The holiday season is here, and retail and eCommerce companies are already enjoying their biggest revenues of the year. With an ever-rising surge in online shopping and more focus on a product’s value, the festive sales this year are expected to be immense for businesses.
It’s the first properly unrestricted Christmas after the pandemic, and despite the cost of living crisis, data indicates consumers are ready to spend. Due to this, we’ll likely see an increase in in-store sales compared to 2021. On top of that, competition is at an all-time high and businesses need to work smarter to make the most out of the holiday season.
One of the best ways to get ahead of your competitors is to analyse and use holiday sales data trends. To help you out, we’ve created a list of tips on how your business can use data to make the most out of the holiday season.
Let’s get started!
1. Use Last Year’s Holiday Data
There’s no better way to learn about consumer behaviour than using data from the last holiday season. Although 2020, 2021 and now 2022 have all been very different due to the pandemic, you should use that data for planning strategies and quick decision-making.
Consequently, you should also be aware of global trends and how they may affect your target audience. This will help you to create a more effective marketing strategy, leading to more sales.
However, avoid complete reliance on last year’s holiday data, as other factors can massively change a consumer’s behaviour. We recommend working with data experts at Mojo to help you create the perfect strategy this holiday season.
2. Reduce Shopping Cart Abandonment
The SalesCycle eCommerce Stats Report in 2018 mentioned that the cart abandonment rate in online stores is 75.6%. This means that while people may consider buying your product, three out of four people don’t take action.
You can analyse your cart abandonment rate and analyse the cause of it. Here are some common reasons why potential customers don’t purchase products after putting them in their cart:
Broken links
Bad pricing or pricing differences
High shipping charges or taxes
Lack of product stock
Delayed page speeds
You can get customer feedback or analyse holiday sales data trends on your eCommerce website to learn why this happens. This can help you find the root cause of the problem and you can increase the conversion rate.
Even relatively small increases in cart conversion rate can lead to an enormous increase in your sales. That’s why optimising your website now can mean great profits during the holiday season and beyond.
3. Prepare to Handle Increased Traffic
One of the biggest mistakes that companies make during the holiday season is not preparing for higher traffic and sales. If you have an eCommerce store, make sure it can handle a larger than usual number of website visitors.
The holiday season features events like Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas, meaning many more people are bound to visit your website. Due to this, use data to get an estimate of the traffic and prepare your product stock and website accordingly.
The same goes for your store. Make sure your staff are well-prepared to handle increased consumers at peak hours.
We understand it can be challenging to evaluate how much traffic and sales you may get during the holiday season. That’s why we recommend getting a business data analyst, to work with you to analyse your data and help you come up with accurate estimates. This could save you money on stock filling and assist you with preparing for holiday consumer trends in 2022.
4. Provide Quality Products to Your Customers
While it may sound obvious, you need to make sure to deliver or present products in their best condition during the holiday season. Shopify, one of the largest eCommerce platforms, quotes that product returns surge to 30% during the holiday season.
This number increases to 50% for expensive products. Having high product returns can cause massive losses to your business. It can cause issues to months of work and can ruin your brand image.
You need to invest in providing the best customer experience if you’re looking to deliver products. Some things that you need to focus on while selling products on your eCommerce websites are timely delivery, straightforward return policies and responsive customer support.
Contact Mojo — the Best Data Analysts for The Holiday Season
When you’re trying to get the most out of the holiday season, it’s crucial to analyse holiday sales data trends effectively. This can save you unnecessary costs while also increasing your sales. Here’s where our team at Mojo can help you out.
At Mojo, you will find experienced business data analysts with years of experience analysing holiday consumer trends. With our help, you can ensure that your business makes the most of the holiday season this year.
To book a meeting or find out more about how we can assist you, visit our contact page or call us on 020 3617 3241 today!
You can also use our free data impact scorecard to learn how your company can use data to its maximum potential.