{"id":18045,"date":"2019-09-09T20:03:55","date_gmt":"2019-09-09T20:03:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/?p=18045"},"modified":"2020-04-27T17:14:17","modified_gmt":"2020-04-27T17:14:17","slug":"2019-holiday-shopping-tips-small-businesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/2019-holiday-shopping-tips-small-businesses","title":{"rendered":"2019 Holiday Shopping Tips & Predictions for Small Businesses"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reading time: 6 minutes<\/em><\/p>\n

Back-to-school sales have ended and it\u2019s time to usher in the 2019 holiday season with new merchandise and promotions that bring the customers in. Last year, holiday shopping sales<\/a> reached $707.5 billion with Thanksgiving weekend (Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday) seeing 165 million shoppers<\/a> in stores and online combined.<\/p>\n

What can you expect in 2019? How can you handle the influx of shoppers? The following predictions \u2013 and ideas for success \u2013 will help you prepare your small business marketing for this year\u2019s holiday shopping trends.<\/p>\n

Does the Early Bird Really Catch the Worm?<\/h2>\n

Do you feel like you\u2019re turning on the holiday music earlier and earlier every year? You\u2019re not going mad from the constant sound of jingling bells \u2013 the holiday shopping season is<\/em> starting earlier. It\u2019s called “Christmas creep” and it\u2019s a marketing phenomenon in which store owners and managers put up holiday decor as early as Halloween. If you do it just to keep up with the Joneses, you\u2019re putting off some shoppers. In 2017, a psychologist claimed that playing holiday tunes early can cause stress<\/a> in people. The good news is, you can enjoy early holiday sales without scaring off your customers.<\/p>\n

How? Start your pre-holiday sales with subtlety. Before you go all-out with floor-to-ceiling decorations, start marking down some of the products you plan on featuring during your seasonal sales. This gives you a jump on your competition and you\u2019ll satisfy the early birds who start their holiday shopping before they buy Halloween candy.<\/p>\n

Who are these people? Generation Z<\/a>. A Black Friday survey<\/a> found 24% of Gen Zers will start their holiday shopping in early November.<\/p>\n

\u2026But Don\u2019t Forget the Late Crowd<\/h2>\n

The same survey found that while half of holiday shoppers start buying gifts from Black Friday to Cyber Monday, around 28% start in early December and another 7% wait until the last minute, Christmas Eve. So, while you think getting a jump on the season will enable you to coast through December, think again. Especially if you sell products men buy as gifts. According to the study, men are the biggest procrastinators with 31% putting off holiday shopping until December. However, a study powered by Lending Tree<\/a> found men are also three times more likely than women to have their shopping finished by Labor Day \u2013 and they spend twice as much.<\/p>\n

This year, Black Friday falls six days later (Nov. 29) than in 2018, pushing the “official” start to the holiday season back by almost a week. Be mindful that more shoppers will start fulfilling loved ones\u2019 wish lists in early December.<\/p>\n

To address the shift in the shopping season, thoughtfully plan your sales strategy to last into the new year. Don\u2019t front or backload your deals and discounts; instead, keep a steady stream of savings in your store and online. Speaking of the internet\u2026<\/p>\n

Add Clicks to Your Bricks for Holiday Shopping Online<\/h2>\n

Cyber Monday broke sales records<\/a> in 2018, raking in $7.9 billion \u2013 making it the largest online shopping day in U.S. history. However, don\u2019t count out your in-store promotions just yet. Industry experts say customers want to connect with the holiday shopping experience<\/a>. This translates to more opportunities to increase sales \u2013 but you have to get them through your door first. Keep your hours of operation up to date on business directories and consider implementing search engine optimization (SEO)<\/a> and\/or search engine marketing (SEM)<\/a> strategies to increase traffic to your site.<\/p>\n

Use social media to increase foot traffic by posting special in-store only deals to your channels. Social Media Marketing<\/a> places targeted ads on popular platforms that will build your brand awareness and elevate your customer engagement online.<\/p>\n

Although it\u2019s not necessarily new, the biggest craze in 2018 was BOPUS (buy online, pick up in store). This trend will continue with many more retailers jumping onboard as the BOPUS model takes the pressure off businesses and consumers. While it makes sense for big box stores to implement this strategy, you may wonder how your small business could benefit from it. If your business has a website (and it should!), you can list items for sale that you don\u2019t traditionally keep on your shelves. This enables you to expand your inventory, without taking up hallowed real estate. When a customer places an order, the item can be drop-shipped to your store. Shoppers can pick up the order when it\u2019s convenient and relieve additional holiday stress.<\/p>\n

