With Halloween just around the corner, the hustle and bustle of holiday shopping are not far behind. It’s time to start considering how your brand can boost sales this season, starting with the spookiest holiday of the year!/p>
We know that starting an eCommerce business can be frightening, especially with all the false facts and information out there. So let’s get your brand into the spooky (and sweet) spirit! Here are 13 spooky eCommerce facts you can use to summon sales this holiday season.
Bone-Chilling Popularity of eCommerce
By 2040, it is projected that eCommerce will account for 95% of all purchases. So what does this mean for your brand? With eCommerce taking over the shopping scene, it’s important for retail businesses to stay in the game. It will become necessary to mobilize and digitize businesses through online stores and social media shopping to stay competitive.
Halloween Shopping
Believe it or not, the spooky season means big sales for eCommerce brands. In 2019, American shoppers spent $8.8 billion on Halloween – from costumes to candy to decorations and more! And in 2022, total Halloween spending accounted for 10.6 billion.
BOO! Did we scare you yet? If not, this super spooky eCommerce fact might: About 20% of all eCommerce retail sales occur over Halloween weekend. So, although Black Friday and Cyber Monday may be getting all the hype this holiday shopping season, your brand could benefit from Halloween sales. Prepare for holiday shopping in advance with Halloween-themed ad campaigns, site optimizations, promos/special offers, and sales!
Creeping It Real With Content
Content is notoriously important to eCommerce. But did you know that in the United States alone, 61% of online consumers make purchases based on recommendations from blogs? When it comes to holiday and seasonal shopping, generate relevant and useful content for your shoppers to increase your chances of making sales.
You can do this by publishing blogs that promote your products and services, feature any special holiday-themed deals, and provide potential customers with reliable and earnest information about your brand.
Online Shopping Is a Scream!
Online stores and mobile shopping are at the very candied-apple core of eCommerce. More and more, customers are turning to online brands for their holiday purchases. In fact, every Halloween, over 70% of shoppers purchase their costumes online.
When it comes to shopping for gifts for the holidays, many consumers rely on online shopping and mobile stores to make their purchases – especially during Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. In 2020, revenue generated from online shopping reached a record of $10.8 billion on Cyber Monday. Despite that Black Friday used to see a surge with in-store shopping, as of 2019, 93.2 million Black Friday shoppers were making their purchases online.
Mobilizing your business for the holidays is a super sweet way to make sales. Consider optimizing your site, increasing your engagement and activity on social media, or even introducing a mobile app that allows users to shop from their phones.
The Magic of Social Media
Social media is making a monstrous impact on eCommerce. In fact, online brands that have a strong social media presence average 32% more sales.
So, how does social media support customer sales? For starters, 25% of shoppers consult social media before purchasing their holiday gifts. Consumers actively use social media platforms – from engaging with a brand’s platforms to digesting influencer reviews of a product – to influence their decision to purchase a product or service.
Though Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok are popular places for shoppers to gain insight into a product or service prior to purchasing, 47% of customers say Facebook has the most influence on their decision to purchase.
A strong social media presence increases your brand’s ability to reach, engage with, and market to your target audience. Your brand should use social channels to maximize your reach and keep shoppers engaged in your brand. Posting content that includes anything like new product announcements, sales, and special promotions like giveaways or enter-to-wins is a great way to keep customers engaged. Using social media to market and advertise – with ad campaigns featuring special holiday deals or offers – also allows your brand to advertise directly to consumers and drive traffic to your site.
Put a Spell on Your Target Audience
There are many factors that determine how a consumer shops (in-store versus online, for example). For our Halloween goers, 39% of shoppers under the age of 45 prefer to shop online for costumes and decorations, while 99% of consumers over 55 shop in stores. Last year, Halloween shoppers between ages 35 and 44 budgeted an average of $149.34, outspending other age groups by at least 14.4%. In both cases, age group contributes to the customer behavior of Halloween shoppers.
Keeping this in mind, when it comes to marketing to potential customers, it’s important to develop a target audience. Some other things to consider are gender, location, income, marital status, occupation, as well as potential needs and interests of your customers (someone who would want to purchase your products or services).
Developing a target audience and understanding how to appeal to this group will allow you to successfully market your products or services and secure those holiday sales.
CAKE Is Crawling With eCommerce Ideas
Don’t fill up on Halloween candy because CAKE has something sweet for you! Our team of eCommerce experts knows the secret recipe to making sales this holiday season. For more information on our services, contact CakeCommerce today.
