Learn how to use Shopify store credits for holiday season marketing.
It’s the last month of the year!
Which means, it’s time for your Shopify store’s holiday season sale — an opportunity for you to achieve the business goals you set for yourself for this year.
Surely, you are doing your best by offering great deals and discounts for your seasonal sale, but guess what… so are your competitors. And so is every online store.
And so, what you need is a partner to help you up your game – store credits.
It’s time to add Shopify store credits to your online store to push those sales goals the last mile! Install the Flits app today to get the add-on.
In the meantime, we’ll tell you how to use store credits to increase your holiday season sales.
13 ways to use store credits to push for more holiday season sales
1. Offer first-purchase credits
First impression is the last impression. However overworked this phrase is, it’s true. The holiday season is going to bring a lot of traffic to your website. There will be both old customers as well as new shoppers exploring deals and discounts during this period.
A smart way to engage your first-time site visitors beyond the holiday season is by giving them store credits.
- By giving credits for first-time purchases, you’re increasing the chances of these shoppers returning to your store
- Shoppers might end up buy more during the holiday season if you offer store credits on all sales
- One way to increase sales during your sale is when people make their first purchase, give them credits which they can use on the next purchase only during the sale
2. Offer credits on a certain order value
Another way to encourage more sales is to offer store credits based on the order value. For example, 10 credits on orders worth $100, 20 credits on orders woth $150, and so on.
Here’s how you can use this strategy:
- Offer credits based on different brackets of the bill value
- Offer a fixed number of store credits for every $100 spent
- Offer variable store credits based on the units in a single bill
- Offer percentage store credits. For example, 5% on the bill value
- Offer 1 credit for every $1 spent; receive $10 reward points after 100 credits collected
Here’s and example of how Lucy & Yak does it:
3. Offer credits on purchases made during a specific period of time
Even though it’s the holiday season sale, there will be slow periods. Certain days, or time of the day might not see as much activity or sales. You can secure sales for these slow periods by offering store credits if shoppers buy in that period.
For example:
- Buy between midnight and 6am and earn 10 extra store credits
- Earn 0.5 store credit on every $ spent on Monday and Tuesday
- Earn extra 20 store credits from flash sales during the holiday season sale
4. Offer credits for reviews and ratings
Another way to bring in some excitement in your store credits strategy is to ask shoppers to drop reviews and ratings – either a product review or rating for brand/site experience.
But the trick is – now or never! Ask shoppers to share a review ‘now’, in real-time to earn store credits, which they can use on the next purchase from the holiday season sale only.
Something like earn points from the sale and use it during the sale only. Research shows that excited customers can bring in 23% more profits. Moreover, excitement and engagement go hand in hand. Excite your customers with store credits!
5. Offer credits for social media sharing
There’s probably no bigger reach for your brand than when customers post about their purchases on their social accounts. a) It’s awareness and b) It’s social proof.
Did you know? A single social media post has the potential to reach 5000 people.
Why not use this opportunity to boost sales with the help of store credits?
Do this:
- Offer credits to shoppers who share posts about their purchase from your sale
- You could make it more exciting by promising them more credits if they cross a specific number of reshares
6. Offer credits for referrals
Referrals are important for eCommerce stores. A study shows that customers you acquire through referrals might spend 200% more than the average customer. Moreover, they remain more loyal to your brand.
Here’s how you can play a referral strategy smartly during the holiday season sale.
- Ask customers to share referrals in return for store credits
- When referrals make purchases, give more store credits to the customer who referred
- Give store credits that can be used only during the holiday season sale
Here’s an example to inspire you:
7. Offer credits for signing up for your newsletter
When a new customer makes a purchase, you can introduce them to your different offerings during their purchase journey. Now, these offerings don’t have to be products every time.
For example, you can introduce your new customers to your newsletter. Do this: on your thank you page, nudge the customer to sign up for your newsletter. In return, offer them store credits.
This has two key benefits:
- The customer will buy from your store again to use the store credits you just gave them
- You establish a new channel of communication with your customer – your newsletter
The newsletter will ensure you build a relationship with new customers beyond the holiday season sale period. It can help you stay in touch with your customers in between purchases. Besides, it’s a great way to tell your customer what your brand is all about and make them fall in love with your brand.
