15 Tips To Prepare Your Woocommerce Store For the Holiday Season

Holiday Season

Americans are expected to spend nearly $989 billion during the holiday season in 2024 National Retail Federation. This makes the upcoming holiday season one of the most crucial periods for store owners aiming to achieve impressive year-end sales. 

As customers enjoy the festive season, businesses can stand out with a well-planned holiday sale strategy. With a solid, pre-planned approach, you can seize every sales opportunity and make this holiday season your most successful yet.

If you’re looking for tips to add the cherry on top of your existing marketing efforts, here are 15 simple yet effective tips. These tips will help you prepare your store for the holiday rush, along with examples and tools to help you get started right away!

Why Plan a Holiday Sale for Your WooCommerce Store?

If you are not sure about creating a marketing campaign for this holiday season, here are some facts to help you make the choice, according to a 2024 WooCommerce survey:

  • Black Friday and Cyber Monday generated $9.8 billion in 2023 (WooCommerce)
  • 46% of merchants reported that 30% of their annual sales volume comes from the holiday season
  • 66% of respondents said they experienced an increase in sales from October to December
  • 26% of respondents stated that they begin prepping 1 to 4 weeks ahead of the sale season

According to Statistica, online retail sales in the US grew by 8.8% in 2023 and are expected to increase by 9.5% in 2024. These facts highlight the potential of holiday sales and why every eCommerce store should seize this opportunity and invest time and effort into making the most of it. 

15 Holiday Sale Tips for WooCommerce 

For WooCommerce store owners gearing up for holiday sales, here are 15 practical tips to supercharge your marketing strategy. Featuring expert advice from trusted platforms, including the official WooCommerce Marketplace, these tips are designed to help you craft a winning plan that actually works:

  1. Use surveys to plan holiday sales
  2. Offer enticing discount coupons 
  3. Sell special holiday product bundles
  4. Offer attractive gift cards
  5. Create limited-time holiday deals
  6. Offer freebies to attract new customers 
  7. Add banners to promote sales
  8. Allow product customizations 
  9. Give extra time for product returns
  10. Enable guest checkout for customers in a hurry
  11. Offer free and faster shipping
  12. Allow shipping to multiple addresses
  13. Stay safe from spam traffic during the holidays
  14. Run a speed test to optimize loading
  15. Offer 24/7 customer support 

Now, let’s dive into each of these tips and explore some handy tools that will help you implement them quickly and effectively.

1. Use surveys to plan holiday sales

    Surveys are a great way to figure out what your customers really want during the holiday season.

    If most people say they’d love free shipping or a 50% discount, why not make it happen? Adding a quick poll to your WooCommerce store makes it super easy to get their feedback and tweak your plans.

    You can try out the Pending Orders Survey Email for WooComerce plugin to create multiple surveys, understand user needs, and then create new strategies. With this information, you can better target lost users and convert them this holiday season.

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    2. Offer enticing discount coupons

      Who doesn’t love discounts — especially on their favorite products? This sale season, spice things up with discount coupons to boost sales, clear out inventory, and attract new customers. You can even launch a loyalty program to keep your customers coming back for more orders. 

      To generate the most convenient and quick coupons, you can try out the Advanced URL coupon for Woocommerce plugin. The extension lets you create one-click URL coupons that are easy to create for you and easy to use for your customers.

      3. Sell special holiday product bundles

        Sell fun product bundles that help people buy the perfect gifts for their loved ones. Offer premade kits to make it convenient for customers to grab a bundle and leave without picking and choosing each item. E.g., if you sell books, you can let customers choose a book for a basket that also includes a reading light, blanket, and notebook for journaling. 

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        You can display BOGO deals to encourage more purchases or give freebies to push customers towards placing an order. If you want to create irresistible bundles with minimal effort, try the Linked Product for WooCommerce plugin. 

        4. Offer attractive gift cards

          Make holiday shopping stress-free for last-minute shoppers. According to OnePoll, over half of Americans finish their shopping on Christmas Eve, making gift cards a perfect solution. Offering gift cards on your store provides a fast and thoughtful option for customers. 

          They can personalize the card with a message and send it instantly via email, making it ideal for loved ones far away. Gift cards not only offer convenience but also bring quick revenue to your store, making them a win-win for both you and your customers.

          To easily create and manage gift cards for the holidays, you can try out the Advanced Gift Cards for woocommerce plugins..

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          5. Create limited-time holiday deals

            Add a countdown timer to your WooCommerce shop this holiday season to boost your sale’s impact. A ticking clock creates urgency, nudging customers to make quicker buying decisions. It can also cut down cart abandonment rates by reminding shoppers to complete their purchases before time runs out. 

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            Plus, it’s a great way to grab attention and make your sales more visible. To display countdown timers with limited-time offers, you can consider the Deals and Promotional Offers for woocommerce plugin. The extension makes it super easy to create deals and induce urgency through effective timers. 

