The astounding deals that e-commerce leaders, as well as omnichannel retailers, offer their customers during November mark the start of another year-end battle for customer dollars and devotion. These mega-offers serve as alternative routes to win over buyers, many of them already fatigued with the promises of ‘deals’ and yet must shop for the holiday season.
How does your adtech look for 2022? No matter what stage your planning is at, our final Online Briefing of the year has you covered. Join us on November 29 for Adtech Playbook – A Roadmap to Superior Performance. Find out more here.
But what really is in it for the providers? Is it just another item to be crossed off their marketing calendar or do they serve a more vital purpose from a marketing perspective?
With the pandemic, there has no doubt been a real shift by customers to online shopping, and when it comes to holiday purchases, the ease of purchase, topped with attractive deals, would entice buyers to check out the obviously extravagant generosity of e-commerce players.
The real value is more than about securing a big chunk of year-end sales that will help clear inventory. Ecommerce providers, especially the larger ones, stand to lose out more if they do not engage in this exercise, given the opportunity for building customer loyalty.
However, for impact, this must not become a cursory marketing tactic but must be backed by comprehensive data analysis that must begin months in advance.
For a successful year-end sale, the importance of integrating customer aspirations with their past purchase patterns must be actively considered. With the cost of acquiring a new customer being five times higher than retaining an existing one, maximising returns on investment requires compelling personalisation of the customer journey.
As larger players have the benefit of economies of scale, smaller e-commerce players and omnichannel leaders can up the ante only by resorting to advanced data analytics, customer listening and deep personalisation.
While the blitz raised by the larger players can be daunting, the fact is the rest have nothing to fear and can continue to build on their customer base if they look at efficient marketing tactics that also includes leveraging the power of influencers and amplifying these efforts through a deeply personalised customer engagement strategy.
Let them not be carried away by advertising blitzkriegs; do your homework, bring in creativity, personalise the customer journey and no player is too small to benefit from the year-end sales rush.
