With Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend just a few weeks away, the holiday season is pretty much here. And retailers need to make sure they’re fully prepared.
From marketing strategies and online design changes to in-store displays and promotions, there’s a lot on your plate. That’s why Specialty Retailer put together our 2024 Holiday Readiness Guide, filled with tips from experts on how you can best be prepared for a successful holiday season.
Looking for advice on a certain topic? Click on any topic to jump right to that particular one and skip the rest:
Black Friday and Cyber Monday Shipping Strategies
Seamless Omni-channel Shopping Experiences
Holiday Hiring
With an influx of candidates looking for holiday employment and open retail roles this season, seasonal hiring teams need quick, efficient solutions to hire at scale.
Dr. Mike Hudy, Chief Science Officer at hiring technology company HireVue, offers three ways retailers can use AI and other technology to hire seasonal workers before the competition does:
- Match skills, not titles. AI allows retailers to widen their recruiting funnel with smart, chat-based job matching. Conversational AI matches candidates to jobs they best fit, not just the ones they search for. And when seasonal job titles vary greatly in name, it’s important to have technology in place that recognizes the skills a candidate has that can be advantageous for major roles.
- Offer skill assessments. Making quality hires is one thing, but ensuring they stick with you is another. Offering a skill assessment to candidates can give a glimpse into what their day-to-day would look like so they know if it’s something they want to keep pursuing. The right science-backed assessment can help teams understand if candidates are the right fit — helping them discover the potential in each of them.
- Start texting. GenZ candidates, born between 1997-2012, are a digitally-native generation. They grew up with the internet, smartphones and social media. When they prefer texting, it’s important that you meet them there because playing phone and email tag is not only outdated but inefficient.
- Invites & Reminders: Send a text invitation to remind candidates to complete video interviews or assessments. This also includes the ability to reschedule or cancel video interviews.
- Text-to-Apply: Advertise job openings with QR codes or text codes.
- Direct Messaging (Text Recruiting): 1:1 or mass text campaigns sent from within a dashboard (not your personal phone). Easily engage your past employees about new opportunities or touch base on last-minute details with new hires.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday Shipping Strategies
According to a YouGov report, 36% of Americans are planning to participate in Black Friday, while 34% are set to shop during Cyber Monday this year. However, shoppers expect to spend less this year, with 27% saying they’ll spend less and just 9% anticipating spending more.
This is due in part to inflation and continued stress on shoppers’ wallets. E-commerce marketing automation platform Omnisend also conducted a report on BFCM shopping, finding that 44% of respondents are willing to wait for more than a week for their parcel to arrive if it means they’ll get the item for a lower price.
Offering longer shipping windows in exchange for discounts can be a strategic move for retailers this holiday season.
Omnisend senior e-commerce expert Greg Zakowicz offers some BFCM shipping strategies for retailers:
- Prioritize transparent communication. Be upfront about delivery times. Shoppers expect delays during BFCM, so clear communication builds trust and sets proper expectations.
- Avoid overcommitting to speed. Slower, but cheaper shipping can actually enhance the appeal of your offers.
- Offer tiered shipping options. Provide free standard shipping alongside faster, paid options. This lets you cater to both price-sensitive and convenience-focused customers.
- Use shipping time as a sales tool. Position longer shipping times as part of the savings. Customers are often willing to wait if it means securing a better deal.
- Monitor and adjust. If long shipping times lead to cart abandonment, highlight guaranteed delivery dates, or use automated emails to offer additional discounts.
“As consumers become more price-sensitive, the huge popularity of companies like Temu and Shein shows that many are willing to wait longer for deliveries if it means significant savings,” Zakowicz says. “For most shoppers, affordability now takes precedence over speed. Especially during the BFCM season, brands prioritizing fast delivery risk missing out on the growing demand for lower prices.”
Social Media Marketing
Social media continues to be one of the easiest and cheapest ways to market yourself today. But in order to be successful, retailers need to take a multichannel, data-driven approach to reach their consumers.
With TikTok’s new search ad product function and the overall rise of short-form content, Mike Ford, CEO of Skydeo, advises retailers to focus on video-heavy strategies that are authentic, engaging and built around trending topics.
“Personalization is key,” he says. “Brands need to understand their audience and use platforms like TikTok to deliver relevant, real-time content. The content needs to be tailored per platform — platform nuance matters, and it’s no longer enough to post the same thing everywhere.”