8. Offer credits for signing up for a customer account page
Ask your new customers to sign up for a customer account page. In return, give them store credits. You can ask them to sign up before they make a purchase or after.
A customer account page is where all the important information about customers gets stored. You can use this data to create personalized, targeted promotional strategies. That way, you can motivate customers to buy more from your holiday season sale.
For example, a customer signed up for the customer account page and added a few items to the wishlist. You could nudge them to buy the items in their wishlist by offering a limited-period discount during the holiday season sale. Thus, increasing your chances of sales.
Let’s look at the example below:
You can set up your Shopify store customer account page with the help of Flits app.
9. Offer credits when shoppers convert on an upsell
Upselling is a sales technique that encourages shoppers to buy an alternative item of a higher value compared to the original item they wanted to buy.
When you upsell a better alternative of a higher value to your customers, two things happen:
- Your customers end up buying a much better product
- You increase your order value
But it’s not always easy to upsell. Afterall, why would a customer spend more when they could buy a cheaper option?
That’s where store credits come into the picture. Offer store credits to shoppers in return for buying the upsell product.
Increase your chances of upselling with these tips:
- Make the product you’re upselling relevant to the original purchase
- Use store credits generously
- Tell customers about how it will make their life better and why it’s a better product
10. Offer credits when customers convert on a cross-sell
The holiday season sale is perhaps one of the best times to cross-sell items. Because everything is on sale, it becomes much easier to convince shoppers to buy more items.
For example, if a shopper is trying to buy a television on your online store, before they checkout, encourage them to buy speakers as well. Offer them store credits if they buy both the items.
Here are some tips to offer store credits on cross-sells:
- Offer credits when the customer buys both items
- Offer a fixed number of store credits
- Make the store credits variable, based on the bill value
- Bundle products only for the holiday season sale and offer credits on those
11. Offer credits to make purchases after the sale is over
Of course you want to make the most of sales during your Shopify store holiday season sale. And so you’d think you should offer store credits that can be used only during the holiday sale.
Wrong!
If you give store credits that customers can use after the sale is over, you can entice them to buy more during the sale so as to earn more store credits.
Moreover, you want to build a long-term relationship with your new customers. Store credits will increase the chances of them shopping from your site even after the holiday season sale.
Here’s what you should do to make the most:
- Offer a higher amount of store credits compared to what you’d offer normally
- To earn more store credits, customers will feel motivated to buy more
- Offer store credits based on the units in one single purchase. For example, the more number of items customers buy, the more credits they can earn
Note: your holiday season sale will last just a few days, but you can reap its benefits for the whole coming year.
12. Offer credits for creating holiday season wishlists
Your Shopify store holiday season sale will only run for a few days. But since it’s an annual affair, you’d have to plan it much in advance. This brings us to wishlists.
Much before your sale begins, ask shoppers to create their holiday season wishlists. Encourage them to add items that they want to purchase during the holiday season to their wishlists.
But why would they do so? Because, you will offer them store credits in return.
Here’s what you must do:
- Ask shoppers to create wishlists
- Offer them a small amount of store credits simply for creating their wishlist
- Offer them more store credits when they buy an item from the wishlist during the holiday season sale
13. Assign different store credits for different products
Many online stores make the mistake of offering store credits only on high-value items during their seasonal sale. But answer this question: what is your ultimate goal from the holiday sale?
The answer: to increase sales and sell more products. Right?
Then why would you ignore any product on your site?
Here’s a strategy to help you sell all products on your site:
- Assign different store credits for different products
- This plays with the customer psychology — they feel like they’re earning points for buying every product
- While some customers might hesitate to buy high-value items, almost all customers might be willing to buy low-value items if they can earn credits for those purchases
Wrap-up
If you’re still with us, it means you’re planning your Shopify store’s holiday season sale store credits strategy. Great!
But you need to get started soon!
There’s not much time left. While you’re planning your sale strategy, your competitors have already put things in place and have started their sale promotions.
If you want to get started soon, get an app like Flits. Flits is one of the best holiday sale apps you can easily install. It will help you with two key things: set up your customer account page and take care of your store credits strategy.
Install the Flits app today as the countdown to your holiday season sale begins.
