Seasons Greetings!
Yes, We Know it’s July, but the 2021 Holiday Season is Right Around the Corner!
Are you prepared? Throughout the past year, we have seen a lot of change in the world, especially in the realm of omnichannel shopping. Today, customers are much more inclined to leverage services like buy online and in-store pick-up than ever before. The pandemic shone a spotlight on the importance of a seamless omnichannel shopping experience. Many companies were fairly well prepared, but many are still trying to catch up. With the kickoff of summer and the health of the globe getting back on track, many businesses are placing their focus on the upcoming 2021 holiday season. If you haven’t begun already, it is time to start planning now!
BlueSky helps its customers every year to prepare for their peak season. If your peak season is Oct-Dec, now is the time to be planning and executing any holiday prep work. BlueSky recommends some key areas on which to focus your efforts based on our years of experience preparing for and successfully supporting peak holiday seasons.
BlueSky’s clients were well-positioned to handle 2020 holiday spikes and because of that, many of our clients saw significant growth in 2020/2021.
5 Ways to Prepare for the 2021 Holiday Season:
1. Set KPI’s
Review 2020 numbers and set key performance indicators to measure the success of your efforts and ensure you are meeting your stated objectives.
2. Targeted Personalized Experience
Customers expect this more than ever now. With the digital world upping its collective game post-Covid, it is so important to make sure that the content and products your customers are seeing are relevant to them.
3. Mobile, Mobile, Mobile
Consumers are purchasing more and more through mobile channels. Not only a focus on mobile-friendly usability is key, but also things like making sure digital wallet options are part of your mobile user experience (Apple Pay, Google Pay, Venmo) and a mobile focus (ie. app-only promotions) within your multichannel fulfillment strategy (Curbside, store pickup, delivery, etc). You may also want to consider leveraging app-only holiday promotions.Â
4. Core Web Vitals.
See our previous post for more info on Google’s Core Web Vitals, which are three specific factors that Google considers important in the user experience of your website around page load time, interactivity, and visual stability. It is important to focus on the core web vitals to ensure an excellent holiday season, but also to help with overall google rankings.Â
5. Lock-In Holiday Promotions.
Determine what special holiday deals you plan to offer and on what days. Begin to prepare any marketing or social collateral needed to deliver your unique customer experience. Also, if you do not have a gift card program, plan to introduce one before the holiday season.Â
If you’ve already got holiday readiness in motion, good for you! If you need guidance on the best approach to have a successful 2021 holiday, BlueSky can help prioritize areas of focus and expedite the implementation of your chosen holiday improvements.
