Preparing Your Business for Holiday Shopping 2020

While the impacts of COVID-19 continue to change our ways of life, one of the major ways we’ll see this change in business is with the upcoming holiday season. Specifically, we’ll be seeing the drastic impact it will have on our holiday shopping season, which is expected to be nearly as busy as usual despite economic hardship. While consumer buying trends may be lower this year than those of recent past, what remains is the consistent theme that even during economic hardships, consumers create strong holiday retail sales. This season may bring sales close to that of seasons past, but it’s crucial to keep in mind the importance of how this upcoming winter will be different and what your business can do to prepare for consumer expectations.

The days leading up to Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday may already be notorious for their online sales, but it’s expected that the online shopping turnout comes in even stronger this year. The week surrounding these holidays is the busiest shopping period of the year, but this year many buyers are looking for contact-free ways to shop, whether fully online, curbside pickup, or using ‘Buy Online, Pick Up In Store’ options. In fact, according to eMarketer, 52% of U.S. consumers will end up using the “Buy Online, Pick Up In Store” method during 2020. Start working on your e-commerce now ahead of these crucial sales periods, readying not only your website, but technical support, your employees, and your general operations.

When it comes to search engine optimization, now is the time to update your efforts there as well! According to Marketing Land, 57% of consumers turn to search when they don’t have a brand in mind– that means for this holiday season you’ll need to work on keyword research and implementation for your products and services in order to ensure eager shoppers can find your business. Not only this, but you’ll need to make sure that your website is properly functioning and streamlined to give the customers just what they want in ways to easily funnel sales.

Now is the time to start planning and acting on your holiday marketing! Early shoppers will start hitting the stores for sales by early November, so ensuring you start now can not only catch their attention but ensure you’ve also caught proper attention by the time the all-important week of Thanksgiving rolls around. If you need help planning your campaign or ensuring your website, search engine optimization, social media posts, and more are all prepared, then contact i3 today!