How To Attract Last Minute Holiday Shoppers

Last-Minute Holiday Shoppers

Last-minute shoppers are likely to buy at least one product and are open to suggesting others about your service. Most retailers’ holiday sales get a significant contribution from late holiday shoppers.

Last-minute consumers are already busy with their to-do lists. They are more likely to have last-minute gift ideas for their quick gift buying. 

Now, how do you target last-minute holiday shoppers?

To attract them, plan how you can reduce the stress factors they face during shopping at the last minute.

According to research by RetailMeNot, 45% of last-minute holiday shoppers declared “products being out of stock” as their first stressful factor and 55% of shoppers think – delayed product shipment is another anxious factor for them.

In this article, you will get to know about what are the major last-minute stress factors for shoppers, and how to attract last-minute shoppers by minimizing those factors.

How to Attract Last-Minute Holiday Shoppers

Here are 5 powerful ways to attract last-minute holiday shoppers –

1. Offer On-time Shipping
2. Prepare Unique Gift Guide To Attract last-minute Shoppers
3. Promote Gift Cards
4. Provide last-minute Shoppers Promotions and Offers
5. Seek Out Social Media Influencers

#1 Offer On-time Shipping

For last-minute shoppers, same-day or next-day shipping is crucial. In fact, 50% of them prefer same-day delivery. 

A gift arriving the day after the big day creates the worse situation ever and as a seller, your reputation is at stake. During this critical time, shoppers usually look for who delivers shopping the same day. So, before it happens –

• Choose an appropriate 3PL (3rd party Logistics) organization that will complete your shipping on time. For instance: UPS Express Critical, FedEx Sameday.
• Inform about your holiday shipping deadlines through your digital Ads or your online store. Write something like – “Order before (date) & (time), else you will not get it before December 25”.
• Add a countdown clock on your store for the shipping deadlines. This will create an urgency in the shopper’s mind.

It is true that the free shipping offer attracts more consumers. In fact, 94% of shoppers during the holiday season look for the free shipping offer. 

But, offering free shipping is a costly event. Make your shipping policy more strategic so that it does not affect your profit margin.

Here are 3 tips to make your free shipping policy cost-effective –

• Offer free shipping only when customers meet a minimum order threshold.
• Make a free shipping offer for your loyal customers only.
• Use a free shipping offer as a quick selling tool.

But remember, for last-minute consumers, fast delivery is more crucial than free delivery. In fact, 65% of customers are willing to pay more shipping fees for faster delivery at a crucial time like the Christmas holiday. Only early bird holiday shoppers are happy with slow shipping as long as you offer free. 

#2 Prepare Unique Gift Guide

Last-minute shoppers want something easy and fast. Sometimes, they are out of gift ideas. An easy way to attract them is to offer gift ideas. Here’s how you can create a unique gift idea –

• Create a gift set focusing on a popular and most-selling product. Include a collection of other products in the gift set. For instance, include sheets and pillows along with a duvet to make a set of a “perfect night’s sleep”. 
• Categorize the gifts for men, women, or kids. This can also be done based on the recipients like doctors, teachers, parents, siblings, or neighbors.
• Personalized gifts are simply the best. Offer product personalization from your online store. To do that add a powerful product personaliser to your online store.
• Add your shipping policy to your gift guide. Promote prominently that you are promised to deliver on time.

#3 Promote Gift Cards to Shoppers

Gift Cards are a quick solution for last-minute shoppers. If you sell gift cards, promote them to last-minute consumers. 

Gift cards are one of the most wanted gifts throughout the years. According to statistics, more than half of holiday shoppers plan to buy gift cards. Because it saves last-minute shoppers from delayed shipment hassle or out-of-stock issues.

Here’s how can you promote your gift cards –

• Build a dedicated landing page for your gift certificates.
• Showcase it as a popular item on the homepage of your online store.
• Send gift card-focused emails to interested shoppers and prospects.

#4 Provide Last Minute Shoppers Promotions and Offers

Do you want to win last-minute shoppers’ sales? Provide them with promotions or offers. Here are a few ideas –

• Offer free gift wrapping. Sometimes,  shoppers are in such a rush that they do not even want to wrap gifts. This is the perfect time to offer free wrapping and convert them into loyal customers.
• Offer a low-cost item with the purchase. There are times when small things achieve more attention. Offer any item that is easy to replenish.

Offer discounts for the early birds. Encourage customers to buy early providing them discounts for a limited period.

Last-minute shoppers usually are in a hurry to buy gifts. If you offer a special discount on any gift, show that first. This will help them make decisions quickly.

#5 Seek out Social Media Influencers 

No doubt social media influencers help you reach more customers easily. But for last-minute shoppers, things are different. A last-minute influencer campaign does not allow the luxury of comprehensive influencer programs. 

Follow these tips and make your influencers programs successful –

• Use multiple influencers at a time to reach more people within a short period.
• Run an easy influencer program. To launch the program faster, keep it relatively simple.
• Use micro-influencers because they are easy to reach. Offer attractive perks and bag a bunch of micro-influencers to boost your last-minute sales.
• Seek influencers to promote your best sellers. There is nothing to experiment with at the last minute and always consider that winning products win easily.
• Get the right influencers by offering them pay-per-post or commission on each sale.

Contact several influencers during the holiday season to maximize your Return on Investment – ROI. Collaborating with influencers is a great way to be among the brands.

Final Thoughts

Customers become desperate before two days of Christmas as they haven’t bought their gifts yet. This is the right time to take the right actions to attract them.

Last-minute shoppers are not ordinary shoppers. They are late but they want the best option to pick. Let them know you are capable of meeting their expectations and requirements in their difficult times.

Turn them into your loyal customer. Earn their trust and make them realize they can rely on you during this holiday season.