Most schools in the UK are on summer holidays now and the month of August will be extremely important for marketers planning their back-to-school promotions. Mass Retailers, Computing/High Tech retailers as well as retailers of Fashion/Luxury and Sporting goods will see a significant rise in demand for their products during the next 5 weeks.
Here are a few suggestions that may help you get better returns from your promotions during the summer holidays:
#1: Start now, if you haven’t already.
More and more consumers are spending increased amounts of time on the Internet to research products before buying. For example, consumers interested in gadgets/technology goods as well as those looking to buy school shoes/boots spend a lot more time doing online research before making a purchase.
Therefore, the sooner shoppers can see you online, the greater chance you’ll have to influence their purchase decisions.
What it means for you: Make sure people can find you when they search for products online, irrespective of the device they may use. Also, keep yourself abreast of the top products people are searching for so that you can stock and promote your merchandise accordingly.
#2: Be ready to capitalise on the sales boom in the last two weeks of August.
Although the most spectacular rise in sales occur in the final week of the summer holidays, last year’s online shopping data shows that sales pick up significantly in the last 2 weeks of August.
Mass retailers can expect a big uplift in sales as they offer greater convenience and one-stop shopping for consumers. Retailers of Computing/High Tech, Sporting goods and Fashion & Luxury should also anticipate substantial uplift in sales and improved conversion rates.
Source: Criteo
What it means for you: Start bidding aggressively from the weekend of August 15-16, two weeks before the end of the summer holidays. Whether you want to gain market share or offset high bids from your competition, raising your CPC bids by 5%-10% will ensure that you don’t lose sales and visibility.
#3: Have a strong presence on mobile to maximise sales
Consumers are spending a lot of time on their smartphones and tablets to search for products and consequently retailers that include mobile in their marketing strategy are seeing better results from their campaigns. Mobile is a key driver for in-store sales as well as shoppers are increasingly looking for best deals on their smartphones before buying in stores.
Purchases via mobile are soaring and mobile share of total sales improved considerably during the summer holidays last year as shown in the table below:
Source: Criteo
What it means for you: Make sure your ads are optimised for different smartphone and tablet screen sizes, and ensure a quick and hassle free purchase journey for customers wanting to buy on mobile. Integrate cross-device targeting to your advertising strategy so that you are able to identify and reach users seamlessly across all the devices they use along the path to purchase.
This blog post was written by, Shailendra Pandey, Senior Research Manager.
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