Get your Ecommerce Ready for the Holiday Season

We know Christmas is one of the most important holidays for online business owners. From November to January, both brick-and-mortar stores and online shops will get loaded with visitors. According to Deloitte, retail sales expectations are to rise 7-9% compared to last year’s 5.8% increase, and ecommerce sales are forecast to reach between $210 billion to $218 billion this holiday time. 

Let’s start planning your next best-selling season to boost your profits before the year ends! In this article, we’ll check on 2021 design and print-on-demand product trends to inspire you when creating your own, plus we’ll share some tips to prepare your website and aim for this sales opportunity with Fuel 🔥

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What’s trending this Christmas?

Ho, ho, ho! Each year is a new opportunity to make festivities special. We know all ecommerce stores and clients are different, so we’ve gathered three holiday trends for all tastes. Once you’ve reviewed them all, you can pick the ones you’ll work with to design your products. We’re sure your customers will love them!

Besides your usual catalog, here’s what they’re expecting to see on your site:

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Merry and bright celebration‍

Don’t be afraid to work with vibrant colors: Pink, orange, blue, or yellow can also reflect the joyful times Christmas celebrates. If your store is known for being disruptive, then this is the trend to join 😎

Take traditional product decorations and play with different hues to create eye-catching designs your customers won’t resist buying. They’ll give something to talk about at Christmas dinner, for sure. 

• Product suggestions: Consider including mugs for all coffee lovers and long-sleeve tees to enjoy the chilly weather. 
  

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Going monochromatic

In the opposite direction from the previous trend, some customers opt for monochromatic palettes. Given that one of 2021 Pantone’s colors of the year is Ultimate Gray, both Chritsmas products and decor will incorporate modern dark or neutral tones on their designs, some of them appealing to nature or farmhouse style. 

You can play with minimalistic artwork like fine lines, leaves, and snowflakes or traditional holiday quotes to place on your products. 

• Product suggestions: Posters are perfect for decorating a setting a mood to celebrate, and tote bags are always handy for your client’s Christmas shopping.
  

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Embracing traditions

Classics are classics for a reason: everyone loves them. Last year was odd for celebrations, so your buyers might want to bring back traditional Christmas gatherings in 2021. 

When creating holiday artwork, get festive and include typical characters and seasonal elements like reindeers, snowmen, gingerbread men, or trees. Nothing screams more Christmas than Santa-inspired designs with red, green, and golden color schemes.

• Product suggestions: Include sweatshirts or t-shirts in your store, and recreate modern versions of traditional ugly Christmas sweaters. 
  

💡Fuel tip: Keep an eye for the free, ready-to-use artworks our graphic design team has prepared for the holidays. You can’t go wrong with these!

Whether your niche leans more to bright or neutral colors or decides to go traditional this year, your store should definitely include holiday-inspired designs! Remember that Christmas shopping starts right after Thanksgiving with Black Friday and Cyber Monday, so make sure you’re ready to help them find all their presents on their gift list. 

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How to boost your holiday sales?

In addition to unique products and gifts for their loved ones, online shoppers are also looking to get exceptional promotions during the Christmas season. Seasonality is all about creating an experience around festivities, so try these marketing strategies to prepare your ecommerce:

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Showcase your best-sellers

Online shopping is all about practicality. Create an exclusive space for your cool print-on-demand holiday creations so your buyers can identify them easily and go straight to the Christmas limited edition products. 

Also, consider displaying your best-selling products at the top of your store, so when clients land on your website, the first thing they see is probably the merch they’re looking for! 

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Set up your promotions to jingle all the way!

Let the sweet sound of new sales notifications sing you a Christmas carol 😎

Take advantage of coupons, discounts, limited-time offers, a free shipping option, or any other kind of deal your audience will be interested in. Analyze your sales performance, profit margins, and your buyer persona’s behavior to select the right deals for them.

You can also upgrade your site to make it more interactive and sales-driven. Shopify offers a variety of apps you can integrate to make the most out of your ecommerce this holiday season.

• For example, if you need sales and marketing support, Vitals might be an option for you. A conversion app recommended by Fuel sellers that helps you optimize and grow your store. Perfect for keeping up with all your holiday season orders!
• Cross-Sell PRO shows recommendations to your customers before their checkout. Cross-selling is an excellent way to stimulate last-minute purchases while it helps you raise your average volume sales.
• Another interesting choice is AVADA. This app allows you to add pop-up messages, trust badges, and countdown timers, among other features, to encourage customers to buy.
  

💡 Fuel Tip: Take a second to look at our blog on Best Shopify Print-on-Demand Apps for Ecommerce for more app recommendations.

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Build up a festive spirit

Online stores require digital marketing actions. It doesn’t matter if you’re not an expert, and here are some strategies that guarantee results from day one. Depending on your target market, you can try one or all of these: 

• Social media advertising: Infallible and affordable, ads are essential for promoting your products this season. Appealing, creative ads are the ones that will help you drive more traffic to your site. We suggest going with a conversion goal to help you increase your sales.
• Engaging with your community: There’s just something magical about building expectancy through social media channels. When you feel the time is right, start sharing posts to let your audience know you're planning something huge for the holidays and get them excited.
• Email campaigns: If you need a strategy with a mind-blowing Return Of Investment (ROI), email marketing is the way to do it. According to Oberlo, for every $1 that you spend, you can earn up to $42 on average. Segment your client’s database and plan a series of emails to invite them to visit your website and take advantage of your promotions.
  

You better start planning today, so the Christmas selling season doesn’t catch you off-guard! Take these insights, and apply them with your niche’s preferences to build your holiday action plan. If you need more print-on-demand marketing tips and guides, check out our blog.