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How to Dominate The Holiday Season

September 7, 2016 / 4 minute read / By Ian Goldman

By Ian Goldman | CEO, Celerant Technology

If you’re like most retailers, the fourth quarter accounts for at least 40 percent of your total annual revenue. Holiday performances can easily make or break the year. How do you make sure consumers spend with you during the busiest shopping season?

One of the biggest challenges during the holiday season is retail planning, and that’s exacerbated by the dynamic behavior of today’s omnichannel consumers. While it’s important to look back at strategies that fed your sales as you plan ahead, it’s vital to account for business and industry changes to avoid becoming “holiday leftovers.”

E-Commerce is Converting More Than Ever

The importance of e-commerce is nothing new, but its role in the shopping journey is changing rapidly. Brick-and-mortar retailers should expect the majority of their shoppers to be armed with mobile devices that enable them to read reviews, check product availability and conduct price comparisons on the fly. And we’re seeing a significant increase in conversion rates from smartphones. More and more shoppers are not only researching products on your sales floor, they’re purchasing from your competitors from there, too.

Advancements in e-commerce, and mobile interfaces in particular, have propelled the channels to conversion machines. Last year, total retail sales grew by 7.9 percent in the traditional holiday season (Black Friday to Christmas Eve). E-commerce sales saw a 20 percent surge. The only way to dominate holiday sales from this point on is to align your strategy across all channels and ensure each one has a fast and easy path to conversion. Make it easy for today’s “always on” omnichannel shoppers to convert the moment intent strikes by ensuring e-commerce channels are connected to real-time inventory levels, promotions and discounts are reflected online, and abandoned carts are recovered quickly through remarketing. All of these tactics will help capture digital sales.

Related story: What’s Old is New Again: The Rebirth of Brick-and-Mortar

Stratification and Customization Cut Through Noise

Holiday shoppers are deluged with advertisements, and it can be difficult for retailers to be heard. Mass messaging is completely worthless to the vast majority of millennial consumers, who rely on social media shares and recommendations from friends to make purchase decisions. The best way to reach all customers — and the only way to reach some — is through customized messaging delivered directly to their inboxes and social media feeds.

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