5 Steps to Help Retailers Plan for the Holidays Now!

I just approved an email marketing campaign where a VerticalResponse retail customer was "preparing" their customers for the U.S. holiday season. They even used one of our holiday email templates. Then, my husband John, came into my office and we brainstormed about the upcoming corporate gifting season. Yep, it's here... the holiday season.

Retailers are already thinking about it, but realistically, you need to be scheduling your campaigns out now.  Hopefully you already know what your typical response to an email campaign is, if you don't, look at our retail email trends report for average open/click/bounce/unsubscribe rates. If you do know the type of traffic you get to your store or your site during the holidays, you know what your product ordering/manufacturing pattern is going to look like and probably need to think about ordering soon.

5 things to think about while you calendar your holiday season:

1. Devise your start plan - Will you start before Halloween or around Thanksgiving? It seems like the giving season comes earlier each year so make sure you make the most of it. It's right around the corner!
2. Guarantee shipping - If you're an online retailer, when is the last day you'll guarantee your orders will arrive by December 24? Make sure your shipping company will guarantee it before you do!
3. Gift wrap and a card - Will you offer this? If you do, make sure you plan your shipping for this and bake it into your calendar.
4. Customer service - Returns happen, are you set up for this? Prepare for this the week after the holidays when everyone is returning their "mis-targeted" gifts.
5. Email frequency - Plan how often you'll send your email campaigns. If it's once per week now, you may want to increase the frequency to two times per week closer to the holidays. Your last-minute shoppers will appreciate this.

Planning now for your biggest season will help you in the long run. Don't let the holidays pass you by!

Got any comments of your own? Do you celebrate a holiday from another country you would like to comment on? Bring it on!