How to Prepare Your Shopify eCommerce Store for Christmas

In case you haven’t yet made seasonal adjustments to your website, here’s how to prepare your Shopify eCommerce store for Christmas.

In fact, the principles can be applied to any website.

Written By

Dan Partridge

Branding and Design

It seems that each year the anticipation grows stronger. When will the Coca Cola Advert be shown? After all, Christmas preparations can only really begin in earnest once Mr Claus and his Coca Cola truck have appeared.

That was, of course, until John Lewis got hold of the Christmas television advert and elevated it to a thing of storytelling beauty. It would seem, in fact, that few things unlock the emotions of 21st Century Britain like the retailer’s annual offering. If you haven’t seen it, here’s the 2014 version starring #MontyThePenguin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iccscUFY860

Why is the John Lewis advert so compelling? Why does it have such a powerful impact on viewers?

We’d suggest that it’s got a lot to do with branding, design and a simple understanding of how the human mind works.

The best Christmas campaigns feature a huge emphasis on family and friendship, usually against a backdrop of snow, twinkling lights and warmth amidst the cold. They paint a compelling picture of how life should be, and they use seasonal props to illustrate the point.

What does this teach us about how to prepare your Shopify eCommerce store for Christmas? It’s surprisingly simple. Your store should do exactly what John Lewis do; show people how your products will make their life better, and use seasonal imagery, photographs and references to illustrate your point.

It might not be possible – or appropriate – to radically change your website design in order to achieve this. However, small changes to your website, social media profiles and even your email footer will go a long way.

Show people that Christmas is wonderful and you might just find them bringing their business to you.

Marketing Campaigns

One of the easiest ways to boost eCommerce sales over the Christmas period is by offering well-considered marketing campaigns. This is true both before and after Christmas, with January (and pre-January) sales representing another huge opportunity to increase sales and reach new customers.

However, it can be tempting to think of Christmas as an easy marketing win. Don’t. Make sure that you present your products in the most compelling way that you possibly can. Incentives are particularly important – special offers and discounted delivery are particularly powerful. Shopify have a range of apps and plugins that make this quick and easy to achieve – please do contact us if you have any questions about this.

Social Media

The Christmas period offers you the perfect opportunity to engage with that social media following that you’ve been working hard to cultivate over the last 12 months.

It’s very important that you let your customers know what you’re offering them this Christmas time. Using photos is a great way to catch people’s attention and present your products in a more compelling, engaging way.