Two Strategies for Success This Holiday Shopping Season [Blog]

The number one way to be successful this holiday season will be to execute an effective mobile strategy.  As technology continues to develop, mobile encompasses more components than just a mobile website.  Mobile encompasses smartphones, tablets, apps, and possibly kiosks.  With so much content being spread across all these channels, differentiation is key.  Two strategies for success this holiday season include personalizing content to fit the consumer’s needs, and using in-store digital technology.

Content available to consumers is growing massively each day, and a key way to get your brand noticed is by personalizing messages.  92% of consumers rank relevant, timely and personalized offers as critical. This holiday season, brands should personalize their mobile content strategies using beacons and push-notifications. 

Beacon technology enables the relevance that marketers need.  Beacons are quickly emerging as a technology that brands can use to send more timely and relevant messages.  Since consumers are projected to spend 3% more this holiday season, these relevant and timely messages are a great way to capture as much of that revenue as possible (Internet Retailer).  Macy’s recent use of beacons to offer deals based on in-store location, is a great example.  Not only does this give the customer an experience relevant to their immediate need, but it also improves new customer acquisition and increases in-store sales. In addition, these devices have the ability to collect data that can provide valuable insights for future campaigns.

  Push notifications are being adopted as consumers become more willing to allow notifications on their phone.  Similar to beacons, customers receive messages that promote deals and products that have meaning to the mobile customer. Unlike beacons, customers can receive these notifications at any location. As timing is everything, it’s important to align website traffic peaks with push notification timing.  Also, think about how many notifications you send.  Most brands promote products on a seasonal timeframe. Content during these phases is not interchangeable and therefore, requires a variety of messages. Lord and Taylor understood the customer’s desire for items on sale last year during black Friday and sent out notifications leading with a promo code.  The ability to pinpoint a specific need for a group of customers provides for a high relevant message. 

Mobile’s influence on in-store sales has grown over $500 billion in the last year (Deloitte).  To remain relevant, brands offering digital in-store technologies should customize and personalize their experiences. Brands are adopting in-store technologies like smart technologies, augmented realities, and interactive digital displays. Most brands are finding the potential to scale and expand the ability of retail staff through digital displays to be the most exciting.   Bloomingdales personalized the in-store experience by creating a kiosk that automatically generates complementary products based on items brought into the fitting room.  By doing this, Bloomingdale’s not only engages their shopper, but they reduce the need for retail associates to monitor fitting rooms.  Through digital displays, brands are transcending the physical limitations of the retail space.

Whether it’s installing beacons in-store, or deploying push notifications out-of-store, strategies for personalization will be key this holiday season.  Delivering timely, personalized, and engaging messages during the holiday season can set each brand’s content apart and deliver the relevance and timely experiences shoppers want.