As is well known, the time until Christmas flies by. In order to get the most out of this high-sales period, fashion companies should definitely start preparing early. As a first step, a thorough inventory is recommended: Is the technology up to date? Can good performance be guaranteed even with high access rates? And: Does the shop achieve a good ranking in the search engines? Technical optimizations of the e-commerce system often require adjustments to the code. In the case of older software versions, this often entails longer lead times, and it may even only be possible after updating to a newer version. Optimizations with regard to SEO also usually need more time before they affect the search results on Google and Co. They should therefore be planned and implemented promptly.
Christmas with a difference
Marketing campaigns, on the other hand, tend to go live shortly before the festival. Brands can therefore start a little later. When preparing creatives, texts and advertisements, this has the advantage that product releases that are not published until around Christmas can still be integrated without any problems. However, since the competition also opens up the big advertising fire more or less at the same time, it is important to clearly differentiate yourself from it.
But what is the best way to do this? One possibility is to choose a different time for your own campaign. Because instead of banging the big drum before Christmas, it can be a smart decision to focus on after the holidays. Especially with regard to the big discount battle that rages around Black Friday at the end of November, this is a much more suitable environment for high-quality brands.
A charming example of this is provided by the e-mail campaign by the footwear brand Mahabis. Instead of running the risk of getting lost in the hustle and bustle of Christmas, she sends out a newsletter to her customers during the quiet holidays. The offer: If you couldn’t find the slippers you wanted under the Christmas tree, you can now spoil yourself with them. There is a 25 percent discount on selected products.
Gifts instead of discounts
Another “different” approach is to avoid discounts altogether and instead use gifts as an incentive for orders. The high-priced cosmetics brand Niche Beauty shows how it’s done: In stark contrast to the motto “a lot for a little”, it offers its customers “The Festive Bag”. This is an exclusive product set worth 395 euros, which is free with orders of 250 euros or more. The special thing about it: With this campaign, Niche Beauty not only encourages you to fill the shopping cart properly. The company also plays with the desire to get something that is reserved for only a few. On the one hand, “The Festive Bag” comes in a strictly limited edition and on the other hand it is not available for purchase in any other form. Above all, fans of luxury items feel perfectly taken care of in this way.
A box full of possibilities
In general, so-called “curated” gift sets are basically a great solution for creating Christmassy customer experiences. In the form of its Holiday Surprise Boxes, the label Ivory Ella combines the exciting feeling that comes with unwrapping a gift with the wish for mercy that is typical of the Christmas season. Their content is not exactly known beforehand, but is worth twice the respective purchase price.
At the same time, 50 percent of the proceeds from the sale of the surprise packages go to the “Save the Elephants” project, which protects elephants and their habitats in Kenya. With gift boxes, companies can also help to solve typical Christmas problems. The classic: last-minute purchases. Appropriately, skin care brand Fleur & Bee offers “last minute gifts” that don’t look like gifts and are also shipped with priority. In this context, it is highly recommended for companies to clearly communicate to their customers when orders from the online shop can still be guaranteed to be delivered before Christmas. For this purpose, the fashion label Mytheresa has set up its own subpage on its online presence, on which it announces the last day by which the “Festive Season Deliveries” can take place with express shipping.
Gifts are found instead of sought
Christmas tips and inspiration also contribute to increasing e-commerce sales. The online retailer Net-a-Porter has found a particularly creative way of doing this: Instead of just listing products, it developed individual themed worlds for its gift guide. Suitable articles for types such as “The Adventurous” or “Conscious Consumers” are put together here, ranging from body care and cosmetics to accessories and clothing.
The range of gifts from Soft Goat is a little less extensive, but no less loving. The sustainable fashion brand has launched its own Christmas collection especially for the festival of festivals, which includes a knitted dress, turtleneck shirt and skirt in festive Christmas red as well as an elegant Christmas stocking and several toiletry bags in muted colours. Instead, at Max Mara, a mascot, Teddy, comes to the user’s aid when looking for gifts. In keeping with the cold season, the women’s fashion label focuses on the cuddly factor and in its X-Mas category “Teddy Holidays” carries both cool dresses and real statement coats made of teddy fabric as well as super cuddly accessories such as hats, scarves and gloves and some Christmas innovations.
Merchandising under the Christmas tree
Speaking of “different”: Branding of Christmas items gives brands a wide range of options for cleverly positioning themselves in the Christmas setting. The well-known champagne brand Moët & Chandon, for example, relies on simple elegance and decorates white Christmas tree balls with its logo. Software giant Microsoft, on the other hand, uses the “ugly sweater” trend to write a really special Christmas story. And even the design experts at Tesla aren’t above making their own extra ugly Christmas sweater. In short: In order to attract attention, it can also be a little less contemplative – even at Christmas.
Written by Christian Schmidt. He is managing partner of the Open Digital Group as well as Chief Creative Officer and co-founder of the digital agency Interlutions. In this position he has been developing brand appearances and campaigns for national and international customers since 1999. Interlutions works in the fashion sector for Young Poets (formerly Tigha), Preach, IC! Berlin, Ulla Popken, Unique, Laona and MyTheresa.