Visit Our Blog
Christmas Shopping Begins in the Next 4 Weeks…
What will you do to be prepared for it?
This is not the Emergency Christmas described by John Stewart from the Daily Show. However, with the pressure of the economy people will probably be spending more time planning, considering, saving and looking for amazing deals sooner rather than later in the year. What are you going to DO NOW to make sure you get their limited attention and dollars? Will your business and website be optimized for this interesting holiday season?
About the author
Bryan Eisenberg, founder of FutureNow, is a professional marketing speaker and the co-author of New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling books Call to Action and Waiting For Your Cat to Bark and Always Be Testing. You can friend him on Facebook or Twitter.
More articles from Bryan Eisenberg
- Nobody wants to read your sh**!September 21st, 2009
- Redesign? Ask The Right Questions!September 18th, 2009
- Cross-post: How to Improve a Product Page, Part 1September 15th, 2009
For More, Subscribe To Grok!
- Capterra: The Conference Sept 13-15, Wash., DC
- "Recession Marketing: From Pre-click to Post-click" (webinar) Sept 16, 12pm EDT / 9am PDT
- "Securing the Sale: Turn Your Site's Browsers Into Buyers" (webinar) Sept 17, 2pm EDT / 11am PDT
- Excellence and Innovation conference Sept 28-30, Orlando
- The SEM Conference
Sept 23-24, Oslo, Norway - eConsultancy Peer Summit Oct 8, New York City
- The Bolo Conference Oct 12-14, Scotsdale, AZ
- Google GAAC/WOAC annual meetings
Oct 13-16, Googleplex California - eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit Oct 19-23, Wash., DC
June 25th, 2009
11:06 am
Whoa! You just won the award for the scariest headline in June. Nice!
June 25th, 2009
1:07 pm
I saw that title shared by someone else at Twitter and almost fell off my chair. If I only had a dozen more of me I would be caught up and actually prepared for the holiday shopping season.
I hope those who have the resources to hire you get a clue and take action now. They will be amazed at how much difference usability and optimization makes to increasing conversion rates – and how higher conversion rates in turn exponentially increase profitability.
It amazes me how few understand and take action. I can only shake my head about all the money they’re leaving on the table for weeks, months and even years.
June 25th, 2009
1:18 pm
Love that video! Couldn’t view it up here in Canada but found one we canucks can watch:
http://watch.thecomedynetwork.ca/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart/correspondents/john-hodgman/#clip142118
June 26th, 2009
12:25 pm
This maybe a bit early for Christmas but not by much. I also try to get things setup during late summer. Once Oct. 1 gets here it is to late to get things going.
Starting early means you finish earlier and have more calmness during Christmas, if there is such a thing for a retail store during the Christmas holidays.
June 27th, 2009
7:33 pm
If the Christmas selling season isn’t going to exactly start in 4 weeks, every independent retailer should certainly be preparing for it. start by being sure you haven’t already bought your whole season and are sitting without any liquidity to react to things as they unfold. it’s likely to be highly competitive, although the major chains have cut inventories way back and will try to hold the line on deep discounting. creating a memorable experience will be critical to differentiating yourself, and creating a buzz around everything you’re doing. the passion you bring to your business will count for a lot this Christmas selling season.
June 28th, 2009
3:04 pm
Too funny. Now if only I could convince people to buy me cocaine for Christmas.
Seriously, I can’t believe people start Christmas shopping any earlier than Oct. I’ll always be a last minute shopper.
June 28th, 2009
7:56 pm
Great video.I love Christmas!!!
June 29th, 2009
7:16 pm
There’s that infamous title, “Christmas in July”. That may be a great marketing gimmick to use this July, market how tough the shopping season will be and have some killer deals on items now. Maybe the shoppers will use the items for birthday gifts instead of the next few months with the tight economy, and buy more this winter from you anyway!
June 30th, 2009
8:50 am
Other’s holiday season is our business’s down season. We have always found it difficult to promote sales in holiday seasons.
June 30th, 2009
11:17 am
[...] highlighted on the Future Now blog, this Christmas is going to be more cut-throat than usual for many retailers. Consumers have less [...]
July 7th, 2009
9:34 pm
[...] big changes. And that’s exactly what Bryan Eisenberg meant when he said that it’s already time to start preparing for the Christmas shopping season. If it will take you several months to implement, test, and tweak the larger more-important [...]
July 8th, 2009
12:58 pm
Very timely reminder Bryan. Cyber Monday 2009 is now just 144 days, 18 hours, and 39 minutes away (according to the countdown timer on our blog).
I’d just like to point out one major competitive advantage that is especially time-sensitive: customer metrics. The more accumulated data you have, the more effectively you will be able to segment traffic, target messaging, and personalize the site experience during the holiday shopping season. Data like who viewed which pages, products, brands? Who bought what and when? Where were they surfing from? And so on.
If you are not already doing so, the time to start gathering that data is now, not after the Summer, not after Labor Day, not after Halloween. (Did I mention that Cyber Monday 2009 is now just 144 days, 18 hours, and 39–make that 38 minutes–away.)
July 10th, 2009
11:11 am
They do say Christmas gets earlier and earlier each year! Certainly think now is the time to start making preparations, particularly for those businesses that get the majority of their years sales from Christmas business.
July 13th, 2009
12:47 pm
[...] watching this Alarming Headline on Christmas Shopping, I realized that what he’s getting at is is so true ( be sure to watch the Comedy Central [...]
October 2nd, 2009
9:58 am
Another 84 days to go. Seems like this christmas holiday buying season is going to be a late starter.
October 17th, 2009
10:12 am
nice video
i can’t wait to spend the christmas holiday .
I am gonna receive a lot of gifts!
What’s more.christmas shopping is gonna be crazy
November 27th, 2009
12:03 am
The time has come, did anyone get anything out of their pre-balck friday early holiday push? Speaking personally, I have long ago adopted the attitude that Christmas shopping is a year-round activity. I don’t go in for technology or fad of the moment type-gifts. Instead when I see something that reminds me of someone and I know it will put a smile on their face I buy it. No matter the time of year. I have a special closet at home just for all my accumulated gifts. The good news is if i find a more appropriate gift down the line that simply means I now have a backup gift for someone who might have slipped my mind!