Email Marketing Can Leverage October Retail Sales Surge to Boost 2022 Holiday Sales

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It looks like the holiday season could be a merry one for businesses.

Based on a report from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Census Bureau, a retail sales surge in October increased sales by 1.3% compared to the previous month. This placed total sales at $694.5 billion, up 8.3% annually. If this uptrend continues, businesses could see holiday sales grow despite record levels of inflation and rising interest rates.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) predicts the same outcome in its November forecast. The world’s largest retail trade association sees healthy sales as consumers continue their 2022 holiday spending. In a press release, the NRF said, “holiday sales will grow between 6% and 8% over 2021 to between $942.6 billion and $960.4 billion.” It also expects eCommerce to have a significant contribution. Based on the federation’s estimates, online and other non-store sales will increase by 10%-to-12%, contributing between $262.8 billion and $267.6 billion in holiday sales.

Experts have attributed the retail sales surge to retailers starting the holiday shopping season early. Some stores launched special buying events in October instead of waiting for Black Friday. Additionally, consumers are still spending due to other positive factors like job growth and rising wages. NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay added that consumers are also tapping into their savings and taking on additional credit and debt to continue spending on household priorities in the face of economic challenges.

Leveraging Email Marketing to Boost Holiday Sales

The upward trend in consumer spending means businesses can see more opportunities this coming holiday season. But that also means they should ramp up their marketing efforts to get noticed and capitalize on the willingness of consumers to spend.

Whether businesses run an online or a physical store, they can benefit from email marketing to attract leads, convert prospects, and turn holiday buyers to repeat and loyal customers. Features found in email marketing software can help businesses efficiently create, send, and track emails sent to their subscriber lists.

Microsegmentation and Hyper-Personalization

Microsegmentation, for instance, is an email marketing strategy that combines big data analytics and AI to determine the appropriate category for an email recipient. With microsegmenation, marketers can hyper-personalize their email marketing campaigns. They can use data like location, expressed preferences and interests, and past interactions to automate content specific to the recipient. Doing so could boost sales: segmented email messages drove revenue by 760%.

Another important aspect of email marketing is the quality of the contact list. Businesses can use email marketing software to validate email addresses and remove obsolete ones. An up-to-date contact list helps reduce bounce and spam complaints, thus increasing inbox arrival for emails, especially during holiday campaigns.

Advanced Email Automation

Aside from managing an email list, businesses can leverage advanced email automation tools in email marketing platforms. These tools go beyond automatic welcome emails sent to subscribers. Advanced automation tools enable users to activate several triggers and send emails only when an individual completes a set of conditions.

For example, nudge emails can help businesses remind customers about a product or promo they’ve looked at or an action they need to take about their account. Cart abandonment email is a type of nudge email that can trigger after a period has passed.

Other types of emails that users can automate include remarketing emails, order confirmation emails, and updates on delivery or shipping. Automating these emails can significantly improve the customer experience, increase engagement, and encourage repeat purchases.

Responsive Emails

Based on data from 2021, 42% of Black Friday eCommerce sales came through mobile. Moreover, 53% of customers prefer checking their emails on smartphones. With these points in mind, businesses must create emails that correctly render on smartphones and tablets. Doing so can make a significant difference in boosting holiday sales.

Email marketing software includes email testing tools that help businesses test various aspects of their email campaign. Users can preview their email on different email clients. For example, they can check how a holiday promo email looks on Gmail versus Outlook and how the same email will display on other devices such as a laptop or smartphone.

Having a way to test emails before sending them can also save businesses a lot of trouble. For instance, broken links can negatively impact a Black Friday campaign since customers lose interest when redirected to a non-existent or wrong page. Email testing tools can also help check alt text, spam filters, and loading speed to ensure everything is working before marketers send their emails to their mailing list.