How can Retailers succeed this holiday season and beyond

What piece of advice or tips would you give retail marketers on how they could use data and identity to succeed this holiday season, especially with the changes in shopping behaviour due to COVID?

1. Holiday messages are more important this year than ever - Karen Schnelwar, Vice President, Global Brand Strategy and Marketing, OXO Brands

“Identity is core—both brand identity and consumer identity. At the right moment with the right message, the twain shall meet. In this new normal, signs of the familiar and the trusted are vitally important, especially when this connection is more virtual than ever.

“To this end, what a brand stands for—what they offer, what they believe, what difference they make in the lives of their consumer—must telegraph at all points of touch. More and more consumers are choosing brands based on shared values; the key is reaching these consumers with a genuine, resonant message.

Abacus: This is what makes Direct Mail so powerful, the ability to deliver your brand message directly to your target audience at home. With Abacus Alliance, direct mail campaigns allow for marketers to hyper-localise their offers based on factors such as location, nearby stories, past purchase behaviour and more.

“Holiday time is noisy, but in a year when families are not all going to be able to be together for the holidays—travel is difficult, social distancing is vital—holiday purchases will mean even more.”

2. Know your customers—and how their habits have changed - Pete Krainik, Founder, The CMO Club

“There are three key questions retailers need to have answers to for holiday season success:

1. Do you really know how your most loyal customers have changed their behaviour these last few months?
2. How have customers’ new experiences where convenience matters most impacted their buying-decision processes going forward?
3. What new competitors have emerged during this pandemic that were not on your radar four months ago? Who has expanded their footprint into your place in the market?

“Your ability to leverage data and customer identity to answer these questions will have a direct impact on your holiday season success.”

Abacus: Organisations that report the highest return on their data-related investments are more likely when first-party data gets enriched by third-party data. Abacus can help you leverage first and third-party data for higher returns by identifying which newly acquired customers you’re most likely to retain and also find more of the newly acquired demographic as a result of COVID.

3. Use what you know about the customer to drive lift and revenue - Jessica Hendrix, President and CEO, Saatchi & Saatchi X

“It’s critical to start with a specific retailer objective and defined audience to drive incremental behaviour change. While COVID has changed where and how consumers are purchasing in the present, it’s critical to still leverage past data to target the right audience for an unknown holiday environment.

Abacus: We can help you use 3rd party data to refine your existing customer audience and identify responsive lookalike audiences.

“This, combined with a clear link between insights and retailer media execution, will increase effectiveness and compliment the physical retail experience. By analysing lift through these various data points, we can truly impact category and brand growth—even in an unknown holiday environment.”

4. Personalise where it matters most, and don’t wade into unnecessary data - Jason Goldberg, Chief Strategy Officer, Publicis NA & host of RetailGeek podcast

“Before getting into advanced personalisation, make sure you have the basics covered. Don’t ask for customer info you won’t use, and make sure you use the information you do collect for the benefit of the customer. For example, use exclusion lists to not retarget me for products I’ve already purchased from you. Be extra careful about retargeting ads, which could spoil a gift surprise on a shared computer.

“Because travel and many traditional holiday rituals will be disrupted this holiday season, it’s a great time to personalise digital amenities. For example, can you offer an online ‘Secret Santa’ drawing for friends and families that can’t get together to draw names? Can you offer gift wrapping for delivered gifts, for family members that can exchange gifts in person?”

5. Reward your most loyal customers with exclusive perks and ease - Kelly Nickerson, Vice President, Strategic Consulting, Epsilon

“This holiday, make your valued customers feel special during a time when new traditions are sure to be forged. Disruptions from quarantine, limited travel and the economy mean the pressure to find the perfect gift—and sending it well ahead—will be intensified for everyone. Reward VIP and loyal customers with the benefit of pre-order, early selection and free shipping with an in-stock guarantee that’s sure to please.

“Consumers now more than ever value service over lowest price, and providing insider access to popular toys, gifts and clothing while it’s still in size and on shelf nabs the sale early, too. Black Friday competitive madness creates disappointment for those slow to the trigger; with lessened physical store options, early-shop opportunities at higher margins is a perk in and of itself.”

6. Reaching and engaging lapsed customers is the key to success - Matt Feczko, Vice President of Product Management, Epsilon

“Holiday season is an opportune time to message lapsed customers, as that is when they’re most likely to reengage with your brand. We’ve seen that lapsed customers’ share of total sales doubles during holiday season compared to non-holiday time periods.

“In a recent conversation with multichannel retailer, we focused on two key factors: reach and optimisation. First, ensure your data onboarder has superior match and reach to maximize the audience available for messaging, and make sure they have persistent identification to continuously build on the conversation—reminding lapsed customers why they should buy again. Second, when it comes to optimisation and avoiding media waste, you need a solution that can identify which of the millions of lapsed customers are ready to buy right now.”

Abacus: Many lapsed customers will share key attributes with your ideal customers. But what might differ is how they respond to your messages. This is where the Alliance and using 3rd party data pays off. Frequent, multi-buyers may respond to nearly all of your direct mail pieces because the messaging works for them. Lapsed customers may be motivated to purchase for different reasons, and without tailoring your message to their specific motivation, you are missing out on their loyalty, after all lapsed customers are about 60% more likely to become “loyal” then new recruits and using 3rd party data and DM will maximise reach and cut-through and minimise wastage!

The more you learn about your current, active and lapsed, customers, the better you’ll be able to market to all members of your audience, no matter how recently they’ve made a purchase.

As you have heard from our experts, identity is the key to creating relevant, valuable and empathetic messages to share with customers. Ultimately, brands can better address customer needs while still reaching key business objectives. Investing in understanding customers on and offline should be at the forefront for brands in order to have a successful holiday season and beyond this year, no matter what changes are thrown their way.

If you’re looking for more resources on how direct mail can help you this holiday season send us a message at enquiriesuk@epsilon.com