pressure on e-commerce, more inventory concerns, and more customer service inquiries/return requests. Make sure to allocate the necessary resources to manage your e-commerce business.
3. Don’t Count on Last-minute Online Revenue
   With more orders being placed online, delivery providers will be overworked this year; meaning many parcels will be delayed. The smart shopper will be planning ahead, and fewer shoppers will be ordering last-minute. It will be important to work with your delivery provider and agree on guaranteed shipping dates (keeping in mind that your holiday shipping cut-off date will probably be earlier this year). Then, you can help your customers by communicating holiday shipping cut-offs early and very clearly.
4. Convert Your Stores to Pickup Points
   With stores still having a limited capacity due to COVID-19 protocols, it’s time to get creative to reduce shipping delays. One solution you could offer your customers is the option to pick up their online orders in-store. Therefore, your stores could become fulfillment centres to help ease the demand that online orders will put on warehouses.
5. Promote Creative Gifts
   Jewelry, dress shirts, and spa gift certificates? More like, puzzles, pressure cookers, and guitars! 75% of people who picked up a new hobby during lockdown intend to continue with it. That means there’s a whole new list of items you can give your loved ones for the holidays. Consumers have gotten into baking, gardening, DIY projects, sports/fitness, board games, arts and crafts, and so much more. Think outside the box when it comes to traditional holiday gift-giving.Oh, and we think the “physical gifts vs. gift certificates for experiences” debate is finally over (well, at least for a while). Most experience providers are either closed or operating in a vastly different capacity, so giving a thoughtful and physical gift is probably the way to go this year.

Overall, try to think about your company’s 2020 journey, what consumer behaviour you’ve seen, and try to extrapolate to predict what they will want this holiday season. Think about what extra value you can bring to their households, their loved ones, and most importantly, their mood. Some holiday spirit can go a long way because, at the end of the day, we are all just trying to bring even a little bit of normalcy into our lives again!

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