Gaining Sales from Smart Shoppers<\/h3>\n

Today, shoppers are much more informed then they were a mere 5 years ago. Technological advancements have empowered consumers with information available at their fingertips, delivered at an incredibly fast rate. Shoppers can research products or services from anywhere at any time \u2013 even in your store! According to Think With Google<\/a>, at least 38% of holiday shoppers use their mobile devices while physically in a store, making it imperative your site loads quickly and is easy to navigate. It\u2019s also important that you keep your offers updated so consumers aren\u2019t confused by seeing 2 different prices or discounts.<\/p>\n

Coupons Drive Sales<\/h2>\n

Think With Google found 62% of holiday shoppers are “deal seekers,” shoppers who do the majority of their shopping over Thanksgiving weekend when the “biggest” discounts happen. And while more people are searching for the best price online, don\u2019t overlook the power of direct mail<\/a>. 40% of Black Friday shoppers responded to an ad in their mailboxes in the past 30 days.1<\/sup> This is evident by the number of circulars and flyers in mailboxes across the country over the holidays.<\/p>\n

But, your small business isn\u2019t limited to flyers or circulars<\/a>. Direct mail coupons<\/a> are cost-effective mini billboards that feature your best offer and an eye-catching image to grab consumers\u2019 attention. Cardstock<\/a> is ideal for customer rewards programs, enabling you to verify and track redemptions. Valpak PlusOneTM<\/sup><\/a> is an affordable stand-alone postcard that mails with, but not inside, Valpak\u2019s famous Blue Envelope and includes creative design, artwork, lists, addressing, processing, printing and postage. For companies in need of a completely customizable option, solo direct mail<\/a> will dial up your 1-to-1 marketing efforts. You reach the audience you want when you want, based on carrier routes, age, income, families with children, home ownership and even businesses.<\/p>\n

