Every time the holiday season comes around, there are new opportunities, as well as new challenges and obstacles to be aware of. In 2024, the holiday season involves navigating the complexities of consumer expectations and marketing dynamics. We will see the influence of AI making a big difference, as well as current affairs making their mark. Let’s take a closer look.
The Power Of AI
AI is changing the eCommerce world rapidly, and this holiday season is no exception. The holiday season is the busiest time for marketers, but also requires the most creativity, this is because the market is full of eCommerce brands putting their best foot forward.
Having personalization backed by an AI solution could be what makes all the difference. When it comes to marketing, the question is: are you reaching your target audience? Having the best products is no use if it’s not reaching the people you want to be buying them.
Having an advanced AI solution means that you can offer personalized recommendations that can reach consumers at the right time. Whether this be within the buying journey, at checkout for example, or under product pages. It could also be through retargeting with email or SMS marketing. Having the opportunity for this advanced personalization can make all the difference.
Using AI creates the opportunity for personalization at scale. This means also offering personalized recommendations to anonymous or first-time users of your site. When the competition is high around the holiday season, being able to offer personalization to any shopper is a great benefit, and can help you stand out from the crowd.
As more businesses will be using this in the 2024 holiday season, it’s worth making sure you are on board too. If you are lacking AI capacities that other businesses are providing, it’s easy for consumers to jump ship.
Price Sensitivity
With the cost of living soaring all over the world, consumers are looking to spend their pennies wisely. Shoppers will be looking at pricing as they decide where to spend. For this reason, dynamic pricing will be making a comeback, as it allows businesses the opportunity to price according to demand.
As a result of global events, shoppers are also looking to be more selective about where they spend their hard earned money. Making sure your business values are clear is important. Social issues such is LGBTQ+ diversity as well as sustainability and environmental issues should be highlighted. This could make a big impact on the amount of money your shoppers are comfortable spending in your store.
Discounts & Promotions
It has become clear recently that being selective about the products you put discounts on makes a big difference. Blanket discounts don’t have the same effect. Rather, you should choose specific products you think consumers are interested in, and be selective with it. Then, you can place a 30% discount on these products. This is the way to make sure your discounts have the most impact, and are snapped up as much as they should be.
Being selective about where you employ discounts ties in with broad profitability goals. Your brand image relies on your intentionality. A blanket sale implies that you are not treating products differently, and doesn’t have the same appeal.
An Expanded Calendar
This year, the holiday season has already begun. In the run up to Christmas, which is traditionally the biggest spending moment of the year, we have to make sure that the stamina is still there for the shoppers. With Black Friday, or this year, Black November nearly concluded, shopping has well and truly begun. On top of that, Thanksgiving adds more heat to this.
Your challenge here is to differentiate between the holidays and the sales offered for them. Make sure that your shoppers don’t succumb to consumer fatigue. Make sure the deals remain interesting and relevant: you want to keep shoppers engaged as much as you can.
Conclusion
This holiday season, you can expect to find many things that you have already been used to. However considering the elements such as AI driven personalization, dynamic pricing and importance of discounting smartly is also important. With all these things in mind, there should be no reason you shouldn’t excel this 2024 holiday season.