Holiday Ecommerce Sales: 10 Tips For A Smooth, Successful Q4

In 2023, 29% of yearly sales in Big Cartel shops took place in Q4. It's safe to say the holiday selling season is the biggest time of the year for ecommerce, and we want you to be as successful as possible! We've put together our top tips for a smooth and sales-heavy Q4 so you can go into this period with confidence. This article is part of our Holiday Selling Toolkit, so head there to get the full list of ideas, resources, and available features for your most successful holiday selling season yet. 

1. Generate some buzz

Let folks know what you are selling ahead of time to keep them engaged, encourage early bird shoppers, and get more traffic to your shop. Here are some tried and true ideas from our top sellers:

• Create holiday-specific products: Develop seasonal variations of your products to cater to holiday demand, making it easier for customers to find and purchase holiday-themed items.

• Organize products into collections: Group your core products into themed collections such as "Holiday," "Gifts for that special someone," or "Gifts under $25" to streamline the browsing experience. This is a cost-effective marketing strategy, especially for small businesses with limited time and budget.

• Tease new products: Build excitement and anticipation by teasing upcoming products to your social media followers or email subscribers. Consider running campaigns like "12 Days of Christmas," "8 Days of Hanukkah," “Regalos para las Fiestas,” or "7 Days of Kwanzaa," unveiling a featured product each day leading up to your shipping deadline. Another option is a virtual advent calendar offering daily holiday promotions.

• Offer holiday-long sales: Sales don’t need to be limited to Black Friday or Cyber Monday. Shoppers now expect discounts throughout the holiday season. Create urgency and excitement by offering special deals on different product collections at various times. Use tools like Discounts and Newsletters to refresh offerings hourly, daily, or weekly—depending on what works best for your business.

• Use newsletters for promotion: Leverage tools like email marketing with Mailchimp to promote your products and collections to your customers. Our friends at Mailchimp put together these amazing holiday email marketing tips if you need some email campaign ideas.

2. Set expectations

Our team has developed a comprehensive guide for holiday shipping deadlines and key holiday dates so you can plan accordingly and set expectations with your customers.

You can use the dates in this guide to establish definitive shopping deadlines for your customers so orders arrive when expected. We suggest creating a dedicated Holiday FAQ page to get ahead of common questions.

Read more about adding custom pages here.

3. Count your inventory

Inventory management is crucial throughout the year to ensure a seamless customer experience and efficient storage. However, during the holiday period, it’s even more vital.

As we approach the 2024 holiday shopping season, it's essential to prepare for increased inventory demands. Being proactive now will ensure smooth operations for both you and your customers. With customer expectations for a seamless holiday experience higher than ever, planning is crucial.

You can use the inventory tracking feature available for paid plans. This feature allows you to set quantities for each product, and our system will track your sales and adjust that number automatically. Once the item hits zero, inventory tracking will automatically mark it as “sold out” for you.

4. Offer gift-wrapping

Go the extra mile by providing standout customer service and offering gift wrapping. You can offer gift wrapping in two ways:

1. You can add it as a product and pin it to the top of the navigation so it's easy to find and customers can add it to their cart for gift wrapping. Note: You can't offer a $0.00 product, so you will need to make the gift wrapping at least $.50.

2. You can offer free gift-wrapping by having your customers add it to the Notes to Seller field during checkout.

5. Leverage social media

Creating a social media content calendar is essential with the holiday season approaching. By planning your content for each month ahead of time, you can ensure that your products, images, videos, and other materials are ready to go. This approach will help maintain a consistent brand presence and keep your audience engaged.

Websites like Canva offer free and easy ways to make social media posts, there are easy templates that are holiday-specific, size, and platform-specific.

Instagram has gained recognition as a widely used platform for holiday marketing due to its emphasis on visual content. Utilize this platform to showcase static images and Reels of your products, effectively promoting your holiday offers. Enhance the visibility of your top deals, promotions, and events by featuring them in your bio links and shoppable posts. Additionally, captivate your followers by curating holiday gift guides that serve as a source of shopping inspiration.

You can use TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. to let folks know about your holiday offers!

7. Polish your policies

We mentioned using custom pages to incorporate a specialized guide for your customers during the holiday season. However, it is crucial to stay proactive in terms of refunds or exchanges by establishing a refund policy that streamlines their shopping experience.

Here are things you should consider about store policies in our Customer Care Guide and our Customer Support Guide.

Taking a much-needed holiday break? Make sure you add those dates to your Holiday FAQ!

8. Look ahead

Create a strategy outlining your intended actions for managing any remaining inventory you have left post-holiday. Although January tends to be a slower period, consider including a printed coupon with orders placed during the holiday season to encourage loyal customers to make additional purchases post-holidays.

A physical printed coupon code accompanied by a heartfelt thank you note can have a significant impact by enticing customers to make another purchase.

9. Upgrade for more selling tools & save with annual billing

The total sales volume for Big Cartel sellers on Platinum plans in Q4 2023 was $49 million—that's 84% more than sellers on our free Gold plan. With increased traffic and customer demand during the holiday selling period, a higher-tier plan unlocks huge benefits like more product listings, advanced customization options, and powerful sales tools.

Upgrade your Big Cartel plan to take advantage of features like discounted shipping, product reviews, discounts, and much more! Want to save 20% on a Platinum or Diamond plan? Select our annual billing option for maximum savings!

This upgrade can help you create a stunning shopping experience, attract more customers, and boost your sales during this critical time. Don’t miss out—make the most of the holidays by taking advantage of all the tools and features available to you!

Choose the right plan for your shop here.

9. Remember that we're here for you

Rest assured that Big Cartel is committed to providing you with unwavering support, even during the holiday season. Our dedicated support team is always available to assist you—no matter what the question! Don't hesitate to reach out to us—we love hearing from you!

10. After all your hard work, rest

We know how hard you work through the holiday season, so this is a friendly reminder to rest! Rest is engaging in restorative activity, it is what replenishes our physical, mental, and emotional resources.

Head over to our Holiday Selling Toolkit to get the full list of ideas, resources, and available features for your most successful holiday selling season yet.