The 4 types of Christmas shoppers & how to target them

Nearly half of festive shoppers are doing all, or most, of their Christmas shopping online this year – giving you the perfect opportunity to expand your audience and increase sales. But first, these shoppers need to know who you are. To help, we’re examining the four types of Christmas shoppers and how to target them this noel. 

Why target different types of Christmas shoppers

Segmenting your audience is important all year round but particularly so at Christmas time. By knowing the different types of Christmas shoppers, you can discover what motivates their purchases and, accordingly, tailor:

? Marketing messages

? Marketing platforms

? Marketing timing

? Product pricing

? Deals and discounts

? SEO

Failure to segment and target your audience at Christmas time can lead to your reaching only 25% of your audience – reducing your potential profit by 75%.

But what do the four main types of Christmas shoppers look like, and how can you tailor your marketing accordingly?

1. The everyday shopper

The everyday Christmas shopper is someone who makes purchases throughout the festive season. They might start their Christmas shopping as early as October, but they’ll also be out there ordering the finishing pieces right up until Christmas week. They’re particularly attractive to eCommerce businesses because these shoppers spend the most.

Because everyday shoppers aren’t dedicating a particular time to their Christmas shopping, you can target these customers with consistent, drip-feed marketing across multiple platforms. This keeps your brand and store in their mind throughout the Christmas period.

2. The early-bird

The early-bird Christmas shopper is someone who starts and completes their Christmas shopping before you’ve even been out and bought an advent calendar. They are largely motivated by convenience, necessitating fast shipping, quick checkouts, and long returns policies.

While the boat may have already set sail for targeting these customers in 2019, it’s never too early to get them thinking about next year. Many early-bird shoppers will begin 2020’s Christmas shopping in the January sales. Therefore, keep this audience informed about your January sale dates via email and social media.

3. The deal seeker

The deal seeker Christmas shopper will most likely be found hanging around the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. However, they can appear at any time or any place that there’s a Christmas deal. Their main motivator is price and value.

Accordingly, your deal seeker marketing should be focused on exclusive deals and discounts leading up to Christmas day. This includes not only low prices but also product bundles, loyalty programmes, and free shipping.

4. The last-minute shopper

Finally, we have the last-minute shopper who leaves everything until the final hour. These shoppers are mostly motivated by speed and convenience that makes last-minute shopping as relaxed as it can be.

Marketing messages that highlight last-minute shipping, gift guides, gift wrapping and anything that will help to save Christmas day, works particularly well with last-minute shoppers. To prompt them along, you might also want to inject some scarcity into your emails and social media posts too.

And there you have it – four different types of shoppers, four different ways to target them. We love to know what type of Christmas shopper you see most on your store – join the conversation on social media.