THINKING AHEAD IS GOOD BUSINESS

The holidays may be over, but now there is a different kind of shopping rush to prepare for! Right on the heels of the December holiday shopping season comes Valentines Day, Easter, Mothers Day, Fathers Day and graduations. Clearly, the shopping season never really ends - Read on for tips on staying prepared for high-volume shopping events all year-round!

Your local drugstore starts decorating for Easter before the Valentines Day candy is off the shelves. Why? This is because many customers start thinking about holidays long before they creep up on the calendar. Mothers Day, for example, occurs in May, but shoppers have it on their radar in March or April sometimes even earlier!

5 Tips for Staying Prepared
Make a list of holidays with dates that change from year to year (such as Easter, Mothers Day and Fathers Day), as well as popular international holidays that your buyers across borders may want to commemorate (such as Canadian Thanksgiving). Now that youve marked holidays on your calendar, here are a few tips to generate additional sales during these high-volume shopping events:

1. Content marketing. Make your site and social media presence seasonally appropriate with material that will grab attention and draw in customers. For example, if you write a blog, a post about the top 10 Mothers Day gifts from your store may give shoppers inspiration and drive traffic (especially when you include direct links to those products). And dont hesitate to contact customers directly via email marketing: a warm, personalized message with a reminder about an upcoming holiday and a link to your store can have great returns!
2. Create a page for your site dedicated to an upcoming holiday. Encourage easy browsing with an eye-catching page highlighting items that will make great gifts for the occasion!
3. Wrap it up - seasonally! If you offer gift-wrapping, do a little something different for these special holidays. For Mothers Day, you could choose springtime-inspired pastels for wrapping paper or filler, or create a simple but elegant gift message to include as a bonus. A little fine touch can go a long way in gaining repeat business for the next holiday!
4. Remind shoppers of free-shipping minimums to encourage larger orders. Set up your checkout page to remind shoppers of the amount they would need to spend in order to save on shipping, then offer a variety of lower-priced items to help them get there. Shoppers tend to think generously when shopping for others and are often more than happy to bump up their totals in order to send Mom a little something extra and unexpected for what shipping would have cost!
5. Be ready to ship! It always pays to be prepared to ship at a moments notice, so always have a healthy inventory of shipping supplies. That way, you wont lose time - and, potentially, repeat business!

The Bottom Line
When it comes to high-volume sales, December isnt all you need to count on. Anticipate other gifting occasions, promote your products, set apart your site, and look at extras like gift options and add-on items, and you may find yourself dealing with a flurry of sales year-round!