Australians love to shop big during seasonal moments and holidays such as Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Christmas. Meeting customers in these moments that matter helps to create excitement, encourage gift buying and build long-term customer loyalty. It also means more spontaneous and last-minute purchasing and a higher average spend per shopper.
While your business may not have the marketing budget of major brands, you can create successful seasonal campaigns by sticking to personalised and targeted messaging that appeals to your customers.
Follow these tips to help create compelling shopping experiences for your customers and make the most of retail’s busiest periods.
1. Say it seasonally
Inspire your customers by tailoring your communications to include what Australians love most about each seasonal holiday. Experiment with festive-themed graphics. Tell seasonal stories that spark emotion. Think about trending retail search terms. Make sure your communications are timely and offer value to the customer. For instance, share ideas on how to spoil mum on Mother’s Day or simple breakfast in bed recipes. Inspire Christmas cheer with easy Christmas recipes, a tutorial on summer hair styles or how to set the perfect Christmas table. Provide a solution to a shared problem or challenge experienced during these moments.
2. Seasonal pop-up power
A seasonal pop-up is a great way to connect with shoppers when they are ready to buy. And because a pop-up is for a limited time, there’s a sense of exclusivity and urgency that attracts more customers. Meeting customers when they are in the holiday mood helps to build long-term relationships. S Connect can curate a dynamic pop-up space that’s Insta-friendly, fun and tailored to its location.
3. Connect with seasonal shoppers
Seasonal shopping periods are busy. To cut through the ‘noise’ and make your brand unmissable consider prominent directional branding including floor decals and hanging banners to lead customers to you. S Connect can help with curated static, digital and social campaigns to grab customer attention on the shopping journey.
4. Seasonal customisation
Use seasonal holiday hooks to drive sales. Offer special deals, discounts or exclusive offers, hold a flash sale, or encourage cross sales. Create a sense of urgency to entice shoppers to start their shopping early. Make your offer genuinely personal, relevant and special. For example, use teaser emails that build anticipation and make customers feel special.
5. Turn holiday buyers into repeat shoppers
Engaging new customers during peak retail periods is important, but you should aim to keep these customers long after the holidays are over. Encourage new customers to sign up to emails or join your loyalty program. Use the data you collect during seasonal campaigns to improve and personalise shoppers’ experiences.
The future success of physical retail space is all about immersing your customers in your brand’s story and giving them ‘wow’ moments that leave them delighted. Seasonal holidays and moments are a great time for local businesses to think about how to better target and interact with customers.
Stockland brings its centres to life by crafting seasonal experiences that surprise and delight and inspire shoppers to stay and explore for longer. Whether it’s Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Easter or Christmas, we use insights and trends to stand out among our competitors, reach our customers and drive purchasing.
As the heartland of our local communities, Stockland enjoys a loyal and engaged shopper base, with a total of $5.9 billion* in retail sales a year across our centres. With 111 million* visitations per annum, we see nearly 4.2 million* total foot traffic in a fortnight.
S Connect is tapping into this strength of community to connect our engaged and loyal shopping communities with businesses they love. Stockland specialises in curating campaigns and experiences for businesses big and small. With many innovative static, digital and social solutions across our metro and regional network of centres, we can curate a bespoke campaign and connect you with your customers where it counts – at the moment of purchase.
Learn more about how we engage and inspire customers at Stockland.com.au.
* correct as at June 2021
