by Lucy Adamson
While Father’s Day doesn’t gain quite as much commercial traction as Mother’s Day, it’s still a key date in the retail calendar - and when 59% of consumers shop online for gifts for their fathers, the 19th June is not a date that should be ignored. So how can you ensure that your eCommerce store is ready for Father’s Day shopping?
While Father’s Day doesn’t gain quite as much commercial traction as Mother’s Day, it’s still a key date in the retail calendar - and when 59% of consumers shop online for gifts for their fathers, the 19th June is not a date that should be ignored. So how can you ensure that your eCommerce store is ready for Father’s Day shopping?
Accept a Range of Payment Options
When it comes to buying gifts for Father’s Day, your customers will want to know that your online store is as flexible as they need it to be. While some people may feel more comfortable directly inputting their card details, others may prefer the speed of using a service such as PayPal when placing orders online.
One of the main reasons people abandon their cart is because their preferred payment option isn’t available. Therefore, ensuring that you accept a variety of payment options will reduce the chances of your customers being put off by your store’s payment limitations and this will break down barriers that could prevent them from making a purchase.
Hold Competitions and Establish Brand Partnerships
Your customers have probably bought their fathers the same bottle of whiskey or golf head covers for the past five years, so providing them with the chance to win a more unique gift can be a great opportunity for your business.
Forming a partnership with another brand to offer an experience to your customers (which they can win by entering a competition) is a great way to increase brand awareness and gain new customers. On top of this, promoting the competition on social is an effective way to boost social engagement, and competitions offer the ability to collect email addresses (which can be used in future marketing) as a way of entering.
Whether you partner with a local restaurant and offer a free three course meal for a family of four, or you opt for something a little more unconventional (power boating, perhaps?), offering a family experience and including a gift card to use on your eCommerce site as part of the prize will excite your audience and still bring awareness back to your brand. And, hosting a competition on your site may increase the chances of your entrants shopping around while they’re visiting.
Create Father’s Day Landing Pages
In the lead up to Father’s Day, consumers are inundated with messages to buy the newest ‘dad rock’ album or action film, so it can be a struggle to actually find and choose something they feel would be a great gift for their father.
Creating landing pages on your website so you can put all your most gift worthy items in one place will help streamline the experience for your shoppers and (hopefully) help spark some inspiration for their perfect Father’s Day gift.
Not everyone has the time or the patience to search around for a gift for Father’s Day so putting together collection pages can make the experience a lot easier for your customers. And separating them by price will prevent any shoppers on a particular budget from getting frustrated, having to search through a heap of products that are out of their price range.
Depending on the nature of your store, and the products you stock, you may also be able to create landing pages for different dads. Whether he’s passionate about music and is always looking to expand his vinyl collection, or he has a flair for cooking and would appreciate the new stand mixer he’s had his eye on, your customers want to be able to easily find a gift that suits their father’s interests.
Offer Discounts
Consumers only spend around £15 on gifts for their fathers, meaning that offering discounts may give your customers more of an incentive to shop with you this Father’s Day.
Discounting your higher priced items, or offering an overall discount if your customers spend a set amount (20% off orders over £25, for example) can work wonders in increasing order value, while still making your customers feel like they are benefiting by shopping with your brand.
Provide Free Greetings Cards
It’s not hard to get caught up in trying to find the perfect gift and forget to buy your Dad a Father’s Day card. Offering your customers a free greetings card upon purchase will provide a little added value to their order and improve sentiment towards your brand - you are reminding them to get a card and offering one for free, after all.
Opting for a free eCard may be a more cost effective option for your brand, but traditional cards are still preferred by consumers, so offering a paper card may prove more successful with your customers if you are able to. If paper cards are out of the question, an eCard can work in a pinch.
How to Make the Most of Father’s Day
When it comes to preparing your online store for Father’s Day, it’s important to make sure you make the experience as easy and straightforward as you can. Compiling popular gift products into Father’s Day collection pages and incentivising purchases will ensure that your customers don’t turn to your competitors.
If you need any tips for your digital strategy in the lead up to Father’s Day, tweet us @Statement or get in touch.
