The decorations are packed up, the last cookie has been eaten, and the holidays are officially over. But for retailers, the season of sales is only just beginning. The post-holiday shopping period represents a major opportunity to engage customers and keep momentum going after the holiday rush. In fact, in the week after Christmas, foot traffic can surge to 126% of the yearly average, according to data from Placer.ai.
Savvy retailers who extend their holiday promotions and sales into January can capture the interest of consumers with gift cards to spend, enjoyment of time off from work, and resolution motivation. After the stress of the gift-buying season, customers welcome opportunities for self-gifting, spending quality time with loved ones, and crossing items off their resolution lists. Tapping into these mindsets with the right post-holiday promotions is the perfect way to start the new year off strong, while building loyalty among existing customers.
The key is taking a strategic approach. Retailers need to leverage available customer data, offer tempting bundles and discounts, time campaigns to match shopping behaviors, and provide personalized touches that make customers feel valued. Maintaining the festive cheer a little longer with targeted post-holiday promotions can pay off with higher revenue and happier, more loyal customers. In this blog post, we’ll explore some best practices for making the most of the holiday sales tailwind before it’s gone with the tinsel.
Leverage Customer Data and Retargeting
When the holiday deals start winding down, it’s important not to treat every customer the same. The brands that will win the post-holiday season are those who leverage data to target consumers with relevant offers tailored to their interests and behaviors.
Segmentation is key—dividing your customer database into specific subgroups based on common attributes. For example, you may separate high-value customers from occasional buyers, or group customers based on products they’ve shown interest in. This allows you to tailor messaging and offers based on customer habits and what will resonate most with each segment. Email subscribers who purchased holiday gifts for children may be receptive to post-holiday deals on toys and kids’ apparel for next year’s gifting. Frequent high-spend customers can be incentivized to keep shopping with VIP or loyalty promotions. Getting specific takes guesswork out of the equation.
Another smart targeting strategy is retargeting—re-engaging people who have already shown interest in your products through previous site visits and purchases. For example, if a customer spent time browsing sweaters on your website before the holidays, a post-Christmas retargeted ad with a special discount on winter apparel can entice them to revisit and convert. Retargeting works across channels as part of a coordinated post-holiday initiative:
Email: Send follow up emails to recent customers promoting purchases complementary to items they bought or left in their carts. An automated email series can remind subscribers of abandoned carts and expired wish lists.
Social: Use ads to re-engage people who interacted with your holiday social content but didn’t purchase. Tailor messaging and creative to interests they’ve shown via likes, shares etc.
Display/Site Retargeting: Target visitors who browsed but didn’t convert with ads across the web guiding them back to complete the purchase, either through automatic platforms or custom display campaigns. With the right compelling offers, previous website visitors are highly qualified.
As shoppers start looking for ways to spend gift cards or treat themselves post-holidays, smart segmentation and retargeting form one-two punch for turning retail momentum into lasting returns. Whichever channels and tactics you choose, leaning on data takes the guesswork out of getting repeat holiday business.
Offer Tempting Promotions and Bundles
The holiday season primes shoppers to expect great deals and sales. Smart retailers will feed into that mindset even after the Christmas clearance racks have been picked over. With the right tempting promotions extended into January, brands can keep shoppers engaged and spending more post-holidays.
The familiar standbys of percentage-off discounts, dollar-amount promotions, and free shipping offers still have tremendous power to drive purchases from holiday shoppers. Temporary price reductions capture attention and give customers from your holiday email lists an incentive to revisit and buy again. Free shipping removes friction at checkout—critical for overcoming consumer concerns like inflation.
Upgrading from basic discounts, product bundling presents creative ways to increase order values. Offered at a packaged discount, complementary products become more enticing to customers when presented together. For example, a fashion retailer might bundle cozy sweaters withmatching scarves, hats, and gloves to capture more winter accessory sales. Or a beauty brand can boost interest in skin care regimens by bundling multiple complementary products featuring ingredients like retinol and vitamin C.
Making the most of the moment, don’t be afraid to think outside the (gift) box when structuring tempting promotions to achieve business objectives, including:
Limited-time offers: Urgency (e.g.72-hour flash sales events) compels buyers to act fast.
Tiered promotions/gamification: Structures like “Spend $X, get $X off” reward incremental spending. Gamifying tiers and progress bars taps into pack mentality.
BOGO/bulk discounts: Buy-one-get-one and bulk savings promotions incentivize purchasing multiples.
