2023 is now in full swing and it’s business as usual for the in-store and online sales markets. Although it’s still early in the year, you may have already noticed a drop in customer spending after the many weeks of high festive season sales. This is a pattern most businesses have become used to. January and February tend to be the lowest spending months of the year as people try to recover from the amount of buying they did in November and December. That, however, does not mean that your sales or customer engagement cannot have to drop. With some planning and strategic execution, you can keep your sales and customer interactions levelled. Here are some tips on how to avoid the first quarter slump.
1. Use the festive season activity to your advantage
If your 2022 closed off similar to other online retailers, then you were able to sell more products to both old and new customers. This means you have recent information on the type of products these customers have bought, their preferences (e.g. colour, size, payment choice), and their personal details. With this data, you can create targeted marketing campaigns that speak directly to each consumer. For example, sending customers useful information and suggesting complimentary products on a product they bought in December.
2. Consider customers’ current position
Creating campaigns that understand customers’ current needs and abilities is quite important. Remember that customers are buying less products because they have less money on hand to spend. However, this does not mean that they lose interest in the products they still want. It just means you need to implement some options into your eCommerce and business model that will work for them. This includes:
- Implementing wish-list and buy-it-later/buy-now-pay-later features
- Pushing January and February promotions/sales
- Giving discounts to new customers/new registrations
- Retarget marketing to new customers made during the last quarter
3. Clear your old stock
Regardless of how much people purchased in the previous year, there will always be some items that did not sell as well as one would expect them to. You are welcome to hold on to those products and keep trying to sell them at the same, original price. Alternatively, you can bring more customers to your online store with a clearance sale. This is a great way to lure traffic to your website/store, sell excess stock, and showcase all the other great products customers can return for. Make use of social media and email targeted marketing to promote this sale. Better yet, personalise sales content to showcase the products/colour/style the customer likes.
This year, we want to go the extra mile to help you grow your online sales and engagement from beginning to end. So, let’s start on the right foot. Book a demo with us here and let’s discuss your business, where you want it to be, and how we can help you get there. Let’s make this a stand-out year for your online brand.