The most successful strategies this year will combine the following:
- Social Discovery
- Search Intent
- Personalized Engagement Across Multiple Channels
“Retailers should also be leveraging first-party and deterministic data to create precise audience segments, targeting shoppers at various points in their buying journey,” adds Ford.
As easy as it can be to market yourself on social media, CSP VP of growth Jesse Farley warns retailers of some marketing no-no’s to stay away from this holiday season:
- Lead with a discount. When you create a pattern of discounting, and then you stop discounting, your customers will find another brand to shop from. Instead of leading with a discount, get personal with consumers so they can get to know your brand instead of just the discounts you offer.
- Forget your audience. There are so many technology tools out there that know your audience better than you because they compile all the data on them. But you still need to get to know your customers past the data and numbers, so always make sure to keep in touch with them through whatever means.
- Knee jerk reactions. Whether it be trying the newest technology, social media platform or participating in the latest trends, immediately hopping on the bandwagon doesn’t always equate to success. Instead, keep your eye on certain trends to see how well they’re doing and discuss any ideas with your team before you try something new.
A great example of effective social media marketing can be seen with pecan milk brand PKN. Founder Laura Shenkar noticed that PKN’s customers were drawn to experiences as well as the authenticity of the brand, so for this holiday season, PKN is focused on bringing out interactive, visually intriguing and shareable product experiences through social media that resonate with consumers on a personal and nostalgic level.
“Going into Thanksgiving and the holiday season, we know that pecans are loved by Americans across the country at family gatherings,” Shenkar says. “Everyone gets excited about pumpkin spice, and yet we are hearing from our customers that their interest in pecans and other fall flavors are growing in demand, as they harken back to childhood and warm feelings related to the season.”
By listening to customers and keeping tabs on holiday trends, PKN is meeting its marketing goals.
Seamless Omni-channel Shopping Experiences
Holiday shopping has changed. Consumers these days want a seamless experience across all channels, which includes online and in-store.
How can you accomplish this? Amit Patel, SVP of Consulting Services at Consulting Solutions, offers some advice:
- Merge your physical and online platforms. This includes social media and voice technology. Have everything aligned similarly, such as available payment options, discounts and promotions, and products offered.
- Personalization. Customers expect consistency, ease and personalization whether they’re in-store, online or shopping through mobile. This means retailers need to consider every touchpoint for tailored and effortless interactions.
- Understand your customers’ preferences. Data-driven insights are key for delivering personalized experiences, such as customized recommendations or promotions.
- Excellent customer service. No matter where your customers are shopping, superior service is vital in order to make a sale and create loyal customers. This includes phone support and chatbots.
“Those retailers that can master an integrated, omni-channel approach can give themselves a competitive edge in driving loyalty and revenue,” Patel says.
Utilizing AI is key for a seamless omni-channel shopping experience. Personalized AI provides advanced data analytics from improved shopping experiences to customized marketing strategies, notes Brett Beveridge, CEO and founder of The Revenue Optimization Companies.
“In addition to AI, retailers now have access to AR, which allows them to invest in technologies to enhance product visualization and allow customers to ‘try before they buy’ in a virtual space,” he says.
Discounts and Special Offers
To compete against the tidal wave of competition, almost all retailers offer discounts and special offers around the holiday shopping season. But in order to truly entice customers to purchase from your brand, what messaging is the most eye-catching?
According to CSP’s Farley, you must talk to shoppers as humans instead of transactions.
“People are starting to learn that computers are running the show and that they’re being spoken at, not spoken to,” he says. “So, when you think about this human-first approach, whether it be paid search or SEO, it all comes down to understanding your audience, what they’re looking for and then facilitating that journey through whichever means they choose.”
Once you know your audience and their preferences, you can then tailor that discount or special offer to their personal tastes, resulting in a human-first offer.
Gift Guides
Mailer gift guides are probably one of the greatest things to have died down once e-commerce took the reins. They’re not only a great interactive element for kids to create a Santa wish list, but they’re also great for promoting your products and letting shoppers know what you have to offer.
And while printing prices have definitely gone up, retailers can still easily create a digital gift guide. Simply add another category tab to your website titled “Gift Guide” and add any and all products to it that would make for perfect gifts.
“Gift guides are a great way to help people who don’t know how to purchase products for their loved ones or family members,” says Farley. “It gives them insight as to what’s out there.”
