It’s estimated that 54% of consumers will give something to their family and friends this holiday season. Online sales have already grown 20% since November.
Buenos Aires, December 22nd, 2020 – The end of the year is coming and the various celebrations are approaching. Christmas and Three Kings’ Day are just a few days away, times of the year when sales grow exponentially. On this occasion, they’re turning especially to online channels, given our current context of the pandemic. According to a study by ShopApp, 73% of consumers will avoid large crowds when buying their gifts, which is why digital stores become an unavoidable option.
As a precedent, during CyberMonday 2020, organized by the Chamber of E-Commerce of Argentina (CACE) in November, the turnover of participating brands grew by 76% compared to 2019, exceeding $20,000 million. The items sold, meanwhile, grew by 60% from one year to the next, reaching the figure of 6 million.
Over the past nine months, there has been a lot of talk about the uncertainty in consumption this atypical year. “However, the considerable increase in consumer confidence by turning to e-commerce was a pleasant surprise. Not only of those who were already used to shopping online, but also of the new e-consumers who gave in to the modality and adapted to remote purchases. This ensured that the sector remained operational in the midst of such difficult times,” said Marisol de la Fuente, the Marketing Manager for Napse in Latin America, a leading company in e-commerce solutions in the region.
And the sector responded accordingly: against the forecasts of collapsed websites and logistics, a study by Google and Kantar found that 81% of new online Argentinian buyers had a very good or good experience in their first digital purchase, one of the higher percentages in Latin America, after Colombia (84%) and followed by Mexico (78%).
This trend didn’t slow down in the last month of the year. According to a survey carried out by Tiendanube in 40,000 stores in Argentina, online sales grew 20% in the last three weeks. During this time, more than 2,070,000 products have been sold, the average quantity per order being three.
With this in mind, Napse shares a series of good practices to keep in mind so that each business can boost its performance in the final weeks of this gift-giving season:
Promote the most desired products
It’s important to understand what was the most appealing product of the business during the year in your store and to bet on it to allure consumers. It’s also important to take into account which were the most sold and browsed categories in 2020. According to the ShopApp survey, 87% of consumers will choose to buy clothes and shoes, 54% toys and video games and 25% electronics products.
Kits are key
According to data from Napse, 54% of consumers will give their family or friends something. In view of this, it’s a good opportunity for businesses to offer kits with products for personal use, such as perfumes, cosmetics, make-up or baskets with a variety of food and drinks, offering an option capable of being customized and appealing.
Prepare the product window display
The digital window display has already proven to be very important to attract those who buy online. Given that 47% of consumers intend to buy their products through a virtual store, it’s essential for that store to be updated, adding Christmas elements to show that it’s season-ready.
Create a special website
Have a new website dedicated to the category of Christmas gifts and disseminate it in all marketing or communication campaigns carried out, in order to attract customers and strengthen your brand.
Competitive prices
It’s essential to analyze the place of action to create a sustainable price. In case of charging a higher amount than the competition, it’s advisable to demonstrate the added value that it has to justify to consumers why it’s worth paying more for the product or service offered.
The power of social media
Generate attractiveness in networks, publishing lists with gift suggestions for different types of public, creating cultural contests and awarding discounts, gift vouchers or loyalty cards, for example.
Being mobile friendly
Offering a website that adapts to different screen types and sizes will guarantee that your customers have the possibility to buy in your store accessing from any device and not leaving the store because a website was not compatible with their smartphone.
Speed
Make sure that the website is prepared to handle the atypical traffic of this season without causing slowness, three seconds being the ideal time for a website to load. To do this, the IT team or provider must perform a navigation test and verify that the website is in condition to avoid any failure.
Assistance is key
The consumer’s shopping experience is one of the most important factors to consider. That’s why there are certain necessary conditions to consider: constant availability, agile, respectful, and enthusiastic attention. Given that, during these times, the flow of inquiries and purchases increases, it’s sometimes necessary to hire a person temporarily to guarantee the customer a positive experience, regardless of the channel through which they access.
Plan logistics
Although 47% of consumers don’t agree with paying more for shipping, planning more streamlined processes in advance to supply stock, making shipments within the deadlines, and having more sustainable shipping values for customers and for the company, will give the organization a competitive advantage.
Give a good trigger
Of course, there need to be persuasion techniques. Therefore, one seeks to bet on emotional triggers to make customers buy at first sight. The best known are scarcity, urgency, and anticipation.
Boxing Day
After the celebration, when people go back to the website to request to change a product they bought, the proposal is to offer discounts of up to 70% on various products in the virtual store, pointing to an increase in the average ticket.
