Founders and VCs share 7 holiday sales strategies amid COVID-19
In this series, “Founder’s Field Guide,” we tackle topics that are top-of-mind for entrepreneurs and offer candid, tactical advice from our founders (who have been through it) and our team (who advised along the way). Previous posts discussed setting and scaling company culture, lessons for raising a seed round, how to deploy early-stage capital, and combatting B2B churn.
Brands are embarking on a holiday sales season unlike any other. Since the pandemic closed stores in the spring, consumers have moved more of their shopping online, pushing e-commerce years into the future. But with the holiday shopping season already well underway, consumer-facing companies are encountering their greatest challenge yet: ensuring a positive customer experience under unusual circumstances and during their busiest stretch. From shipping times to supply chain management and everything else between checkout and your doorstep, the pressure is on for brands to deliver this holiday season.
How can entrepreneurs best prepare for a successful holiday shopping season amid COVID-19? To help business leaders develop their own strategies, we asked our founders to share what they’re focusing on in the weeks ahead.
Here’s what they said.
From our founders
Content-first e-commerce
“We have completely rebuilt our online strategy ahead of the holidays, taking a content-first approach to e-commerce,” says Ben Kaufman, CEO of family experience store CAMP. “It’s not enough for online retailers to just list products anymore, they need to contextualize and curate them in relevant and interesting ways through editorial content. We know this holiday will look very different so we have created fun and meaningful activities and experiences to bring families together, no matter where they are.”
CAMP’s plan: Release gift guides, family activities, and recipes across their channels.
Customer-centric extra touches
“It’s only our second holiday season at Studs, but like most retail brands this holiday, we’re focusing and pushing on a robust November and December e-commerce marketing calendar,” says Lisa Bubbers, cofounder of ear piercing brand Studs. “I think consumers are going to be looking for the perfect personal gifts for loved ones they can’t be with, amazing deals and sales, for charitable donations and community engagement from brands, and a little bit of fun escapism.”
Studs’ plan: Offer discounted bundles ahead of Black Friday and a Black Friday promotion with some proceeds going to the New Georgia Project, a holiday Instagram face filter, and a growing Studs Archive on Depop.
All about the inventory
“A bunch of products are going to be sold out early in the promotional holiday calendar, so if consumers want to shop for a deal they should put in their order earlier rather than later,” says Jonathan Bensamoun, CEO of GPS dog collar Fi. “COVID drastically shifted consumer shopping behavior even further away from physical retail toward e-commerce, but as e-commerce demand is exploding, so are fulfillment centers.”
Fi’s plan: Ramp up production capacity to handle holiday demand and work closely with partners to ensure they can respect service-level agreements and shipping timelines.
Make it personal
“Gifting is even more important this year than ever before,” says Otherland cofounder Abigail Cook Stone. “Without Christmas parties and holiday travel to see family, it’s all about sending a sweet gift to the ones you care about. Customers are looking for products to give that feel extra-special with a joy-sparking unboxing experience and ability to personalize as a stand-in for those IRL connections we’re all missing this year. With shoppers less likely to shop in person this year and the DTC skeptics more willing to shop online than ever before, the gifting opportunity is bigger than ever.”
Otherland’s plan: Focus on showing off its unboxing and personalization options, including gift notes and matchboxes, and encouraging their customers to get their gifting done early.
Explore all angles
“With most consumer businesses now focusing on D2C, people have more options than ever to buy from small businesses online,” says Hilary McCain, CEO of Sweet Reason. “When you think about marketing strategies this holiday season, don’t put all of your eggs into one basket. I think D2C will be more competitive than ever, so companies need to be firing on all fronts and prepared to fail and iterate over and over again over the next six weeks.”
Sweet Reason’s plan: Increase its focus on influencers and leveraging their influencer community to spread messaging on discounts and other holiday initiatives.
From us
Experience is everything
“It goes without saying that most holiday shopping is going to be done online this year,” says Andrea Hippeau, LH Principal. “While this is a great opportunity for D2C brands, it’s one that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Brands should plan on beefing up their customer support teams and customer communications as a way to build transparency and trust. This is a time when consumers may be looking to experiment with a new D2C brand, but you risk losing your customer if the experience isn’t best-in-class.”
Andrea’s advice: DTC brands should lean into this holiday season, but be prepared to walk the walk.
Nail your communication
“Communication with your customers is a key part of the post-purchase experience, and it’s even more important when things aren’t going to plan,” says LH Director of Brand and Content Natalie Sportelli. “If something happens that messes up an order (or multiple), it’s better to communicate than keep your customers in the dark. Even a negative experience, like a delay, can become positive if the brand can empathize and maintain clear, transparent communication. Generally, I think people will be more understanding this year, but you can never go wrong by ensuring the customer feels heard.”
Natalie’s advice: Make sure your post-purchase communication is prepared for anything.
