The holidays are a time of celebration for many – lots of parties, good food, family and friends, and gift-giving.

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But it’s not always rainbows and butterflies for retailers, for whom the holiday season is one of the most demanding periods in the year.

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In this article, you’ll read all about this year’s Christmas trends and what you can do to prepare for the holiday season.

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Let’s jump right in!

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Key Trends in Fashion E-commerce for Christmas 20224

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As a fashion eCommerce marketplace, you must be on top of the latest trends, as you’re functioning in a fast-changing business environment.

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Despite the pandemic, total holiday retail sales in 2020 reached $789.4 billion.

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Even though the world is still going through changes, customers and businesses are looking forward to the holiday season this year more than ever.

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The retail category that has the highest share of total holiday spending is accessories and clothing (21%).

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This brings massive opportunities to online fashion marketplaces to grow their business and make profits during Christmas.

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Overcoming the Key Retail Challenges During the Christmas Season

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One of the first things you need to do to be prepared for the Christmas rush is to anticipate any obstacles you might need to address. 

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• Dealing with increased volumes of traffic – Your online marketplace is likely to see a big increase in traffic during the holidays. You want to make sure your new visitors have a good time browsing your website. Some ways to do that include optimizing your page speed, using attractive calls to action, using high-quality images and well-written headlines, and keeping your website pages responsive and mobile-friendly. 
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• Managing product promotions – Creating effective promotions takes a lot of creativity and effort. Make sure all team members collaborate to give customers what they need since the success of the holiday season depends on them. 
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• Decreasing return rates – The average eCommerce return rates are around 20-30%. If your customers have a negative return experience, they often won’t come back to purchase from you. On the other hand, if they have a positive experience, this can result in increased customer loyalty. You need to handle your product returns properly, otherwise; it can have a huge impact on your business.

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7 Steps to Prepare Your Online Fashion Marketplace for the 2024 Christmas Season

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A heavy portion of businesses’ annual revenue comes from the holiday season.

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Below are some steps you need to address to make this one of your greatest holiday seasons yet. 

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1. Simplify Product Discovery

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Help your shoppers easily find the items they’re looking for and provide them with a unique experience.

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This can be done by using AI to understand customers’ buying behavior.

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Basing product recommendations on customer data – such as demographic or geo-location – leads to a decrease in cart abandonment and an increase in conversion rates.

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As an online fashion marketplace, you can also use previous browsing history insights to show customers relevant content.

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‍Suggested read: The What, Why, and How of Product Recommendation Engines

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2. Test Site Speed

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According to statistics, about 70% of consumers admitted that page speed impacts their willingness to buy from an online retailer.

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Site speed is essential to eCommerce success since it directly influences search engine rankings, repeat business, and conversion rates. 

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Have your team test page load times for each element on your site, and then optimize it by deleting unnecessary plugins, reducing image size, compressing data, and so on.  

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3. Offer Free Shipping

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Approximately 47% of consumers say free shipping would influence where they buy gifts.

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Free shipping continues to be a big incentive that drives more purchasing. 

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You can use National Free Shipping Day to allow your customers to do their holiday shopping without being hit with shipping fees left and right.

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This is a one-day event that takes place mid-December each year, and this year it lands on the 14^th of December. However, you will need to guarantee the items will be delivered before Christmas. 

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Suggested read: Top 5 Online Marketplace Features to Boost Customer Experience

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4. Multichannel Listing of Products

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Christmas is all about going big, so you should consider showcasing your products to as many people as you can.

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We would suggest listing your offering across multiple channels, also known as multichannel selling.

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With multichannel selling, not only will you reach a wider audience, but you will also improve the customer experience by giving your shoppers the choice to engage in the channel they prefer. 

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Connect to online major marketplaces and update your product catalog to sell your items on Instagram and Facebook. 

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5. Offer Several Payment Options

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Once a customer has decided to make a purchase, the last thing they want to see is that their preferred payment method isn’t available. 

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Offering several secure payment options for your customers makes the shopping process a lot more convenient for them.

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For instance, if you’re targeting the US market, consider including PayPal, Square, Stripe, SecurePay, and Worldpay.

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6. Enable Guest Checkout 

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First-time customers are especially keen on anonymous checkouts.

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A lot of customers don’t feel like they can trust the merchant with their contact information during their initial visit to the marketplace. 

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Other times, customers just want a quick checkout process, and checking out as a guest is a lot faster than creating an account.

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7. Use Paid Advertising

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In an overly saturated market, one great way to boost your brand is by leveraging paid advertising.  

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Supplement your marketing efforts with paid advertising to increase click-through rate, site traffic, and conversions.

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Platforms like Pinterest and Instagram have the highest buyer intent, and that’s where brands go to advertise their products. 

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Final Words

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Creating a smooth shopping experience for your shoppers gives them a strong reason to choose you over your competitors.

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By following the steps we described and properly preparing yourself, you’ll be ready to welcome your customers in no time. 

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At Pixyle, we provide image recognition solutions that will help you boost your sales during the holiday season.

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‍Book a demo with us to see what we can do for you!

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