In 2014 the UK spent over £1.3 billion on Mother’s Day so it’s not surprising that alongside Christmas and Valentine’s Day it is one of the most important dates for your ecommerce calendar. Mother’s Day is particularly early this year, on March 6th but it isn’t too late to implement these ideas so you can make it a success for you and your business.
Email marketing
Email marketing can be a highly effective way of getting your customer’s attention at peak shopping times and creating a sense of urgency to get them to buy. Send out an email as a reminder that they only have “x days left until Mother’s Day” and include an easy to use shopping guide with click throughs to your website so that they can make their purchase in just a few clicks.
Make sure that your subject line entices them to open up the email and use titles like “Top presents for Mum this Mother’s Day” or “Last chance to make your Mother’s Day”. Not on the High Street do this particularly effectively and send out regular emails reminding you of the date, and encouraging you to shop by category or present idea.
Use Social Media
If used properly, social media can be a great way of raising awareness for your website and products. Use a competition to create a buzz and to drive traffic. Ask your customers to nominate their Mum to win a gift voucher or ask them to share why their Mum is so special. Use branded Hashtags and encourage shares to get your competition and company noticed and why not make your own unique Hashtag like Not on the High Street’s #maverickmum which promotes the uniqueness of their gifts for your unique Mum.
Make the most of banners, headers and backgrounds so that they grab your customer’s attention and remind them of the important dates, not just Mother’s Day itself but last order dates as well.
Make it easy for your customers
Nothing will appeal to your customer’s more than an easy to use Mother’s Day shopping list. Pull together all of your suitable products and provide ideas and inspiration to your customers. This can be promoted in your email marketing and social media. Your guide should be centrally placed on your website and easy for your customers to find and use.
Debenhams, for example have a separate section for Mother’s Day offering advice, ideas and different categories to shop in. For those customers who don’t know what to choose, or those that have just left it too late, you should promote a gift card and offer an email version that they can receive quickly and print off themselves.
Give something extra
Whilst it may not seem very original, offering free or discounted delivery to your customers still appeals. The majority of businesses operate in a highly competitive environment so any incentive you can use to get your customers to stay on your page and order should be used. For e-commerce companies, like Moonpig.com, free delivery can be the difference between someone ordering from you or them going out and buying it from a bricks and mortar store.
As it gets closer to Mother’s Day, offer a discount on your premium delivery service instead and make sure that you advertise it in your email newsletter, on your website and across your social media platforms. Or, if you can offer gift wrap it can be a great way to give an extra service to your customers. Even with a charge it will still appeal to your customers, particularly those who have left it to the last minute. They can order from you, get it wrapped and sent straight to their Mum in just a few clicks.