What will 2021 winter sales look like? (2)
Miguel Nicolás
07/01/2021
-
We are in a strange season and 2021 winter sales only make it clear. Watch out for the trends we are already seeing.
-
-
A few days ago we posed a reflection on January 2021 sales. In that post, we discussed the extent to which they would be digital, the influence that the coronavirus will have, and the money customers have in their wallets (which is obviously much less than in other years).Even so, we still had things to comment on, so we have prepared a second part to have the complete analysis done.Let's get to it.
-
What will 2021 winter sales look like?
-
Let´s remember what we have already talked about. We have seen that this year January sales are still losing steam. People are less and less seduced and, to make matters worse, this year things are not for great joys, besides it is not very advisable to go out to the physical stores.All this has conditioned and will limit the effectiveness of this promotional period and, even so, will make eCommerce have a more generous share of the cake than in previous years.But to all this we must add some more important aspects.
-
#1 – They will last longer
-
They may not exactly be called winter sales, but seeing the excess stock in many stores and the aforementioned difficulty in selling in physical stores... it is time to extend sales and special promotions as much as possible to get those products out.The forecast is that many stores will look for ways to extend sales with second and third ones if necessary to cover minimum turnover.
-
#2 – Local business
-
Yes, there will be fewer offline purchases, but those that do occur will be made in proximity stores at a higher percentage than in other editions. There are several reasons to think this is the case.First is that -and we do "owe" this to COVID- people have turned to proximity commerce. After the toughest months of 2020, a certain civic awareness was activated in the act of buying. Somehow, it is understood that by buying in your neighborhood store you are supporting the community, and it is an inertia that still persists.
-
-
In addition, for once, street-level stores have some advantages over huge shopping malls: customers do not have to spend as much time indoors. Right now, this is a competitive differential advantage.
-
#3 – Less impulse purchase, more remarketing
-
This is something that always happens in periods of crisis. For consumer, it is more difficult to spend in the face of uncertainty so, if we want to sell in these 2021 winter sales, we have to work on each order more intensely.In eCommerce, this means, among other strategies, using remarketing to recover abandoned carts and to re-impact customers. It is important to keep in mind that the decision making process tends to be delayed.In addition, it is also interesting to use this tool to try to achieve a new purchase in those users who have already purchased something in our store during Christmas campaign. If you manage to make those customers loyal, you will get recurrent purchases all year round.
-
-
#4 – There may be logistical problems
-
And then Filomena appeared. Any period that concentrates an increase in sales in a very limited time frame is likely to create a certain amount of chaos in 3PL logistics companies, or even if we manage it ourselves.Now let's add that at the beginning of the period the country was caught in an unprecedented snowstorm. Roads were cut, airports were closed, trains were not running... and of course, there were problems in making deliveries, both from our suppliers and to our customers.With all this on the table, we have to be very honest about the delivery times we will be able to assume. These discounts may be the least "express" in recent history, so you will have to wait a little longer.
-
-
You can always play around with shipping times and costs in favor of the customer. People are always more understanding when they get some benefit from the wait. If things are clear from the moment of purchase, you will avoid complaints and potential online reputation problems. Move ahead all this by enhancing user experience from the very first minute.
-
How are these 2021 winter sales going? Are they answering to these forecasts or are they surprising you? Leave your comments below or on our social networks.
-
Images | Unsplash.