            6. Offer freebies to attract new customers

              Who doesn’t love free stuff? With the holiday season in full swing, free products can be a game-changer for your store. Offer free gifts with specific purchases to clear out inventory, boost sales of slow-moving items, or simply win over picky customers.

              Pressed for time? Try the Advanced Free Gifts for WooCommerce plugin! This handy tool lets you attach freebies to products of your choice to fine-tune your holiday gifting strategy in no time.

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              7. Add banners to promote sales

                To make your holiday deals stand out, add a festive banner at the top of your site. If you’re offering free shipping, 50% off on all items, or taking orders for a week only, you can highlight this on a fancy banner with Christmas or New Year decorations. 

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                Try out the WooCommerce Header Image for WooCommerce plugin to add attractive headers to your site to give it that holiday vibe. 

                8. Allow product customizations

                  This holiday season, make customers feel special by offering product customizations. Offering custom products will not only attract more customers but also give them a thoughtful, one-of-a-kind gift they can share with loved ones.

                  To enable customizations, you can allow users to upload images for personalized requests. To efficiently accept customization requests, you can use a Checkout File Upload for WooCommerce plugin. 

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                  9. Give extra time for product returns

                    Extending return or exchange deadlines for the holidays is a good idea and can give your customers relief. Early shoppers might need extra time if a gift doesn’t fit. Therefore, offering them extra time can build trust and offer them the convenience that they can’t find anywhere else. 

                    Just make sure your return policy is crystal clear about what’s eligible for returns and the conditions. This helps avoid any surprises for gift-givers during the holiday rush.

                    10. Enable guest checkout for customers in a hurry

                      Last-minute gift shoppers hate long sign-up forms and are more likely to abandon their cart if compelled to sign up. Offering a quick guest checkout option can help you avoid that and increase your store sales by targeting more customers. 

                      Along with enabling guest checkout, you can further simplify their shopping experience by trying out the Guest Address Thank You Page Plugin. The plugin shows the billing and shipping address options on the Thank You page. This allows customers to quickly fill in their details and leave your store with a successful purchase. 

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                      11. Offer free and faster shipping

                        Streamlining your shipping strategy can give you an edge over others. Keep shipping simple by sticking to a few popular options—less confusion for everyone! Look into where your customers are and what works best for them. Offer free shipping or charge for faster delivery so customers can receive their orders before the holidays. 

                        With holiday sales skyrocketing, being prepared helps you avoid missed deadlines and keep your customers happy. To control which customers get free or express shipping and in what conditions, you can try out the Conditional Shipping for WooCommerce plugin.

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                        12. Allow shipping to multiple addresses

                          Apart from free or express delivery, you can also offer shipping to multiple addresses for the same order. Imagine a user buys chocolates and wishes to send the same order to multiple locations to his/her relatives and friends. 

                          By allowing him to add multiple addresses for the same order, you give the user a faster and more convenient shopping experience. To save time, you can consider using the Multiple Shipping Addresses for woocommerce plugin to add the functionality to your site in a few clicks.

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                          13. Stay safe from spam traffic during the holidays

                            To cut down on spam traffic, make sure your site’s security is top-notch. Run a malware scan, set up a firewall to block unauthorized access, and ensure SSL is active and working. You can use a free tool like Avast to get a free scan of your site.

                            Don’t forget to keep your plugins and themes updated to fix any security issues and handle traffic spikes better. 

                            To block traffic from unwanted regions, you can consider using the Country Restrictions For WooCommerce plugin. Applying region-based restrictions can help you target the right audience and only let them view and purchase your products. 

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                            14. Run speed test to optimize loading

                              The average attention span in 2024 was reported to be only 8.25 seconds (Samba Recovery). This means that if your site takes too long to load, you’ll lose customers even before they see your deals. As traffic picks up during the holiday season, things can slow down, so it’s best to optimize early. 

                              Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to find issues like large images or unused plugins. Make sure your site loads in under two seconds, especially with the holiday rush coming!

                              15. Offer 24/7 customer support

                                With the holidays bringing more customer inquiries, it’s important to offer quick support to your customers. If your customers can’t get help when they need it, they might get frustrated, and you could lose out on sales.

                                Set up chatbots for instant replies and to handle common questions, which will take some pressure off your support team. Plus, offering 24/7 support whether it’s in-house or outsourced, ensures customers can get issues resolved fast, improving their shopping experience and reducing the chance of abandoned carts.

                                Conclusion

                                And that’s a wrap on our tips to boost sales this holiday season! From offering product bundles to free shipping and everything in between, there are countless ways to attract customers. While appealing deals and promotions are essential, remember to keep your site optimized so your site doesn’t crash. 

                                Run speed tests to ensure fast loading times and implement restrictions to protect against spammers. Follow these expert-approved, tried-and-tested strategies, and you’re sure to see great results this festive season.
                                If you find this blog useful, be sure to check out more content like this on Addify. Explore more tools, tips, and techniques to optimize your woocommerce site, whether you are new to the business or a professional.

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