Themed packages/gifts: Curated bundles and gift sets around interests, occasions, or trends simplify shopping.
Experiential rewards: VIP experiences, sweepstakes entries, and virtual events tap FOMO.
Creativity, personalization, and understanding your products, customers and incentives that motivate them are key to surface unique ways you can capture post-holiday interest. The time to take risks and try new promotions is now, while holiday momentum still lingers.
Extend the Holiday Cheer with Strategic Timing
The holiday season is a festive sprint to Christmas that often ends abruptly on December 25th once all the gifts are unwrapped. But just because the big day has passed doesn’t mean the holiday cheer and accompanying motivation to spend need disappear. Savvy retailers who extend promotions strategically tap into lasting post-holiday shopping motivations.
Understanding shopper psychology is key to promotional timing. The week after Christmas sees a surge in consumers taking advantage of time off work, increased discretionary budgets thanks to gifted cash and gift cards, and continued festive momentum. Shoppers also get enjoyment from redeeming gift cards, buying discounted items for themselves after the stress of holiday gifting, and focusing on personal aspirations like health, self-care and organization for the new year.
Retailers can maintain the magical holiday atmosphere past December 25th with:
- Prolonging holiday sales help redirect zeal for continued deal-hunting
- Messaging about redeeming gift cards before they expire
- Promotions marketed around spending quality time enjoying gifts or experiences
- Limited-time offers feeding urgency and exclusivity
- Incentives to complete unfinished gift lists from the holidays
Different customer segments also have varied post-holiday motivations that promotional calendars can reflect. For example, heavy holiday shoppers may have deeper discounts expected soon after Christmas. Parents and gift-givers appreciate extensions on gift returns and exchanges policies. Experience-seekers have increased interest in entering contests and sweepstakes at the start of a new year.
Rather than sticking to the typical year-end blowout sale, establishing promotional strategies aligned to audiences, categories and time-based behaviors beyond the standard Christmas timeframe is key. The customers, products and inspirations behind holiday spending don’t just disappear come December 26th if you create the right cheerful experiences they love.
Engage with Customers and Foster Loyalty
The holiday customer experience doesn’t end once the gifts are unwrapped. Smart retailers continue nurturing relationships in the new year to build loyalty for the long run. Post-holiday engagement shows customers they’re valued beyond just holiday spending.
After consumers have had time to enjoy their holiday gifts and purchases, follow-up outreach asking for feedback provides an opportunity to improve future offerings. Surveys via email or social posts gauge what resonated most this past holiday season and what customers would like to see more of, from products to promotions. Direct messaging select customer profiles to thank them and get personal opinions also makes VIPs feel genuinely appreciated, not just sold to.
Additional engagement initiatives specific to the new year tap into resolutions and fresh starts:
- Share guidance helping customers achieve goals around health, organization, self-improvement etc. that tap the motivation of a new beginning.
- Provide tiered loyalty rewards at the start of 2023, acknowledging and thanking repeat customers rather than just new buyers.
- Develop social campaigns and hashtags to unite satisfied customers, allowing them to engage with the brand, share input, and feel part of a community.
With inflation squeezing budgets more in the year ahead, emotionally connecting and demonstrating genuine commitment to existing buyers retains their trust as consumer habits evolve.
The beginning of a new year signals change for many—the perfect time for retailers as well to demonstrate to past customers why they should stick together into 2023. Initiatives recognizing VIPs, seeking input to improve, and nurturing community foster the priceless customer loyalty that sustained brands are built on through times good and uncertain on the horizon.
Conclusion
The holiday season might be over, but savvy retailers know an extended holiday sales period promises a wealth of potential well into the new year. As consumers cash in gift cards, enjoy time off, and even set ambitious resolutions, the right post-holiday promotions feed these mindsets and set your brand up for a successful start to 2023.
As we’ve explored in this post, the strategies that work involve leveraging data to target high-potential customers, offer enticing discounts and bundles, carefully time initiatives to match behaviors, and continue engaging shoppers on an individualized basis. Maintaining personalized interactions, demonstrating customer appreciation, seeking input for improvements, and building community pays dividends in future customer retention and loyalty.
Rather than viewing December 26th as an endpoint, smart retailers treat it as the kickoff to part two of the holiday season. Follow the guidelines outlined here for segmenting shoppers, structuring promotions, prolonging festive cheer, and continuing nurturing relationships in the new year. And be sure to track performance through metrics like repeat purchase rate, average order value, and redemption of post-holiday offers so you can optimize based on data.
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