As Canadian businesses continue to navigate through the pandemic and the changes in consumer needs, one thing is for certain, the holidays will continue to be the busiest time of the year.
With COVID-19 potentially impacting foot traffic, it’s a good idea for businesses to approach the holiday season with a digital-first mindset. To help businesses plan and respond to this holiday season, we have included tips, resources, and upcoming webinars below.
Tip #1: Update Your Website Content & Google My Business Listing
To appeal to new and loyal consumers, you need to ensure that the information people are looking for can be found online.
It’s critical to keep your Google My Business profile visible with the latest information about hours and offers such as contactless pickup and delivery. Offering curbside pick up and click-and-collect options can help you capture same-day or last-minute demand from consumers without having to invest in additional infrastructure. Think about how you can reach those last-minute shoppers this holiday season.
According to Google Data, more than half of Canadian shoppers say the pandemic has changed the way they shop and more than one-quarter say shopping is now completely different. Also, consumers are looking for new ways to send gifts to their loved ones on sentimental holidays while supporting local businesses.
Not only do consumers want the convenience of ordering holiday gifts online, they want to be able to do it quickly and efficiently. According to this survey from Ipsos, 73% of consumers will be browsing for gift ideas online and not instore. Canadian consumers that do shop in-store will be entering with their decisions already made through online researching. Bottom line: avoid losing consumers by updating your website now with faster loading times and easy to navigate content.
Bonus Tip: One of our favourite platforms for sourcing images is Unsplash – a platform with over 1 million free high-resolution images. If you need holiday-specific imagery for your website, emails, or social media that doesn’t include your products (such as: gifts under the tree) we highly recommend Unsplash.
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*thanks to https://tourismtalk.ca for this great article.
