Ready or not, the holiday shopping season has begun! Consumers have started their shopping early this year amidst the news of expected supply chain issues and delivery delays. Business Insider states that retailers and logistics experts have encouraged shoppers to start their holiday shopping prior to Black Friday to ensure they are prepared for gift giving this season.
Though the holiday season’s halls seem to be decked with potential supply chain issues and delivery delays, there are still several ways you can make a positive impact on your business sales.
1. Only Submit “In Stock” Items in Your Shopping Feed
Shoppers are searching for items that are available for them to purchase now. Make sure that you’re utilizing the great features available to you (like the “Availability” attribute) in your Google product shopping feed. This attribute tells Google and your holiday shoppers if the products on their holiday shopping lists are in stock.
Besides using this attribute for “in stock” and “out of stock” items, it also supports a “preorder” and “backorder” option. The best practice is to only submit those items that are in stock. Learn more about how you can use this attribute in your Google product shopping feed.
2. Highlight “Pickup Today” & “Curbside” in Your Shopping Feed
As mentioned above, we know that shoppers are searching for items that they can purchase “now”. Add the “Pickup Today” and “Curbside” attributes in your Google product shopping feed if your business has a retail location. This can help drive conversions and allow your customers to fulfill their desire to purchase your products now. These attributes also have the potential to help bypass any possible delivery delays (or any delivery time at all!) along with making the holiday shopping season easier for your customers.
3. Highlight Stock Availability on Your Website
Whether customers find your website through a shopping feed or an alternate channel, we know they are aware of this season’s potential delays. It is important to highlight the items in your feed that are in-stock or have other delivery options available. Adding verbiage like “In Stock” with nearby stores listed in tandem with your products may inspire shoppers to make their purchase if they know you have what they’re looking for.
In addition, make a positive impact on your website conversions by adding urgency to your highlighted in-stock products. Use phrases like, “Hurry! Low in Stock” or “Don’t Delay!”. The right language can add urgency without being pushy which may encourage shoppers to take action and complete their purchase.
4. Abandoned Cart Messaging
Most ecommerce businesses send out a triggered abandoned cart email or SMS text message when a shopper adds items to their cart and provides their email address but doesn’t complete a checkout. (If you don’t, you should!) This is a great way to try and win those sales. Be sure to carry through the messaging about stock availability in the abandoned cart message using phrases like “Hurry, supplies are limited”, “Low stock – order soon!” That added reminder may be the tipping point for a consumer to complete their purchase with you rather than shopping around elsewhere.
5. Back In Stock Notifications
Your shoppers have made their lists and are checking them twice (and maybe even a third time) if the products they’re looking for are out of stock. Add a feature to your website for shoppers to be notified through an email or SMS message when the out of stock items they’re interested in are back in stock.
For example, when an item is out of stock on Ikea.com, they add out-of-stock messaging to the product’s display page with the option to sign up for Back In Stock notifications. They also include the option to check other IKEA stores to try to help customers find the products they are looking for as they continue their holiday shopping
6. Target Your Prospect and Customer Mailing Lists with Addressable Geofencing
If you’re a direct mail cataloger who is facing the challenges of being unable to send out catalogs due to paper supply issues – don’t fret! You can still target your customers digitally with Addressable Geofencing.
Addressable Geofencing can target up to 1 million household addresses with your business’s digital ads on over 600,000 apps and websites. This is a great way to utilize your customer database and target your audience while they’re at their home, and then continue to retarget ads for up to 30 days.
7. OTT Advertising
While holiday shopping is on the forefront of our customers’ minds, we know there are other aspects of the season that bring holiday cheer to many households – from visiting family or baking cookies to curling up by the fireplace to stream their favorite holiday movies.
More people than ever are using streaming services like Hulu, YouTubeTV and HBOmax to watch their favorite television shows and of course – holiday movies! You can target your customers with streaming OTT Advertising on their mobile devices and in their living rooms.
Similar to Addressable Geofencing, with OTT Advertising, you can target household addresses while layering demographic and interest data to reach a highly engaged audience streaming TV. OTT is evolving faster than any other digital marketing channel, and it’s easier than ever to reach your audience with 15, 30 or 45 second video ads while avoiding the traditional costs of television commercial advertising.
How can we help?
On Dasher, on Dancer, on Prancer and Vixen! Combatting ecommerce supply chain issues and delivery delays this holiday shopping season will be nothing but merry and bright for your business.
Need a hand getting any of these tips implemented into your marketing strategy? The Blue Tangerine team is ready to help. Give us a jingle today!
