Nine tips to prepare for the sales

In most of Europe, the winter sales will start at the beginning of the year. With a growth of +1.9% in 2021, the purchasing power of Europeans will increase to €15,055. This is good news for retailers who are preparing to launch their first sales campaign in 2022 after a busy holiday season. What advice do you have for making this new highlight a success? Our answer in 9 points.

1. Take advantage of purchasing power that encourages consumption

In 2021, Europeans will spend billions on food, housing, energy and services (such as internet subscriptions), savings products, holidays, mobility and other non-food items. This is a significant increase, but it hides great disparities between countries.

In first place are Liechtenstein and Switzerland, which have a budget 4 and 3 times higher than the European average, while the Ukrainians, in last place, have only €1,892 per year.

Between the two, France and Italy rank 15th and 16th with €20,662 and €17,242 respectively. Spain is slightly below the European average with €14,709 per capita.

2. Change the angle of view

The winter sales in 2020 recorded a decline of around 13.2%. This decline is due to a lack of consumer interest in this promotional category, which, according to Kantar, now attracts only 75% of consumers, compared with 84% for other forms of discount. But 75% all the same! It's true that the winter sales follow two months of intense commercial news, notably with Black Friday and private sales. Events that may seem more suited to today's consumption patterns, which emphasize urgency (limited dates) and intensity (immediate high reductions). So why not take inspiration from this for the sales by splitting the period and creating attractive events, playing on the urgency and scarcity

3. Think about your server 

Sales generate an increase in traffic which can be further increased by acquisition campaigns. In the interest of return on investment, consider testing your server's scalability and improving the performance of your ecommerce site. Check out our new solution: the PrestaShop Platform.

4. Post your sales

Just like physical stores that dedicate their window to sales, you must catch the consumer's attention from the home page in order to encourage him to discover your promotional products. This is an opportunity to liven up your homepage with breakthrough visuals and colors. You can also temporarily add a Sale category to the main menu or a sticky bar at the top of all the pages of the site, in order to guide visitors who arrive via another page. A tab that must be hidden or renamed outside the sales period. Indeed, the word sale is regulated and cannot be used outside the official dates.

5. Communicate to recruit

To generate traffic and consumer interest during these seasonal promotions, you can leverage the Google arsenal. Think that the more you use the Google network, the better you will be rated. As for social networks, they allow you to deploy targeted campaigns according to the profile of your customers. Facebook and Instagram guarantee you real leverage on an acquired and buying audience. Pinterest is a network to be favored before the sales, during the period of identification... Finally, TikTok will be particularly suitable for a young target.

To stand out in this period of high demand, pay particular attention to the choice of visuals (favour products that are representative of your brand), the wording of the catchphrases and clearly announce the discount amounts.

6. Activate your customers

At the heart of your promotional toolbox: email. This is the best way to activate your database and solicit your customers, a target clientele that already knows your brand or your products. Don't hesitate to give them a head start, by organizing private sales before the official dates or an exclusive advantage, such as free delivery or a discount code guaranteeing them an additional discount. An attention to share with your followers on your social networks.

7. Trigger impulse purchases

To stimulate impulse buying, consider displaying the number of products in stock. By clearly indicating the quantity of products available, the consumer is made aware of the risk of stock-outs. This technique is a variation of the FoMO (Fear of missing out) syndrome which exploits a psychological mechanism: the fear of missing out. You can also support your most attractive offers in the form of flash sales, limited in time. Thus, you benefit from two levers, urgency and scarcity.

8. Play it forward 

A large majority of Internet users prepare their purchases to make the most of the seasonal sales. To allow them to put aside their favorite product, in the right size or in the color of their choice, consider unlocking your shopping cart. Your buyers will be able to anticipate their order the day before and validate it at the first hour of the sale. A solution that also has the merit of lightening your server, as the pages are already loaded at your client's.

As this benefit is becoming more and more popular, it is in your interest to inform your customers in advance, when sending your email to your database or by posting it on your site a few days before the fateful date!

9. Reduce the number of abandoned shopping carts

Sales are impulse buys that should not be missed. In this context, basket abandonment is likely to be permanent. These abandonments are linked, as most behavioural studies indicate, to 3 main causes: the absence of free delivery for 46% of online buyers, delivery costs that are too high (for 60%) and communicated too late in the purchase process, and finally payment conditions. Indeed, it should be noted that 35% of Internet users give up their online purchases if their favourite payment method is not accepted. If these three criteria are, in any case, to be taken into account to optimize your conversion rate, they are decisive during the sales period.

Happy selling!

Sources :

economie.gouv.fr

FEVAD

Kantar