Maximising pre-Xmas sales on your ecommerce site

Forget doing a Christmas push for your digital marketing campaigns exclusively in December. 10% of online shoppers in the UK will have completed their Christmas shopping in November. 

There will always be that rush on last-minute Christmas presents but the key is to start your pre-Christmas campaigns early. 

TL;DR - in short

Don’t miss out on sales. Make sure you start early, updating your landing pages or create specific ones and targeted paid campaigns to drive relevant traffic. Mobile optimisation should be a given, consider pop-up calls to action and if you don’t already have a loyalty program for returning customers, you may be missing out on repeat business. Probably the most important - personalise your campaigns.

Here are our tips and ideas to get you started:

• Start your Christmas online campaigns early
• Update your site(s) existing and new landing pages
• Create targeted paid campaigns 
• Optimise for mobile
• Consider pop up calls to action
• Leverage customer loyalty strategies
• Personalisation is key

Start your Christmas online campaigns early

Shoppers are looking to get ahead
With the Christmas rush being an inevitable part of the online shopping experience, many festive shoppers are looking to get ahead and buy before things get too busy.

More shopping being completed earlier
The number of shoppers completing their Christmas shopping by November is predicted to continue rising over time, as more shoppers find frustration in last-minute shipping delays in the final days before Christmas.

It takes time to plan well 
Planning an effective campaign takes time, and you shouldn’t overlook the potential in giving yourself more time to plan something special.

Update your site(s) - existing and new landing pages

First impressions count. But in the run-up to Christmas, it’s first impressions to the max! People are shopping at speed hoping to bag a great offer before the rush in December, or browsing multiple potential sites for their ideal Christmas purchases. So you’re fighting for attention.

1. Update existing landing pages

• You can enhance your existing landing pages to draw attention and build out new pages specifically for your seasonal offers.

• Highlight your best deals and most popular products above the fold so any customers of your site don’t have to hunt for the best of what you’re offering. 

• Make any CTAs clear and bold, encouraging users to make the purchase, not just peruse your pages.

2. Creating new landing pages 

• Does the campaign warrant a new landing page specifically for your Christmas push rather than editing an existing one?

• You could be more personalised with the language and imagery you use.

• Consider A/B testing landing page options for the best conversion rates.

Create targeted paid campaigns 

Organic reach can only do so much. If you want to guarantee more eyes on your site, use paid campaigns through Google or other search engines to bring in impressions.

Here’s what we mean:

• Looking to showcase your finest Christmas offers? It’s time for a paid campaign.

• Want to bring in some new demographics for the festive season? A paid campaign can help.

• Hoping for more returning customers after your success last Christmas? Get a paid campaign going.

Use paid campaigns to improve visibility

Paid campaigns can be structured and highly targeted, so you only need to spend on demographics that really matter to you. Customers want your deals and they don’t want to have to hunt them down. Get to the top of Google search results through strategic paid campaigns.

Get creative to stand out

You can also get creative with your paid campaigns, crafting video and image-based campaigns that draw the eye and help you stand out from the crowd. A blend of social media and search/display Google ads can be a winning combination, as many shoppers are browsing social media for gift ideas as Christmas approaches.

Bid strategy tips

We’d recommend saving on costs through spending your available budget wisely. Bid on product specific keywords, rather than hyper-pricey Christmas savings keywords that just aren’t detailed enough. People know what they’re looking for, so get specific.

Optimise for mobile

Mobile browsing for Christmas purchases is rising every year, with 60% of all global e-commerce sales being made on mobile as of 2023. This is only set to increase.

In short, if you want to make the most of your Christmas sales, you need to be optimising for mobile devices.

1. Mobile-specific landing pages

Consider mobile specific landing pages, designed with vertical scrolling in mind, for your key offers. Your most popular products and services should be presented at their best on mobile devices, highlighting their features simply and effectively.

2. Mobile-first design

With mobile, less is often more. Keep away from reams of text or images that take an age to scroll past, and instead opt to cherry-pick the finest way to showcase everything that makes your products stand out.

3. A mobile-friendly checkout

Ensure you have a user-friendly checkout experience and site performance on mobile devices.

• Is the layout designed for vertical scrolling?

• Are your buttons as tappable as they are clickable? 

• Have you reduced loading times and any complications within your checkout experience?

• Do you offer multiple payment options?

• Is the design uncluttered - clear and easy to use? 

Consider pop-up CTAs with offers 

Pop-ups can be a valuable tool for engaging users, so long as you offer something genuinely enticing for your customers. 

Capture users’ attention

• Highlighting your most exciting offers within seasonal pop-ups can help capture users' attention as they browse

• A pop-up should be seen as the first step (or the last - more on that below) in a user’s journey. 

• If you hint at brilliant offers, you’re giving customers a reason to keep searching your site, either to find the offer mentioned, or discover similar offers.

• There will be a lot of these around so think carefully about how you can make yours stand out. Our top tip is that people like people more than baubles and candy canes. And animals even more. 

• Motion is always eye-catching but proceed with caution - avoid it being a reason to exit more quickly by being overpowering. 

We like this ‘Spin to win’ idea - festive (but not overly cheesy) and everyone loves a game for engagement. 

Stay on brand

Stick to your recognised branding and tone of voice so that everything looks cohesive with the rest of your site. But don’t be afraid to throw some festive flair into their design to grab their attention.

Exit pop-ups

They don’t just need to appear on entry to the site, remember you can make excellent use of them on exit - for example, a reminder of a free shipping offer if they buy before a certain date to entice the customer back.

Leverage customer loyalty strategies

How to gain loyalty programme sign-ups

A simple way to implement this is to offer sign-ups as part of the checkout process.

• Add a sign-up option once customers have already provided all the details you need on the checkout page. 

• This should be easy for them to do and not detract from the main action of checking out.

• We’d advise monitoring the data here to make sure drop offs aren’t increasing as a result. 

• A/B testing can be your friend in this instance. 

You’re helping them speed up their future purchases and at the same time building trust through that ease of purchase. This easy process can lead to increased customer satisfaction over time, and bring in increased recurring sales.

Personalisation is key

It’s a wonderful time of the year, so give your customers a reason to want to return to your site, even after Christmas Day. 

By putting user experience at the heart of your seasonal planning, you’re being mindful of those all-important festive offers, whilst highlighting the best of what you can offer your customers as they deal with their seemingly endless Christmas shopping lists.

Summary of maximising Christmas ecommerce sales

Ecommerce around the festive period is all about problem solving. By following our tips above, you’ll be well on your way to ensuring your customers have a great time shopping this Christmas.

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