Let them tell you what they want and then give it to them.
Staying on top of ecommerce trends is a must if you’re an online store owner,
especially now that the holiday season is getting closer.
Within the next few minutes, our expert will tell you about the most relevant
online holiday shopping trends and how to use them for your ecommerce business.
What kind of trends should I be looking out for as a store owner this holiday season?
Global inflation is in full swing right now, sadly, so you can expect your customers to
start shopping early for gifts to avoid price hikes. This means you should be looking into
starting your marketing campaigns early as well. Look into running a pre-Black
Friday Cyber Monday campaign. Start early on your holiday designs. Start promoting your
gifting collection, so that you allow your shoppers to buy early from you.
I started early. What else do I do? What other things should I be looking out for?
So your competition is growing because ecommerce is not slowing down and we see
more and more mass-market brands joining the online space. So you kind of have to
look into how are you different and what can you offer your customer a huge brand can't?
My advice would be to narrow down your niche even more.
We talk about it all the time.
That's the most important thing you can do as a smaller business owner— find that perfect
customer. Be a bigger fish in a smaller pond, instead of trying to sell to everyone. The
second thing is that personalization trends are only growing, and it's something that you
as a Printful customer, if you use certain integrations, can also offer on your store.
By giving your customers this cool opportunity to
personalize their product by adding their name, a picture, or a slogan,
you make a unique experience for them. This way you can stand out from these bigger brands.
So to recap first, I have to make sure that I've narrowed down the niche that I'm serving. And
next, I should consider personalization. But when it comes to personalization,
are there any specific product trends that we're seeing emerging?
We see growing demand for sustainable products. Last year we saw a 200% growth
in sustainable products on Printful compared to 2020. So that's something
that I think most of our store owners should look into—trying to offer more sustainable
options to their customers. I read the research that was done recently where
80% of participants would be looking into sustainable products this year.
Thankfully, we offer a bunch of eco-friendly products on Printful
that you can offer in your store. All of these products are made out of 70% organic
or recycled materials. Right now there are 46 of them. By choosing print-on-demand,
your product is only made when an order is placed. So you eliminate overproduction
waste. So check out this category and see if any of the products fit your store.
And if I'm selling eco-friendly products
is there anything else that I should keep in mind? Any approaches, anything to avoid?
You definitely should avoid greenwashing your audience. Figure out what your brand
stands for. Show your values on your store, but also be ready to back up your claims.
So use products that are certified. You can find out more information on our sustainability page.
So now that we've covered product trends, do you have any specific strategy pointers for our
sellers so that they can make sure that they make the most out of Black Friday and Cyber Monday?
One of the biggest conversion killers is setting up high shipping prices. So definitely look into
your shipping pricing strategy and try to offer low prices or free shipping to
your customers. Another thing I can suggest is teasing your customers with an upcoming
sale. Send out an email, for example, a week before your Black Friday Cyber Monday sale,
showing the products that you're going to offer and the discounts,
so that your customers can think about what they want to buy.
This is something that I see other brands do more often as the holidays are approaching, and it
creates a more mindful shopping experience for the customer. Something else I can suggest is asking
your customers what they want. Go on Instagram, do a poll there and let them tell you what they
want and then give it to them. It's that simple. The last thing is offering discounts on your
bestsellers or bringing bestselling designs that you might not even offer in your store
anymore. Something that I see with mass market brands is that during the sale,
something that's on good offer is usually either very seasonal or in a shocking color. It's always
a neon yellow sweater that's 70% off. It's never a black sweater. Companies are trying to get rid
of stock. You don't have that problem because you use POD, so you can build loyalty and give your
customers exactly what they want by giving them a good discount on your bestsellers.
So we've given our viewers a bunch of tips on how to prepare for Cyber Week
and the holiday season. But what are we as Printufl do to prepare?
This is the most important time of the year for our customers, which means it's the
biggest priority for us as a company. We have 17 facilities worldwide ready to ship your orders.
We're hiring extra team members to help boost fulfillment so that your customers get their
gifts on time. We're also staying on top of communication with you, so check the Printful
website often for upcoming order deadlines and any other important information you might need.
Thank you so much for coming and for telling us all about holiday
selling tips and Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
No problem. This was so much fun. For more holiday selling tips,
check out our Printful Academy or Printful blog.
So, those are just a few of the ecommerce trends that we can expect to see in the
upcoming season. I’m sure there are many more that we’ll see emerge as well.
While you're looking for creative ways to engage your customers by promoting amazing deals,
don't forget to save time to review the functionality of your store,
which is why I recommend checking out our store review live streams, right there. Our top experts
dig into the structure of our customers' online stores and provide helpful feedback.
Thanks for watching, and I hope this was helpful!