While many eCommerce brands tend to focus on the end of the year and holiday sales, the truth is that there is still plenty that can be done during the middle of the year to increase growth.
In fact, now is the best time to build up your customer base while you aren’t competing with big brands for shopping dollars. The end result? A ton of repeat customers in the winter who are already huge fanatics of your products.
To help you come up with the right plan, our CAKE team of experts has put together six strategies for keeping your sales hot this summer.
1. Have a Summer Sale
One of the easiest ways to improve sales and avoid a summer slump is by having a summer sale. Both the Fourth of July and Labor Day are good excuses for discounts and other promotions. And you can also mark down certain items for back to school, too.
In addition, this is an excellent way to move inventory out before you start getting in new items for the fall and winter.
Be sure to promote this event on as many channels in your marketing mix as possible. You want both existing and new customers to see this chance at savings and act quickly.
2. Increase Your Paid Advertising
What if we were to tell you that the holiday season isn’t always the best time for small brands to engage in paid advertising? It’s true. Summer is actually more ideal as rates are lower and there’s less of a chance you’ll be competing with large retail corporations for the same audience.
It’s also a great time to structure your ads towards new customers, too. After all, you can always retarget the existing ones later, but now you have the undivided attention of people who aren’t familiar with your brand just yet.
3. Boost Social Media and Influencer Exposure
The summer is also a great time to boost your social media and influencer exposure. As we mentioned, now is when you want to get your brand in front of those who aren’t previously experienced with it.
One really good way to do this is with influencer marketing. As most are increasing their photo shoots and lives during the warmer months, it is a great chance for eCommerce companies to take advantage of their busier posting schedules. The end result? A significant boost in summer sales.
4. Grow Your Email List with an Offer
Another key tip for summer sales growth is to increase your email list with a special offer. This can be a discount code, coupon, free product, or whatever else makes sense for your particular niche.
By doing this now, you could see a short-term boost in sales. But the real secret ingredient is during the holidays when you already have these customers on your email marketing list. This makes it easier to get in their inbox or retarget them in a way the draws them back in for another purchase.
5. Think About What Your Customers Are Doing This Season
It can sometimes be easy for eCommerce brands to generalize about how their products should be used. The truth is that you can really boost sales in the summer months by thinking about what your customers are doing this season.
Here are a few examples. Do you own a skincare brand? Mention moisturizers and products that include aloe for those times when shoppers have spent too much time in the sun. Do you own a home decor brand? Talk about all the renovations that typically happen during the warmer months.
There’s a lot of different ways you can take this, so make sure you brainstorm and come up with a few unique hooks for your niche.
6. Negotiate with Vendors
Now is the time of year when a lot of wholesale companies start to see a pretty significant summer slump. More importantly, they’re trying to think of ways to clear inventory before holiday products start filling up their warehouses.
What does this mean for brands? A good chance to negotiate discounts. Give your suppliers a call and find out what they’re willing to do. In most cases, you’ll be able to get a better rate and pass those savings onto your shoppers. Which, in turn, allows you to run some sweet sales in the summer for increased purchases.
Wrap Up: Keeping Summer Sales Hot
As you can see, there’s still plenty of opportunity to make the summer months great for your eCommerce brand. And, by focusing on audience building now, you can help improve your overall holiday strategy at the end of the year, too.
Not sure where to begin with some of these tactics? Our CAKE team can help. Please contact us today for a project quote.
