Interview with our VP of CS to give you some last minute holiday promotion tips

The holiday shopping period, running from November to mid-January, presents many opportunities for boosting sales. Retailers who adopt varied promotional strategies can effectively capitalize on this increase in consumer footfall. While Black Friday certainly garners attention, it’s essential to recognise that the season comprises numerous shopping opportunities (Cyber Monday, Christmas, Boxing Day in the UK, New Year’s, Kings Day in Spain…)

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1. How is the current landscape looking as we approach the holiday season?

Kayleigh: A recent study by Deloitte indicates that consumers plan to increase their spending by 8% compared to last year, which I think is a notable response to ongoing inflationary pressures. While consumers are cautious, many indicate a willingness to spend more on experiences and gifts that provide value and meaning. 

Retail executives are optimistic, with 80% expecting sales growth thanks to increased traffic in-store and online. However, 78% believe that earlier promotions are pulling sales forward, which underscores the importance of retailers having the right products and prices available early on.
Long story short: Promotions will be a deal-breaker

2. How can retailers best position their promotions to appeal to budget-conscious consumers this year?

Kayleigh: Retailers can position their promotions by clearly communicating value. For instance, they might showcase bundled product offers during key shopping days or provide tiered discounts that appeal to various budget levels. Highlighting essential items that fit within consumers’ budgets, like gift-friendly price ranges, can also capture attention in this trending market.

Retailers will have to have their promotional offers queued up.

3. How can our viewers effectively create and manage these promotions using Localistico?

Managing your Google Posts from Localistico will allow you to create and automate the publication of any type of promotions or campaigns such as events, offers or product updates. This results in a time-saving process that will allow your business to share messages directly with your customers in Google Search and Google Maps.

So what are the main benefits?

1. Engaging your audience by sharing updates and announcements
2. Keeping your presence fresh by updating your information on a regular basis
3. Ranking higher in Search Engine Results by adding elements that will encourage consumers to take action
4. Saving time by creating a post just once and posting it in as many profiles as you need to. 

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4. To maximise sales during this season, which specific promotional strategies would you recommend retailers implement?

Kayleigh: Retailers should adopt a range of promotions throughout the holiday period. We already discussed Google Posts, but they should also consider utilizing paid ads. In fact, local marketing strategies can be particularly impactful, especially since 78% of consumers indicate they are likely to visit a store if they see a local advertisement. Employing geo-targeted ads can create a strong connection with shoppers.

5. Given the holiday rush is approaching fast, can retailers still create effective, targeted paid ads using Localistico?

Kayleigh: Absolutely! Though it’s essential to act quickly to maximize reach before holiday shoppers hit stores. By focusing marketing efforts on local audiences, businesses can increase relevance, engagement, and ultimately drive more foot traffic to physical stores. Setting local ads up is really quick and there’s plenty of automations you can do from Localistico, such as: 

• Location Selection: Rather than manually selecting individual stores, Localistico allows you to use pre-defined groups for targeting (based on regions, cities, types of stores, etc).
• Customised Ad Content: We use placeholders to customise the headlines and copy of the ads. This often includes the name of the store, making the ad more personal and engaging for users. 
• Targeting Area: Instead of manually adjusting the radius around each store in Google Ads, you can set it once for all your locations or selected groups. This helps in efficient targeting and better conversion rates.
• Automatic Landing Page Selection: Localistico automatically detects the corresponding store page for each of your stores and uses them as landing pages for the ads. This ensures that users are directed to relevant, optimised pages, enhancing the quality score of your ads. 
• Comprehensive Reporting: We offer comprehensive reporting that enables better decision-making and helps brands optimize their campaigns to maximize results. 

Thanks to these automations, your ad can be up and running in no time!

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6. Are there any tactics retailers can implement to manage reviews appropriately and make the most of what their customers are saying?

I think we all know by now the importance of online reviews. The question is: how do we use them to our advantage? My main suggestions when it comes to reviews are the following:

1. Reviews have an influence on Decision-Making: Many shoppers read reviews as part of their product research process. Retailers that highlight positive reviews or aggregate ratings prominently on their websites may see improved conversion rates. 

I’d highly recommend incorporating the review widget to your store pages. This can be done automatically with the information already existing in Localistico and your customers will be able to go through the reviews of the specific store they are planning on visiting.

2. The impact of Search Platforms and Social Media: Search Platforms and Social media often amplify the effects of online reviews, leading to viral trends that can significantly impact sales. Brands that engage actively with their audience and respond to reviews may foster loyalty and encourage word-of-mouth referrals. Remember, Google doesn’t only take into account review volume and rating but also company response rate. 

I’d highly suggest incorporating automated responses to reviews. It’s all about saving time and resources whilst ensuring response quality is not impacted to achieve a 100% response rate to reviews.

There are two features that will make the task of automating responses a lot easier and will guarantee that they sound human:

• Templates: You can create these based on sentiment and country, which will allow you to respond in the local language, content or keywords.
• {{Placeholders}}: They will ensure each reply is relevant and customised by automatically populating the correct information for the selected criteria.
• Seasonal Trends and Product Availability: Reviews can reflect seasonal trends, including which products are in demand during specific holidays. Retailers can analyze review data to adjust their inventory and marketing strategies accordingly for the holiday season. 

At Localistico, we offer an AI generated summary of reviews report highlighting recurring topics of positive and negative reviews to take action on. The report contains;

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3. Increased Competition: As more businesses establish an online presence, the sheer volume of reviews and competing opinions may intensify. Brands with a proactive approach to managing their online reputation are likely to perform better. 

At Localistico we also offer a Competitor Reputation Report to benchmark your online reputation against your competitors and to understand how well your locations are fulfilling your customer’s expectations. 

4. Importance of Authenticity: Brands that can demonstrate genuine customer satisfaction are likely to resonate better with holiday shoppers. Encouraging real customers to leave reviews can enhance the credibility of the feedback. 

In order to encourage your customers to leave a review, we recommend you incorporate a call to action to leave a review. In Localistico you can download a URL that can be included in any email or message that you send out to your customers after they visit a store.

5. Looking ahead, what final piece of advice would you give to retailers to ensure they thrive during the busy holiday season?

Kayleigh: My advice would be to stay flexible and responsive. Monitor sales trends closely by utilizing your analytics tools to observe real-time consumer behavior and adjust your promotions and stock accordingly. Actively listening to feedback and adapting accordingly, can significantly enhance your responsiveness and ultimately drive better results during the busy holiday season.