Valentine’s Day eCommerce Marketing Tips To Entice Your Shoppers

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, which is a welcoming holiday to warm everyone’s heart and put a pep in their step. However, Valentine’s Day may look a bit different in 2021 as we all adapt to the new socially distant protocol that has become our reality. Romantic dinners or heading out to a beautiful viewing spot may be off the table for many, but with the extra money saved on these fancy outings, couples may start bringing Valentine’s traditions closer to home with jewelry, flowers, and sweet treats. 

While some plans may be affected due to the current pandemic, more than 52% of adults in the US are still planning to celebrate the love with an expected total spend of $21.8 billion according to the National Retail Federation. This holiday is still an important one for online retailers, which means that preparation for this holiday is key if you want to capture your audience and bump up sales. 

Here are a few ways you can prepare your eCommerce store for all your head over heels customers:

Set The Tone

Tweaking the look and feel of your website to match the upcoming celebration will help attract shoppers who are in the spirit of love and also help to remind those who need to do any last-minute shopping for their partners. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel or change your entire website theme with hearts and roses, but you can implement some simple yet effective changes to woo your shoppers. Here are some ideas to get started:

1. Implement Valentine’s themed pop-up boxes with coupon codes or discounts. You can also use this pop up to remind customers of your Point Of Sales Financing or Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) options from ChargeAfter for more expensive gifts like electronics, jewelry, or beauty products. 
2. Create some swoon-worthy slider banners for your homepage to set the mood.

Think Beyond Couples

While Valentine’s Day is aimed at romantic couples and partners, some prefer to use this holiday to celebrate their love for a family member, friends, and even their pets! Your eCommerce site should make it easy for shoppers to find exactly what they are looking for and this can be done with gift guides. Gift guides will help steer your shoppers in the right direction and can also be used to show them many other options you have in store. Whether someone is looking to spoil their cat, sister, or friend, your store should be prepared for these searches by presenting them with the exact items they are looking for. 

Creating gift guides based on these categories will also help entice your shoppers to purchase your goods. Give them unique and fun ideas on what items make the percentage gifts for their partners, friends, family, and of course pets. 

Any Product Can Be Romantic 

Valentine’s Day doesn’t just have to be about giving flowers and sweet treats, your product could also be the perfect gifting option when marketed correctly. Who says a new iPhone or laptop can’t be the most romantic gift out there? Some may argue that the price of electronics may be what sets shoppers back from making the final purchase, but with the right marketing and cart financing, shoppers will be more willing to check out. Use the beautifully designed pop up blocks we mentioned earlier to advertise your electronics financing options. This will help inform your customers that there are ways to get the goods they want without breaking the bank. Share the love with your customers by offering them buy now pay later solutions for jewelry, perfume, electronics, clothing, and more that is not only more affordable for them but also beneficial to you as the merchant to help increase average order values. 

Rethink Your Shipping

Share the love by giving free shipping for Valentine’s related items. Exorbitant shipping costs are usually a huge factor behind cart abandonment, which is why it couldn’t hurt to try to adjust your shipping model. If you can’t offer free shipping, work it into the product cost or be more transparent about it before the shopper gets to check out. It’s better to show the total costs upfront with shipping costs and taxes included than to show shoppers a much higher cost when they are ready to seal the deal and purchase the item. 

If free shipping isn’t viable, you could also look into offering free shipping for items over a certain amount. For example, give free shipping when a customer spends $50 or more. 

Make Your Customers Fall In Love

When done right your store can reap all the benefits of this Valentine’s Day without having to reinvent your entire business. Customers may not be celebrating the holiday the same way, but there are still ways to meet their needs even during the pandemic. By setting the mood on your site, offering point of sale financing options on your products, creating personalized gift guides and more affordable shipping you are able to win over all your shoppers and ensure that they keep coming back for more long after the honeymoon period is over!