How To Prepare Your Skincare Store For The Holiday Season
The holiday season, particularly Q4 (October, November, December), is the most crucial time of the year for retailers, including skincare store owners. With major events like Halloween, Black Friday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, the Q4 presents significant opportunities for boosting sales and acquiring new customers.
To make the most of this season, preparation is key. In this article, we want to show you why Q4 is crucial for retailers, what to expect from this year's festive season, and how to prepare your business for success.
Why Q4 is crucial for store owners?
Q4 is historically the strongest quarter for retail sales, driven by increased consumer spending on gifts, holiday preparations, and seasonal deals. In 2023, US ecommerce Q4 sales accounted for 23.5% of total retail sales. Meanwhile, total retail sales in Q4 reached $1.380 trillion. This demonstrates the enormous potential for online skincare stores to capitalise on heightened consumer activity.
While skincare is vital and profitable throughout the whole year, the Q4 period is particularly important as consumers often seek premium self-care products as gifts or to prepare for holiday celebrations. The overall rise in ecommerce, fuelled by convenience and pandemic-induced shopping habits, has made it more essential than ever for skincare store owners to maximise their online presence during this time of the year.
What to expect from Q4, 2024?
With the growth of ecommerce continuing at a rapid pace, this year's Q4 is expected to be another record-breaking season. At the same time, other sources predict that while sales will still be more active than during other quarters of the year, we'll see certain changes in consumer behaviour.
Due to the inflation and, specifically, rising prices of groceries this year, shoppers claim to think twice before using their credit cards to make a purchase online these days. And when they do buy, they're trading down, buying discounted items and seeking private labels or highly personalised products.
Keeping all of this in mind, it's clear that consumers are expected to start their holiday shopping earlier, taking advantage of pre-Black Friday deals and making sure they receive their purchases on time. Also, all retailers offering customised gifts and wellness products are likely to see a healthy flow of incoming orders. Especially, those who offer custom skincare sets, festive discounts or limited-edition products.
So, let's break down how to get ready!
Tips to help you prepare your store for the holiday season
1. Optimise your website and user experience
Check how your website looks via mobile phone, since the majority of consumers are shopping on their smartphones. According to Shopify, 79% of smartphone users have made a purchase online using their mobile device in the last six months.
You also want to ensure that your site is fast. A slow site can lead to cart abandonment, so optimise loading times and make the checkout process as easy and smooth as possible.
2. Stock up on inventory
Analyse past Q4 sales data to predict which products are more likely to be in high demand this year, and stock up on your bestsellers. If, however, this is your first holiday season as a retailer, check which products have been in higher demand so far. You can also explore what your competition is doing and try to find public sales data from previous years from companies offering similar products to yours. Consider offering holiday-exclusive items or limited editions.
It's important to check with your suppliers that they meet the increased demand and are ready to deliver products on time. Delays during the holiday season are almost inevitable and can be costly.
3. Plan your marketing campaigns
You should start promoting your holiday deals early to capture early-bird shoppers. Consider offering exclusive discounts for loyal or returning customers, or those who subscribe to your newsletter. You can also create engaging content around holiday skincare tips, gift guides, and special promotions. Use social media and email marketing to amplify your reach.
Don't be afraid to collaborate with influencers to promote your products! Similarly to customer testimonials, user-generated content (UGC) will help build trust among the shoppers. It will also boost brand awareness, driving more traffic to your site.
4. Prepare for shipping and fulfilment
An important part of the holiday season, that you should not forget, is communicating clear shipping deadlines to your customers. Follow along the major shipping carrier updates to calculate the estimated dates, that will ensure the customer's package will arrive in time for the holidays. For local domestic shipments, it's usually about two weeks in advance, whereas for international shipments, it's about a month in advance. And even then you should prepare your customers for the possibility that the packages might not arrive in time.
If possible, offer your customers expedited shipping options. If you're working with private label manufacturers, like Selfnamed, coordinate closely with them to align on shipping deadlines and fulfilment times.
5. Secure effective customer service
You might want to extend customer service hours to accommodate increased inquiries during the holiday season. If you're running a one-man-show (in other words, you're doing everything by yourself), consider preparing festive and easily customisable message templates, that will help you streamline your messaging process.
With online stores, it's often most important to get the first response out as fast as possible. This is where pre-made message templates can help get that first response rate up and let the customer know you have seen the message and will get to it as soon as possible.
Don't forget also about follow-up communication: reminders, emails with tracking information, “thank you” messages after the purchase has been made, and special offers on future purchases. Post-purchase messaging is also the best time to ask for a review.
If you run your own custom website, consider updating your FAQ section to help customers quickly find answers to common questions.
6. Social proof is everything
Highlight customer reviews and testimonials on your product pages and social media to build trust and encourage purchases. You can even launch a campaign encouraging customers to leave reviews in exchange for a discount on their next purchase.
If you're low on the reviews and testimonials, collaborate with creators within your niche to get some UGC.
7. Make the purchasing experience as smooth as possible
This should go without the saying, that the easier and more enjoyable you can make the shopping process for your customers, the more sales you'll likely get. People generally don't want to jump through hoops and click through 20-something pages just to finally get to the checkout process. Especially during the busiest time of the year, when people are in a rush.
Don't forget to make your return and refund policies clear and visible. If possible, consider offering extended return periods, as this can help boost buyer confidence.
8. Holiday-themed designs and packaging
Limited editions, bundle offers, box sets, holiday-themed designs and packaging – all of this is a great way to boost sales by offering your products as gift options. Selfnamed offers product collection boxes, which you can customise with seasonal or festive designs. If you're low on the design inspiration, you can use our free design styles available in Selfnamed Design Studio.
We are not exaggerating, when we're saying that the Q4 presents a golden opportunity for skincare store owners to significantly boost sales and grow their customer base. By preparing early, optimising your website, stocking up on inventory, and executing successful and well-planned marketing campaigns, you can make the most of the holiday season.
Remember, the key to success during the holiday rush, is to provide a seamless shopping experience that meets the expectations of today's consumers. And you can do it by employing a few or all of the above-mentioned tips.
Start getting ready today, and avoid unnecessary headaches in the middle of the busiest retail season of the year!
How To Start Your Own Skincare Line Using Selfnamed
Selfnamed is here to help create your own skincare line by making the process as simple and seamless as possible. As soon as you decide on your ideal customer and product range, there are only a few simple steps to take:
Select product sample sets. You can choose from more than 30 high-quality, organic or natural certified skincare products made in Northern Europe.
Add your style. Selfnamed offers an easy-to-use design studio to create labels and packaging. You can work with pre-made print-ready templates or create your design from scratch. You can also choose our design service.
Start selling your products. There are no minimum orders, meaning you can easily adjust the volume to your needs.
Before making a custom order, we recommend looking at our sample set selection. These sets contain curated product lines for different skin types, letting you choose the best products for your brand. This way you can test the products — their consistencies, textures, fragrances, as well as packaging quality.
There are the basic steps on how to start a skincare line from the comfort of your home. Best of luck with your new endeavour!