Holiday Marketing Tips to Get You Started:<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Use in-store beacons<\/a> to send ads, coupons, deals and product information to shoppers.<\/li>\n
  2. Extend in-store only offers to online shoppers too and vice versa.<\/li>\n
  3. Utilize your social media platforms to engage online shoppers as well as drive traffic to your storefront.<\/li>\n
  4. Update your website<\/a> with a responsive design (if it isn\u2019t already).<\/li>\n
  5. Capitalize on the growing trend of mobile shopping apps by creating one for your brand.<\/li>\n
  6. Offer a social media only coupon to followers of specific platforms and ask for their email addresses in return.<\/li>\n
  7. Create post-holiday sales on\/offline to draw in consumers looking to spend cash gifts and gift cards.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The holidays are an exciting time for businesses and consumers. Get the biggest bang for your advertising buck by entrusting your marketing to the experts at Valpak. Contact your local Valpak franchise office<\/a>. We\u2019ll walk you through how you can reach a targeted, high-income audience for as little as pennies per household.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    1. 2019 AudienceSCAN\u00ae.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Reading time: 6 minutes Back-to-school sales have ended and it\u2019s time to usher in the 2019 holiday season with new merchandise and promotions that bring the customers in. Last year, holiday shopping sales reached $707.5 billion with Thanksgiving weekend (Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday) seeing 165 million shoppers in stores and online combined. What can you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18046,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"siege-2018.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_swt_meta_header_display":false,"_swt_meta_footer_display":false,"_swt_meta_site_title_display":false,"_swt_meta_sticky_header":false,"_swt_meta_transparent_header":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n2019 Holiday Shopping Tips for Small Businesses<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For ideas on how to capitalize on holiday shoppers in 2019, use these marketing tips to plan early and take advantage of in-store and online shopping.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/2019-holiday-shopping-tips-small-businesses\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2019 Holiday Shopping Tips & Predictions for Small Businesses\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For ideas on how to capitalize on holiday shoppers in 2019, use these marketing tips to plan early and take advantage of in-store and online shopping.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/2019-holiday-shopping-tips-small-businesses\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Valpak Advertising\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ValpakAdvertising\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-09T20:03:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-04-27T17:14:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/holiday-predictions.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2508\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1672\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jessica Leone\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@valpak\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@valpak\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jessica Leone\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/2019-holiday-shopping-tips-small-businesses\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/2019-holiday-shopping-tips-small-businesses\",\"name\":\"2019 Holiday Shopping Tips for Small Businesses\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/2019-holiday-shopping-tips-small-businesses#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/2019-holiday-shopping-tips-small-businesses#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/holiday-predictions.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-09T20:03:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-04-27T17:14:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/#\/schema\/person\/f9e1a807c0d7a66a67c7e7e149cd552c\"},\"description\":\"For ideas on how to capitalize on holiday shoppers in 2019, use these marketing tips to plan early and take advantage of in-store and online shopping.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/2019-holiday-shopping-tips-small-businesses#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/2019-holiday-shopping-tips-small-businesses\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/2019-holiday-shopping-tips-small-businesses#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/holiday-predictions.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/holiday-predictions.jpg\",\"width\":2508,\"height\":1672,\"caption\":\"2019 holiday shopping tips small business\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/2019-holiday-shopping-tips-small-businesses#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"2019 Holiday Shopping Tips & Predictions for Small Businesses\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/\",\"name\":\"Valpak Advertising\",\"description\":\"For targeted marketing to advertise your business to the exact audience you want contact Valpak\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/#\/schema\/person\/f9e1a807c0d7a66a67c7e7e149cd552c\",\"name\":\"Jessica Leone\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eaedde357a06f589115355a9ad482415?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eaedde357a06f589115355a9ad482415?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jessica Leone\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/author\/jleone\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"2019 Holiday Shopping Tips for Small Businesses","description":"For ideas on how to capitalize on holiday shoppers in 2019, use these marketing tips to plan early and take advantage of in-store and online shopping.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/2019-holiday-shopping-tips-small-businesses","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"2019 Holiday Shopping Tips & Predictions for Small Businesses","og_description":"For ideas on how to capitalize on holiday shoppers in 2019, use these marketing tips to plan early and take advantage of in-store and online shopping.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/2019-holiday-shopping-tips-small-businesses","og_site_name":"Valpak Advertising","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ValpakAdvertising\/","article_published_time":"2019-09-09T20:03:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-04-27T17:14:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2508,"height":1672,"url":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/holiday-predictions.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jessica Leone","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@valpak","twitter_site":"@valpak","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jessica Leone","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/2019-holiday-shopping-tips-small-businesses","url":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/2019-holiday-shopping-tips-small-businesses","name":"2019 Holiday Shopping Tips for Small Businesses","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/2019-holiday-shopping-tips-small-businesses#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/2019-holiday-shopping-tips-small-businesses#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/holiday-predictions.jpg","datePublished":"2019-09-09T20:03:55+00:00","dateModified":"2020-04-27T17:14:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/#\/schema\/person\/f9e1a807c0d7a66a67c7e7e149cd552c"},"description":"For ideas on how to capitalize on holiday shoppers in 2019, use these marketing tips to plan early and take advantage of in-store and online shopping.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/2019-holiday-shopping-tips-small-businesses#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/2019-holiday-shopping-tips-small-businesses"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/2019-holiday-shopping-tips-small-businesses#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/holiday-predictions.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/holiday-predictions.jpg","width":2508,"height":1672,"caption":"2019 holiday shopping tips small business"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/blog\/2019-holiday-shopping-tips-small-businesses#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"2019 Holiday Shopping Tips & Predictions for Small Businesses"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/","name":"Valpak Advertising","description":"For targeted marketing to advertise your business to the exact audience you want contact Valpak","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/#\/schema\/person\/f9e1a807c0d7a66a67c7e7e149cd552c","name":"Jessica Leone","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eaedde357a06f589115355a9ad482415?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eaedde357a06f589115355a9ad482415?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jessica Leone"},"url":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/author\/jleone"}]}},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/holiday-predictions.jpg",2508,1672,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/holiday-predictions-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/holiday-predictions-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/holiday-predictions-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/holiday-predictions-1024x683.jpg",1024,683,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/holiday-predictions.jpg",1536,1024,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/holiday-predictions.jpg",2048,1365,false],"crp_thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/holiday-predictions.jpg",150,100,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Jessica Leone","author_link":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/author\/jleone"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Reading time: 6 minutes Back-to-school sales have ended and it\u2019s time to usher in the 2019 holiday season with new merchandise and promotions that bring the customers in. Last year, holiday shopping sales reached $707.5 billion with Thanksgiving weekend (Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday) seeing 165 million shoppers in stores and online combined. What can you…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18045"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18045\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19616,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18045\/revisions\/19616"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpak.com\/advertise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}