Free Shipping is Among the Biggest Influences on Christmas Shopping

The vast majority of consumers shopping this Christmas season will be influenced by the promotions, sales, and deals brands put out. According to recent estimates, as many as 92 percent of consumers will be swayed in purchasing decisions based off of holiday promotional offers.

 Any retailer or brand advertising this Christmas who wants to position their products and/or services as must-haves must understand what offers are more effective than others in attracting customers. According to a recent survey analyzing this exact subject, it was found that free shipping was the most sought after holiday promotional offer with 58% of consumers admitting this to be high priority. The other holiday promotions that made the list included some sort of money-off promotion with 48% of consumers having this on their wish list. Next in line was ‘buy one, get one free’ offers which attracted approximately 37% of consumers.

 For new brands in the holiday retail marketing space, these are key percentages that you will want to remember. By employing offers like these, you may be able to attract business that would otherwise be lost to other brands.

 There’s also something to be said for loyalty program rewards and loyalty programs in general. Loyalty programs work for a wide number of reasons as it encourages buying, may potentially lead to impulse purchases when renewing rewards, and communicates a sense of gratitude to clientele for choosing your brand. More than 59% of consumers this Christmas season will be using loyalty program rewards to make purchases and approximately 21% will want to gain loyalty rewards through their Christmas shopping.

 Depending on your category of the marketplace your business may be in, there is a lot to weigh in terms of what deals you may want to employ. The definitive one though for online ecommerce-based storefronts and businesses is free shipping. Even when a delivery charge is small, studies have shown that it can still de-motivate a consumer from purchasing. According to a recent report issued by IMRG, more than 56% of consumers who abandoned their online shopping carts did so due to delivery concerns and of those, the majority stated additional costs of delivery as being their primary reason.

 As an online store, you need to make the checkout process as easy as possible and especially throughout the Christmas season when competition is strong. Throughout the last two months of the year, retailers more 40 percent or more of their annual revenues in this holiday period. This makes it a necessity to plan ahead of time and to create offers that appeal to your clientele.

 Delivery promises, including free delivery, free returns, and next-day delivery are all things you may want to look into. Many shoppers are going for simply the best deal possible and if you’re not offering free shipping yet, there’s more than a good chance your nearest competitor is. Brands need to build a base of holiday promotion approaches that resonate with their target audience. By doing so, any business can achieve their revenue aims for the holiday season and see increased returns throughout the year to come!