Easter sales tactics you can implement to increase e-commerce sales

With Easter just around the corner, if you haven’t finalised your Easter marketing campaign strategies yet, you need to get on it now.

Statistics from the last few years show that Easter generates a year-on-year rise in consumer spending, so being prepared before consumers start looking for deals and discounts is a must. Easter campaigns pique customers’ interest, boost sales and increase brand awareness.

If you’re not sure where to start, here’s an overview of a few Easter e-commerce marketing opportunities to use this spring: 

Create Eggs-citing Easter deals

Most e-commerce businesses run promotions around holidays, and Easter is no exception! Special holiday deals create a sense of urgency, pushing customers to buy or, at least, browse a whole range of products well beyond just food items.

Here are some deals you could implement in the next few weeks:

Discounts

Depending on your business, anything from a percentage-off sale to a two-for-one deal and beyond into referral codes could work. 

Lowering the prices and still making a profit is not always simple! Make sure your discount strategy is enticing without eating into your profit margins. Remember, a 50% discount means selling twice as much to reach your revenue goals. With that in mind, offering a discount on some, not all, products might be better. Similarly, you can offer targeted discounts only to first-time buyers, which could help you attract new customers to your store.

Free shipping

Online shoppers love free shipping! 77% of them expect free shipping when they order online. If you usually charge for your shipping costs, offering free Easter weekend shipping will be an important factor in gaining a competitive advantage around holidays.

Product bundles

Bundling products and creating an Easter basket may be a game changer for your online store this Easter. The key is to find a product combination that will bring the best results. For example, if you have an unwanted inventory that takes up space, combining those items with fast-selling ones can work magic – the data shows that combining slow-selling goods with fast-selling can increase sales by 20%!

Take advantage of a sense of urgency

Two main things drive performance in sales – urgency and perceived scarcity. Limited product quantities or limited-time offers often make products more desirable. Marketing tactics that create urgency capitalise on customers’ fear of missing out (FOMO). Some of the examples you can use this Easter to boost sales with a sense of urgency include:

• Flesh sales: A flash sale is a discount or promotion offered by an e-commerce store for a short period of time. Flash sales are high-volume events, usually announced last-minute, that have the potential to bring in significant revenue. 
• Countdown timers: Your special discounts will only feel special if you make it clear that they are on for a limited time. Countdown timers are an effective way to create urgency that will push hesitating customers to buy as soon as possible to catch the deals before the time runs out. Countdown timers can be displayed on specific product pages, website homepage, or other marketing channels, so customers will not ignore the offers that are getting timed out.
• Limited quantities: Limiting the supply increases a perceived product value. Showing the number of items left in stock (the amount doesn’t have to be objectively correct!) on a product page is an easy way to bring attention to the quantity you have left.

Additionally, you can use other marketing channels to create a sense of urgency by sending a message that reminds customers a certain promotion is only available for a limited time.

Use email campaigns

Americans start Easter shopping earlier every year. According to an Omnisend study of 2.75 billion emails, the majority of orders are placed on Good Friday, but there is still a significant portion of shoppers who shop throughout the Easter month. 

Starting your email campaigns early can bring you more profit, as email is a powerful channel to announce promotions that will actually bring your customers to the store. Personalised Easter email will motivate your customers to make a quick purchase so they don’t miss out on your Easter deals! 

Here are a few quick tips for eggscellent Easter email campaigns:

• Personalisation: personalisation increases customer engagement, so using the data you have about your customers can tremendously increase your chances of getting more purchases! You can personalise subject lines and email content, all based on your customers previous activity, e.g. their location and recent purchases.
• Easter-themed design: it goes without saying that your Easter emails should bring a sense of joy and warmth. You can use light, pastel colours and combine Easter-associated graphics to get a design that is vibrant, fun and eye-catching.
• Interactive content: polls, surveys, or even gamified content can make your emails more engaging and increase the time recipients spend interacting with your brand. 
• Coupon campaigns: people are already willing to spend more around holidays, so sending promo codes to your contact lists during Easter will create urgency and turn subscribers into paying customers!

Boost impulse purchases with upselling on checkout

People who buy impulsively do so because they feel like they are getting a special deal. One of the ways to create this feeling is to offer your customer a product they’ll love, with a discount, while they’re in the process of making their initial purchase.

Upsells and cross-sells on checkout are a proven e-commerce strategy to increase revenue. Customers who are in the checkout process have a strong intention to purchase – their order is almost complete. And when they accept what you offer on the checkout, they increase the total value of their cart. Remember:

• Upsell means that the customer adds something more expensive to their original order. It can be a premium version of what they just bought, a bigger size/volume version of a product etc
• A cross-sell is very similar, only the customer now adds an extra product to their cart (often a complimentary product).

So, this is not something that buyers have initially planned, but it might be just the right tactic for you to boost even more sales this Easter!

What next?

AirVu Media is here to help you launch effective seasonal and ongoing campaigns and grow your business online. Contact us for a free consultation today.