In retail, there are three pivotal periods each year: pre-holiday, holiday, and post-holiday. The holiday season is crucial for attracting new customers, re-engaging existing ones, and generating significant revenue. With the 2024 holiday season bringing unique challenges like a presidential election, five fewer shopping days, and shifts towards online and mobile sales, planning ahead and being adaptable is more important than ever.

Adapting to Evolving E-Commerce Trends

To properly prepare for the holiday season, it’s crucial to stay ahead of emerging trends and consumer behaviors. In recent years, we’ve seen a significant increase in U.S. retail e-commerce sales, with nearly 20% of sales now taking place online. This year, though, the spotlight is on mobile commerce (mCommerce). Adobe predicts that mobile shopping will make up 53% of all e-commerce sales during the holidays. To capitalize on this trend, retailers must enhance their mobile platforms, ensuring they provide seamless, convenient shopping experiences. These optimization includes improving site speed, ensuring easy navigation, and providing secure and quick checkout processes.

The Presidential Election’s Impact on Holiday Marketing 

The Presidential Election, which is set to take place on November 5th, 2024, occurs just 25 days before Black Friday. Because of the proximity of these two events, holiday marketing will be affected. 

Increased Advertising Costs

During election cycles, political campaigns invest heavily in advertising, which significantly drives up the cost of ad space across various platforms, including Connected TV (CTV), Linear TV, and social media. Swing states such as Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin will experience even more intense competition for ad space. In order to stand out, brands should consider reallocating some of their advertising budget to less traditional channels that may experience less political ad saturation — such as podcasts, secondary social platforms, or digital out-of-home advertising (DOOH) — for the beginning of their Holiday marketing campaigns.

Divided Consumer Attention

With the increase of political advertisements, consumer attention is more divided than usual, as holiday ads compete with political campaigns for visibility. In order to capture consumer interest during this time, brands should focus on producing engaging content that provides clear value to their target audience.

Influence on Consumer Spending

Presidential elections often lead to economic uncertainty, which can cause consumers to become more conservative with their spending. To address this, brands should emphasize value and reliability in their marketing messages to reassure consumers. Also, providing flexible payment options like “buy now, pay later” can make purchases more appealing for budget-conscious shoppers.

The Challenges of a Shortened Holiday Shopping Season

The 2024 holiday shopping season is set to have five fewer shopping days than in previous years. This year, Thanksgiving lands on November 28th, the latest possible date it can occur, setting Black Friday on November 29th. 

With a shortened holiday period, brands face a tighter timeframe to engage, peak, and convert consumer interest. During this compressed period, competition for consumer attention is expected to be more intense than ever. To differentiate themselves, brands will need to utilize innovative strategies like personalized shopping experiences or strategic partnerships to capture and keep consumer interest.

Due to the condensed holiday season, brands may also need to adapt their sales strategies. This could involve implementing deeper discounts, more frequent flash sales, or introducing “early bird” promotions ahead of Thanksgiving to encourage purchases. Additionally, extending return policies after the holidays may reassure customers, encouraging them to shop confidently despite the shorter timeline.

Planning a Multi-Channel Strategy for the 2024 Holiday Season

By understanding the external factors impacting the 2024 holiday season, brands can better tailor their strategies across channels. Consumers today engage with brands on multiple platforms, making it crucial to deliver a cohesive and consistent message across all touchpoints. By ensuring that each channel complements the others, brands can enhance engagement, increase conversions, and provide a seamless brand experience. 

Starting your holiday promotions in October is crucial for a successful campaign. It allows you to identify key dates, organize promotional events, and address critical deadlines such as shipping cut-offs, content creation, and ad launches. This helps create a comprehensive workback schedule for all marketing channels and ensures your efforts are synchronized. 

Below is what should be considered for all channels:

Advertising Budget

Allocate additional funds specifically for holiday ad campaigns to accommodate for the increased costs and competition during this peak season.. By budgeting and planning early, your brand can secure premium ad placements before your competitors, ensuring maximum visibility during the crucial shopping periods.

Shipping Cut-Off Dates

Clearly defining and communicating the final days customers can place orders to ensure delivery by a specific date is crucial for managing customer expectations. Important shipping deadlines to note are:

• Standard Shipping: The last day customers can choose standard shipping to ensure delivery by the holiday.
• Two-Day Shipping: The final customers can select two-day shipping for delivery before the holiday.
• Next-Day Shipping: The absolute deadline for next-day shipping orders to arrive in time for the holiday.

We suggest shifting your focus to gift cards after the final shipping cut-offs to capture last-minute shoppers, offering them a convenient and stress-free gifting option.

Cross-Channel Integration:

• Amazon: Ensure your Amazon strategy is integrated with all other channels to create a unified approach. Use Amazon ads, product listings, and promotions in conjunction with your SEO, email, social media, and influencer efforts. This cross-channel strategy will help maximize visibility, drive traffic from multiple sources, and increase conversions both on and off Amazon.

• Email Marketing: Leverage email marketing to promote deals and content that connect to your main sales platforms and other digital touchpoints. Segment your audience to provide tailored offers that match their interests and behaviors, boosting engagement through SEO-optimized content and influencer collaborations.

• SEO: Optimize your website, Amazon listings, and social content for SEO to boost organic traffic. Ensure your SEO strategy works across all platforms, increasing visibility in search engines and supporting both organic and paid marketing initiatives.

• Influencer Marketing: Partner with influencers to broaden your reach and increase traffic to your sales channels. Encourage influencers to produce content that highlights your brand’s unique offerings, which can motivate their followers to explore your products across various platforms, increasing engagement across multiple channels.

• Affiliate Marketing: Collaborate with affiliates to drive traffic across your website, Amazon storefront, and all other relevant online presences. Align these efforts with your broader marketing campaigns to ensure a consistent message and seamless user experience across all touchpoints.

To drive sales and maximize impact this holiday season, integrating all your marketing channels is key. A cohesive multichannel approach not only engages customers more effectively but also elevates the shopping experience. For tactical execution plans across email, SEO, Amazon, influencer, and affiliate marketing, download WITHIN’s full 2024 Holiday Marketing Playbook.