How to Prepare for the Biggest Ecommerce Holidays

Every year holidays come and go so fast. If brands aren’t prepared for these promotional periods, they could miss out on big opportunities to make your brand standout and maximize revenue growth.

As the world’s foremost ecommerce accelerator, Pattern works with a wide variety of brands on many marketplaces worldwide. We’ve seen firsthand the power in preparing for ecommerce holidays by creating a solid advertising, promotional, and logistical strategy in advance.

Get your brand ready for the biggest ecommerce holidays by taking note of when and why it matters.

Q1 (January–March)

1. New Year’s Eve and Day: (Dec. 31-Jan.1) Initially, someone might not think of New Year’s as a huge ecommerce holiday, but think of the millions who are making New Year’s resolutions. Most often than not, they’ll need to buy equipment and/or tools to assist their path to self-improvement, kickstart new routines, and a renewed focus on health and wellness.

‍2. Super Bowl Sunday: (2nd Sunday in February) The tailgating food, quality entertainment of football and commercials, fun decorations, and great company make Super Bowl Sunday a fabulous holiday for consumers and sellers. If your product is something that can be used on Super Bowl Sunday, for hosting, tailgating, or celebrating, get a head start in stocking inventory and advertising your product.

‍3. Valentine’s Day: (February 14) Valentine’s Day is an extremely popular holiday to shower gifts on loved ones. Our Valentine’s Day data-driven insights shows the consumer behavior on Amazon and what consumers are searching for beyond chocolates and flowers. The products consumers are searching during this time for might not always be what you’d typically expect, so don’t count your product out if it’s not a typical “Valentine’s Day” gift.

Q2 (April–June)

1. Easter: (Beginning to mid-April) Religious and non-religious consumers alike celebrate this holiday by indulging in candies and chocolates, spending time with family, and shopping online for seasonal, spring-forward products. Extending for the entire season, inventory, fulfillment, and appropriately timed promotions are essential to drive success.

‍2. Mother’s Day: (2nd Sunday in May) Mother’s Day is a highly commercialized holiday for a wide variety of brands. Be sure to help your consumers come up with gift ideas by advertising your products in advance. With a solid advertising strategy in place, you can show how your product would be the perfect gift for mothers everywhere.

Q3 (July–September)

1. Independence Day (U.S.): (July 4) The 4th of July signals that summer is in full-swing, and demand for backyard and outdoor products is at its peak. Consumers are all looking for the products needed to ensure a successful backyard BBQ, along with any other summertime goods. Independence Day is a prime promotional time for summer products, so make sure you have a solid logistics strategy in place to account for an increase in sales.

‍2. Amazon Prime Day: (typically 2nd week of July) Prime Day is an annual two-day event offering discounts on thousands of products to Amazon Prime members throughout the world. As an Amazon seller, Prime Day is a perfect opportunity to promote exclusive offers and leverage Amazon’s advertising and site-wide advertising.

Q4 (October–December)

1. Halloween: (October 31) As Halloween approaches, marketplaces and retailers should be prepared for increased demand in products such as candy, attire, and autumnal home décor. Promotions for Halloween can begin as early as back-to-school in September since it’s the next big holiday on parent’s and children’s minds and is a high-consumer demand period.

‍2. Black Friday (Cyber Monday): (3rd Friday in November) All brands should start preparing for the biggest ecommerce weekend in North America–Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The earlier in November you can start advertising your deals, the better. Be sure to have your promotional and pricing strategies in place well before the weekend begins.

‍3. December Holidays: (Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa) December is full of ecommerce opportunities for all brands and products. From toys to pajamas and jewelry to electronics, brands have an incredible chance this time of year to surpass annual sales goals.

How to Prepare For Ecommerce Holidays

Now that you’re aware of the ecommerce holidays in 2023, it’s important to use them to your brand’s advantage. Here are three things to keep in mind when preparing:

1. Make sure you have a good 3P partner.

Brands expanding to or selling on any marketplace, like Amazon or Walmart, need a 3P partner they can trust. A good 3P partner should have experience, transparency, a data-driven mindset, brand obsession, and the  technology and resources to help you succeed–end to end.

2. Stay ahead of the logistics.

A good 3P partner will help your brand understand various regional consumer demands and give you marketplace-specific logistics to help you avoid stock-outs. Every marketplace demands various amounts of inventory, mostly depending on regional consumer demand, and  upcoming holidays (office closures, shipping deadlines, etc.).

3. Prepare your customer-service teams.

If you are planning to participate and sell your products during any holidays mentioned above, it’s important your customer-service teams are aware and know how to handle the influx of consumers during those times. In addition, they should be well-versed in product specifics as well as promotional pricing so they can help close any sale.

Accelerate on Ecommerce Holidays with Pattern

The opportunity for your brand to increase traffic and conversion during the holidays is exponential. As the world’s foremost ecommerce accelerator, Pattern can use its data-driven insights and expert marketplace analysis to recommend the most impactful ecommerce holidays In addition, Pattern can help you prepare for and grow your brand in each of these promotional periods.

Discover how you can grow your brand during ecommerce holidays. Contact us.